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Diane Haithman is contributing to Deadline’s TCA coverage.
At this 2010 TCA, the issue of depicting diversity on shows has become a key talking point as the broadcast networks present their new programming to the media. First, it was CBS’ Nina Tassler admitting she was disappointed with her outlet’s track record” on depicting gay and lesbian characters after CBS recently received another failing grade from GLAAD. Then CBS producer/talk host Sarah Gilbert discussed how her lesbian sexual orientation will be part of the story on her show The Talk. At NBC, much was made of the two black romantic leads in its spy series Undercovers, and the Indian stereotypes on Outsourced. Today, it was ABC’s turn. Its hour-long documentary-style show My Generation (based on the Swedish show “On God’s Highway”) tracks 9 characters through a 10-year-period from high school to young adulthood in Austin, TX. The first question for the panel from TV critics was: Why no gay character? The show’s creator and executive producer Noah Hawley responded that the audience would be “meeting more characters. We have families and this whole high school class that we can meet over time. We are going to continue to push the diversity. That is really important to us.” Added executive producer Warren Littlefield, “I think there are some gay people in Texas, so – yes.”
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Yes, it’s extremely important to have diversity on a show (not just the talent, but in members of the crew too).
But having said that, I don’t think we should be operating on a quota system. Everything should be done naturally. In other words, yes, it makes sense that a show about high schoolers would involve at least one gay character because there’s always a gay person at every high school. But no, it makes no sense to say “hey, how come not one of the 9 main characters is gay!”
Using inverse logic, we could say “how come not one of the main characters on ‘The Real L Word’ is straight?!” or “how come there’s not enough heterosexuals represented on LOGO?!”
Just my thoughts…
Did you actually say “there is always ONE Gay person at every High School”? Actually depending on the size of the High School on the average there are HUNDREDS.
I think there’s an implied ‘at least’ in that sentence – not to mention, not every gay student is out in high school.
Diversity in a crew is extremely important? How so? Those people don’t appear on the show. Talent and skill is what’s important when it comes to the crew.
Talent and skill only matter in the crew?
So if someone is of the correct demographic you are going to shove them in-front of the camera?
Talent, skill, and persistence are all that matters. In-front, behind, beside, or manufacturing of the camera.
“Talent and skill is what’s important when it comes to the crew.”
Right. Tell that to the women and minorities trying to get crew jobs.
Lets let Hollywood continue to obsess over political correctness…Its working so well.
The writers are king. If they don’t create characters of diversity, then there won’t be characters of diversity. Hopefully, the networks let the writers reign.
I’m an Indian woman and I’m a writer. Curious to know… Hey, ANONYMOUS, what nationality are you?
as a minority who tried, unsuccessfully, to get in the industry behind the scenes….getting more color behind the camera isn’t easy because Hollywood is still inherently “scared” of minorities
Many people try to break into show business and fail, regardless of ethnicity.
I want to begin by saying that in general I support the idea of diversity. I do not however support the idea of it based solely on ethnicity. What tends to happen when race is the identifying factor is that stereotypes and generalizations of certain ethic groups occur. Such stereotypes and generalization often misrepresent said ethnic group and perpetuate ignorance, fear and a lack of understanding. Diversity of thought or of socio-economic status is infinitely more interesting and yields stories that are more universal.
Let’s take the tv show Sex & the City for example. Women the world over tuned in each week to follow the dating habits of women not because they shared the same racial background but because they could identify with their plights. The four leads were as diverse to their paths of love as any four people could be and yet their friendship held it all together. The show’s theme transcended race. True fans didn’t need one of the characters to be of a certain ethnicity because that was not the point.
I will use Sex & the City again but this time to address a lack of diversity that could have easily been addressed. They lived in the most culturally diverse city in the world and largely managed to live beyond even seeing many people of different ethnic backgrounds. Possible, yes. Probable, no, not in New York City. So when the ladies are at Central Park and there are no ethnic looking people anywhere…that just seems odd and/or lazy on the part of production. How hard can it be to find ethnically diverse extras in New York? How hard is it to cast a Black bartender who simply asks Carrie what she’d like to drink or an Asian woman who doesn’t work in a nail shop or is not the submissive lover of a male guest lead but a neighbor of Charlotte’s? It’s not necessary all the time but paying attention to the setting makes all the difference. It is not unreasonable to believe that four Caucasian women don’t have more ethnically diverse friends. Furthermore, that’s the part of the story the writer creates. However it is unreasonable for the world around them not to reflect a certain amount of truth especially if that place is New York City circa present. Complaints about diversity often come when the story world belies the story’s own world.
My point is this: diversity based on physical identifiers alone is baseless. The result of such diversity breeds resentment and contempt behind the camera and stereotypes and caricatures in front neither of which bring forth respect and appreciation for our differences.
Jesus, that might well be the most reasoned, thoughtful and articulate comment I’ve seen on this site since back in the days when mostly only industry insiders knew of and read it to get updates on the strike.
Kind of makes me realize what a different site it’s become since it went mainstream…
These articles crack me up. Diversity. My ass. That just means color, gender and sexual preference in Hollywood. Try a different political point of view, other that Liberal and see how “diversity” treats you.
As a producer I need to comment on this badly.
1) the writers will write what they want sold. The studio excuitives will buy what they want to see. So guess who bends to get the story sold?
2)sex and the city? Really? Why don’t you use desperate housewives? Guess what women all over DO NOT watch these shows. I don’t because I find showslike that not only sexist but racist also. Give me glenn close or cch pounder on the shield any day of the week over those idiotic characters.
3) I have tried along with my casting director to cast diverse. I live in a major acting town and guess what? A majority of the time a gender or racial minority never is there in the audtioning process. The fews times I have finally gotten past that hurdle then we ran into the problem of who could actually play the part of the character. (Based totally on acting skills alone). Then if I got past that hurdle too then whoo hoo! We got a diverse cast!
4) you need diversity behind the camera- from the studio excutives all the way to the 3rd ast. Uncredited catering help. If not, then nothing will change
I have to say I completely disagree with the idea of gay characters being necessary to increase diversity. Unless a character’s dating life or relationship status is specifically addressed, there is no way of knowing what their sexual orientation is. The same is true behind the camera or in the workplace in general. One’s race or ethnicity is, generally speaking, more evident. One need not say that someone “chooses” their sexual orientation to say that a person can choose not to make it anyone’s business.
I’m gonna generalize here… I wonder if all the naysayers about diversity are white.
and that’s racist.
yeah, i’m white. yeah, i’m not a fan of diversity. not because all people shouldn’t have equal opportunity, but because the entire premise of doing things for the sake of diversity is to exclude straight white men. it’s a form of racism. what if i said all the people in support of diversity are non-white or not straight or not male? it’s not cool. the reverse isn’t either.
when democratic senator james webb agrees with pat buchanon that diversity programs have become unfair in their pursuit of a quota equality, the system is obviously broken.
I’m so fed up with diversity hiring.
There. I said it. What everyone is thinking.
Hiring, especially within story departments, should be color blind. It shouldn’t matter what color a writer is… if they can write a great script, they should get a job.
Unfortunately, diversity hiring is becoming a hindrance to story departments. Diversity writers are “required” so diversity writers who don’t make the grade are kept on. People are too afraid to fire them and appear to be anti-diversity. I’ve seen this happen year after year.
Is this what the diversity program has become? Keep diverse writers who can’t write simply to fill a show’s quota instead of hiring writers, of any color, who can write amazing scripts.
You hit the heart of the problem. Well said. To meet quotas just to say you’re diverse goes against everything the great Dr. MLK jr said:
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Hollywood, stop hiring by race. By trying to avoid being called a racist, your actions are in themselves, racist. Not hiring anybody because of what the color of their skin is or isn’t, is racist.
Fed-up –
1) No it shouldn’t matter what color the writer is – but this is Earth, so it does.
2) Just because the one showrunner you know only hangs out with white people doesn’t mean efforts to include different perspectives are worthless or somehow deleterious to the creative process. And since when can only “diverse writers” suck? Everybody on “Gossip Girl” is Graham fucking Greene now?
3)Diversity programs are PR cover for the networks when the NAACP holds its annual press conference lamenting how board rooms, writer’s rooms and sets are 99% white which, after all, is fair because whites are 99% of the population. Oh, wait.
While I cannot speak for everyone, race/gender/sexuality is only important if you are not seeing people you identify with. I am getting more and more turned off by the obvious attempts to cram lots of different races on a show. I will never watch “Outsourced,” have no interest in “Undercovers” and am not sitting in front of the set wondering: “Where are all of the GLBT people?” Just let it happen naturally, everyone. I just roll my eyes and change the channel when I see a “one of each” show.
“Diversity,” what a garbage word. What the hell does that even mean? “Hey, that ABC show was a total piece of shit, but it was so diverse! Kudos, shitty show!”
Let’s just take the casting breakdowns and do an exact copy of the next census numbers. That will make broadcast TV funnier, smarter, cooler…
To a point, a gay character makes good sense. Gays themselves are tastemakers and have a lot of cultural influence beyond their demographic numbers. You’ll lose some uptight Americans, but your show will be discussed and written about.
I agree with Fed Up that diversity writers who “do not make the grade” shouldn’t be kept on staff simply for being “diverse”. But the truth is, most of the time, they are not kept on staff. Some times, unfortunately, they are. The same can be said for white male writers who “do not make the grade” but are kept on staff for a variety of reasons (previous work relations, friendships, family relations.. nepotism). To say that “diverse” writers are a “hindrance to story departments” is such a broad stroke. It infers that white male writers are the only ones who can do the job. One of the many reasons for these “diversity” (I hate the term) hires is because these inroads aren’t as available for many female writers and writers of color. Believe it or not, there are some really good minority writers who would never have gotten the “in” were it not for these initiatives. The bad ones, black or white, shouldn’t be there.
True in so many ways. But let’s ask the Deadline to do a real survey of first time staff writers staffed this season. How many white? How many diversity? My guess: First time diversity hires will be 75% of first time writers on staff. I would be very interested to see that study done.
Why don’t these “fed-up” commentors identify their race? I’m an Indian Woman. I’m for diversity because if diversity didn’t exist NO ONE would give a shit to hire an Indian woman much less any othe minority.
Mr. Fed Up, there are many, many, many Caucasian writers who got hired by their Caucasian buddies who couldn’t write and then got promoted. So your “hindrance” argument is BS.
Pat Buchanan ranted that “White men created the Declaration Of Independence”. Well, I’ll be if there was some diversity on that writing staff there would have been some better writing.
Dear Elia,
I want to be clear about this:I hate Pat Buchanan with the kind of scorching heat that would make the sun seem like a Jersey Shore tanning bed. But your statement about the whiteness of the authors of the Declaration of Independence: “Well, I’ll bet if there was some diversity on that writing staff there would have been some better writing.”
Are you kidding me? Are you an idiot? Have you read it? Try taking a stab at reading one of the greatest and most eloquent world changing documents ever written and then maybe I’ll take your statement seriously.
You do not deserve a spot on any writing staff…unless it’s on the Jersey Shore. Your ignorance would be a fine match.
Let’s face it. The only color Hollywood cares about is GREEN. If any type of minority or ethnicity proves to have the potential to generate $$$ then they will surely find their way onto and behind TV screens.
This is a challenge for Nellie or another Deadline reporter:
Take a survey of every network and cable scripted show asking who they hired as a first time staff writer this year. First time staff writers only. Give us the percentages of “white guy” to “diversity hire”.
If you want to be scientific about it, try to find out what percentage of those hires were brought on directly from diversity programs vs. who earned the spot without the aid of those programs.
Whichever side it lands on, I think an honest report by Deadline could provide a definitive answer to the rhetoric here being blasted around here and elsewhere on this matter.
If you had any talent whatsoever, you’d get hired. I’m a minority woman, and I work as much as any white man in the biz. Stop blaming everyone else because you don’t have the skills to make it.
White writers=white characters 99% of the time. I believe that the demographics of our society are hugely different. If it weren’t for diversity programs, you’d all be hiring your buddies and let’s face it, they’re white. Then we have to suffer a minority character written from a white point of view which has historically been a recurring monument to stereotyping and then we have to hear about how talent should dictate hiring which would explain why 99% of writers are white since white boys are apparently just better writers. I guess only Asians should be doing math. So here’s an equation for you to write down:
white writers=white characters
So you’re calling white producers who happen to hire a white writer racist. Nice. And classy. You’re classy. This is a hard business. If you suck, you don’t get to keep the job long even if there’s some kind of preference.
EVERYBODY is born with equal potential to perform. Talent does not belong only to white, black, brown or yellow. It’s time we trust that and stop providing short cuts to make studios feel better about themselves when groups demand they meet senseless quotas. Let’s all just perform on an even level. Hiring somebody because of what their skin color is, by that very act, is racist. Passing over another writer because of the same issue is the same.
Let’s just stop racism in all it’s forms. Two wrongs won’t make it right.
Dear Biting hand,
Also, 99% of white writers don’t allow minorities to use the same bathrooms they do. I don’t care what color you are, you’re an idiot.