Is there such a thing?
Two recent premieres got me thinking – if every show maxes out diversity, aren’t they just homogeneous?
Case #1
During the premiere of “Emily Reasons Why Not” (and what turned out to also be the series finale, a rare feat indeed), Heather Graham sat in a living room with two friends, a woman (who looked to be mixed race) and a black guy. (Note: I’m told that using the term “black” is okay again.) Heather’s character, Emily, is complaining about her love life. The girlfriend chimes in and, as the black guy is about to speak for the first time, I pause the recording and say to my wife, “I predict that, by the end of this guy’s first sentence, we will know he’s gay.” I push play and the guy makes a wisecrack to the effect that he “can’t choose the right guy.”
Case #2
On the premiere of “Love Monkey” (which shows promise, by the way) white lead character Tom has three friends: 1) his white brother-in-law 2) a white former pro athlete and 3) a rich black man. By the end of the show, we discover the former pro athlete is actually gay.
Now, I have no problem with diversity on television. America is a diverse country and television is beginning to represent that. My question is: when is enough enough? If you have ten shows about single people navigating the dating scene, and all of them have casts like the ones I described, aren’t they just homogeneous?
