inspired: realness

I'm sharing a second article this week from theroot.com that I found really interesting for a number of reasons. I've just recently become a facebook 'fan' of theirs and have really been enjoying their perspectives (I've decided to add a place for links in my sidebar just for them (:), but this one in particular seems to come right on time in the midst of the racial craze that the Skip Gates case has incited.

Has Anyone Noticed That Romeo Is Black?

This article resonated with me intitially because it only further confirms for me how much more 'liberal' British casting always seems to be. My gf has made an avid BBC watcher of me (except for her sci-fi thangs which she gets to watch solo) and I am always so impressed by how much more real their portrayals generally are. i.e., no bs color-conscious casting or censoring of gay relationships on scripted shows, and little-to-no sugar-coating on gritty documentaries. Needless to say I'm a huge fan. And during all of this incessant coverage on clearly unimproving race relations in 21st century America, it makes me wonder why our mainstream 'artists'- those writing and casting for film and television in particular- aren't doing anything to take a stand.

Unity (not 'tolerance') will never be achieved until the incessant dialoguing turns into action. And all of the programming decisions being made to appeal to middle-America (if that's even the target audience?) will never forge that action until they start depicting real, diverse relationships and stop shielding already sheltered audiences from reality. Whatever happened to art imitating life? Close-minded Americans will stay that way until they realize that love exists in many forms, and the relationships they shun may in fact be had by people they admire and respect- or at least the ones they enjoy watching once in awhile (: Meaningful change can only come about through honesty and openness, the willingness to change will grow from those seeds.

Shout out to American programming working to break the barriers down:

-most recently, Jesse L. Martin and Neve Campbell cast as a power-couple on NBC's The Philanthropist (*love)

-TLC made a valiant, albeit a bit cheesey, attempt at effective dialogue with Guess Who's Coming Over (*I only saw the pilot and haven't seen an episode or ad since, but appreciated the concept)

-in film, Starting Out in the Evening and Rachel Getting Married made my heart happy featuring uncontroversial interracial relationships. Starting didn't get nearly as much press but I highly recommend it- I dig Lauren Ambrose and the story is really compelling. (*it's rare enough to find 'unconventional' relationships in film, I appreciate when the couple's differences aren't the central theme of the story being told)