Diversity/Racism or just Reality?

[qtlaw]

Watched Dazed and Confused on airplane today. Funny movie, I lived that whole movie and it got me thinking about how non “diverse” the cast was. But I thought I grew up in a town just like that, did those very things, drove those cars and you know what? The same lack of diversity. It’s a function of what is around. Sometimes, okay most time, diversity is beyond your control. Racism is real, but I’m starting to think we oroject it many times base on a lack of diversity when it’s not there.

 

[Batman]

Watched Dazed and Confused on airplane today. Funny movie, I lived that whole movie and it got me thinking about how non “diverse” the cast was. But I thought I grew up in a town just like that, did those very things, drove those cars and you know what? The same lack of diversity. It’s a function of what is around. Sometimes, okay most time, diversity is beyond your control. Racism is real, but I’m starting to think we oroject it many times base on a lack of diversity when it’s not there.

For that particular movie, it was small town Texas in the mid-70s and following a group of friends around. How "diverse" should the cast have been? Other than the football players who might have been on the same team (and I know there was at least one black kid that whacks Mitch with the "Soul Pole" paddle), how many white kids and black kids were hanging around with each other back then? A lot of areas were probably still segregated.
I do think people project it way too much. And if you're doing it with Dazed and Confused, you're really reading too much into it.

 

[qtlaw]

For that particular movie, it was small town Texas in the mid-70s and following a group of friends around. How "diverse" should the cast have been? Other than the football players who might have been on the same team (and I know there was at least one black kid that whacks Mitch with the "Soul Pole" paddle), how many white kids and black kids were hanging around with each other back then? A lot of areas were probably still segregated.
I do think people project it way too much. And if you're doing it with Dazed and Confused, you're really reading too much into it.

That's my point, there were a lot of areas that were still segregated and was that conscious or just what happened? I'm not projecting that the movie was what was around everywhere. I said its what I lived.

 

[Batman]

That's my point, there were a lot of areas that were still segregated and was that conscious or just what happened? I'm not projecting that the movie was what was around everywhere. I said its what I lived.

I'd guess the latter. I think Richard Linklater has said it's based on his experience.
Hell, I grew up in New Jersey in the early 90s and if I wrote a movie about my high school experience I doubt it'd look much different. I hung out with a few Middle Eastern, Indian and Pakistani kids (it was a tiny nerd clique) but we didn't have a ton of black kids in a school of 1,200.

 

[micropolitan guy]

A rare movie in that Matthew McConaughey isn't the coolest male character.

 

[Scout]

My high school had over 2,000 people but less than 10 were black.

We had many more Asian and Hispanic students than black. Diversity would need to include them.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Thing is, I was at a high school of military brats. A fairly diverse mix. Was also in a band with a director with HBCU background in charge.

Military might have allowed a little more chauvinism and homophobia, but racism was not fractionally as obvious. Given that I had family on one side that saw a LOT of racism growing up, I'd like to think that our generation made progress. Like a lot of other issues, we have made some progress, but we have a long, long way to go.

 

[DanOregon]

I mentioned on the movie threat how "white" the new Tarantino movie is. You have to scroll down quite a ways to find a person who isn't white on the IMDB page. I realize Manson and those in the story are white - and I think it is progress when an all-white cast is pretty glaring. Shoot, the West Wing - the liberal political fantasy only added Charlie's character after the pilot. And how was it that the Big Bang Theory last 13 years or whatever and didn't have one Asian as a semi-regular?

 

[Batman]

And how was it that the Big Bang Theory last 13 years or whatever and didn't have one Asian as a semi-regular?

Maybe they figured the Indian guy that was one of the core group, and his sister and parents who were recurring characters, counted for that quota.

 

[heyabbott]

Maybe they figured the Indian guy that was one of the core group, and his sister and parents who were recurring characters, counted for that quota.

They were scared of playing into the stereotype of the Asian nerd. Not having an Asian was actually progressive.
And yet technically, India is an Asian country, is it not

 

[DanOregon]

Or they could have written an Asian character who busted the stereotype. I give BBT a lot of credit. It seems like a "nerd sitcom" has hit the airwaves every three years (and crashed early) since the first Revenge of the Nerds came out and this one landed in a big way.

 

[qtlaw]

Idea, yes there’s racism but IMHO 90% of discrimination is driven by economics discrimination, they don’t care what color they are screwing over.

 

[cyclingwriter2]

This thread reminds of an old Mad Magazine spoof of The Goonies. Two black kids on bikes are off to the side as the main cast is being introduced:
First kid: “why arent there any black people in this movie?”
Second kid: “I heard the naacp wrote the producers a letter.”
First kid: “to demand an apology?
Second kid: “no, it was a thank you letter. Have you seen this movie?”

 

[exmediahack]

Also look at Seinfeld, Friends and Melrose Place in the 1990s. As white as they come even as they were set in huge, diverse metro areas.

It’s much more diverse now — think medical dramas as Grey’s Anatomy set a standard but, three years before that, City of Angels was Black ER.

 

[Alma]

Or they could have written an Asian character who busted the stereotype. I give BBT a lot of credit. It seems like a "nerd sitcom" has hit the airwaves every three years (and crashed early) since the first Revenge of the Nerds came out and this one landed in a big way.

Kaley Cuoco. One-person Greek chrous. The show critiqued itself all along. Part of its staying power.

 

[Batman]

Also look at Seinfeld, Friends and Melrose Place in the 1990s. As white as they come even as they were set in huge, diverse metro areas.

It’s much more diverse now — think medical dramas as Grey’s Anatomy set a standard but, three years before that, City of Angels was Black ER.

Having watched a **** ton of Friends reruns in the past year or two, that show gets a bit of a bad rap on this front. Ross' first wife was a lesbian from the pilot on, and they had a lesbian wedding in the first season (1994-95). IIRC, Phoebe also had a gay husband as a quickie marriage of convenience, although that plot was resolved quickly. The idea of accepting a loved one's homosexuality was a big theme the first season or two.
Ross' second major relationship was with an Asian woman, and he and Joey both dated a black woman (the same woman) later on. There was another episode where they were both lusting after a new black neighbor as well.
Yeah, the core cast was all white. But they were gently pushing some boundaries on that show from the beginning.