Seinfeld, Friends, The West Wing: Why AFFIRMATIVE ACTION is still necessary. [View All]

[chimpymustgo]

Yes, Seinfeld did begin inserting the occasional black character SEVERAL seasons into it's run - and after some public criticism. Yes, the show was about a microcosm of New York life. But still...it's NEW YORK CITY! How narrow is your world view that there would hardly be people of color standing around on the sidewalks, much less be major, even minor characters for years on that show?

It's a real problem with "Hollywood". It just doesn't occur to most white writers to include black people in their shows (a reflection of their own lives?). I could not conceive of a show like "Friends" not having a single black, or asian or latino "friend".

Even the liberal darling "West Wing" DID NOT HAVE A SINGLE BLACK CHARACTER IN THE PILOT. Now what kind of thinking drives that story development? A liberal, democratic administration that has NO BLACK PEOPLE IN IT. So somebody pointed that out, and that omission was "corrected".

But nobody looks around the set and says, "Hmm...is SOMETHING missing here?"

Woody Allen NEVER had black people in his often hilarious work, which typically showcased Manhattan as almost another character in his work. After some questions were finally raised about it, he featured a black character: a f*cking prostitute!

Spike Lee has said that after his first couple of films, white critics hounded him: "Spike - when are you going to have some WHITE characters in your films?" Why, the very idea of this exclusion was just incredible to them!

Folks, this is ONE reason we have affirmative action: without it, it just too often does not occur to whites to include/enroll/hire black people or other minorities.