TV Tokenism

NBC's (and DirecTV's) FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

FIRST SEASON

Smash is only black main character in the first set of characters. He is developed emotionally. 
The Taylors, the main family, which everything revolves around, is white.

 FIFTH SEASON

Season 5, Episode 3

1:05-End

Vince is the only black male character in the second set of characters. He is poor, has had trouble with the law, a very good athlete, has father issues, hmm... But, he is very developed emotionally and is NOT the "token black guy."
Now, we have a black female character as well. At first she dates Landry, the boy on the right, but then soon starts dating Vince again.

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It's as Simple as Black and White

Friends is one of the most famous and timeless shows of the last 20 years. It captivated 20-somethings, 30-somethings, and even teenagers. It captivated me a couple years ago and I'm sure many of you as well. I've seen every episode, at least two or three times, and that's not even that much compared to even bigger fans. I've bought books about the show. I've searched the corners of the internet for information/facts/gossip regarding a show that ended eight years ago. 

But it wasn't until I was sitting in class on Friday, that I realized that there are almost no black people in Friends. I'm not just saying that none of the six friends are black. That's obvious and I knew that. But look around the coffee shop and look at who they date. It's white. Very white with a few exceptions: Ross dates Julie, as Asian-American, Ross and Joey both date Kristen, played by Gabrielle Union, for one episode, and Joey and Ross both briefly date Charlie, a black women. I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple of characters, but you get my point. Friends is white. But why? The show is set in New York City. Are you telling me that there are no twenty-something, hip, urban black people, in NYC from 1994-2004? I don't think that's why.

But what would it be like if one of the friends was black? Would they make race part of the show? I don't think NBC wanted that burden. I don't think they wanted to have to explain how one black man or women ended up friends with five white people from Queens or Long Island. It is because black and white groups of friends don't exist? Is it because the creators, David Crane and Martha Kauffman, didn't think these groups existed? Is it because having a mixed group of black and white people wouldn't appeal to a black or white audience? 

My Trip to Vegas

I just arrived home from a visit to Las Vegas, Nevada. I went there for a soccer tournement but I also had the pleasure of seeing the Bellagio Casino. I had never been inside a casino before, much less played roulette or the slots. I was with my parents, a friend, and her dad after seeing Cirque du Soleil and they decided to let me see what attracts millions of people to Vegas: gambling.



The Bellagio Casino, one of the nicest casinos in Vegas.



The friend's dad, we will call him Mr. Jones, went to an ATM machine and withdrew a crisp $100 bill. Let me add that he paid a $5 ATM charge for that withdrawal. Next, we walked over to the Roulette tables, where Mr. Smith, the somewhat experienced gambler chose a table. He watched the table for a couple minutes and then sat down and exchanged his $100 bill for 20, $5 chips. Then he started betting. I watched, hoping he would "hit it big." He didn't. I think it took 5 minutes for his $100 to become property of the Bellagio Casino, leaving him with nothing to show for it except a desire to gamble more.

Don't get me wrong, he had fun, my parents had fun, and my friend and I had fun. It was very odd though. He had just lost $100 in about 5 minutes but he hadn't lost much in comparison to the majority of the people in the casino. The value of money at casinos is so different from any other place. At what other place can you spend $100 and have nothing to show for it? What does this say about us as Americans- or rather those that gamble, that they just give their money to these casinos with a small chance of "hitting it big?"

Derrick Rose: America's Anti-LeBron

        If you know me well, then you know I love Derrick Rose. I love the Bulls, I love NBA basketball, but I love Derrick Rose the most. I'm not alone--Chicago loves Derrick Rose. And many NBA fans favor Rose over other superstars like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Dwayne Wade. 
       
        While I believe Rose is as talented as those players, some people don't. In this post, I am just going to focus on Rose vs. James. On the court, he doesn't argue calls like James, but at the same time, he isn't as polarizing of a player as James. To me, and many NBA fans, part of Rose's allure is who he is off the court. He is so much of what we as Americans want in our athletes: Strong, talented, captivating, while still maintaining a humble and quiet profile off the court. 

The picture that briefly took over the media,
but never really threatened Derrick Rose's image. 

        As Rose fans, we have constructed this persona that is Derrick Rose. We see him as modest and shy, and dispute anybody who says he's selfish. After all, he grew up in Englewood, rooting for the Chicago Bulls. He's our hometown hero. And at this point, no scandal has overthrown him as the new king of Chicago. Sure, Derrick has made the news with minor scandals, first the picture of him flashing a gang sign, and then the news of him not taking his SAT to get into Memphis. As fans, we have pardoned him from those bad decisions. 


        We all know James' "scandal." He ripped the hearts out of the Cleveland faithful when he televised his decision to join Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. He comes across as cocky and arrogant. He said the following comments after losing to the Mavericks in last years NBA finals: 

“All the people that were rooting for me to fail… at the end of the day, tomorrow they have to wake up and have the same life that (they had) before they woke up today. They got the same personal problems they had today." 

       You really aren't helping yourself, LeBron. We get it, you make A LOT of money, but you don't have to remind people that regardless of losing, your life is still better then theirs. Derrick would never say anything like that (and if he did, it would somehow be okay). Are we (yeah, you hate James too) right in criticizing James for everything he does? Why do we hold James to a higher standard than Rose and any other player in the league?


Interested in reading more about the most hated NBA players? Click here for a list brought to you by Forbes.

College Admissions Incorporated

I don't want to brag or anything, but I got about six college letters from colleges today. Hofstra, Carthage, Simpson, Minnesota, and SMU- apparently they all want me. 

I received this email from Babson College, who
is apparently on a first name basis with me. 

Or that's what I'd like to think. But I realized a long time ago, when I got emails from Brown and University of Virginia, schools that they don't really want me, as I'm not academically qualified. Rather they want my application. They are supposedly "impressed" with me, as Babson College is, shown to the right.

The college admissions process is a business in itself. Colleges and universities want their school to look better than other schools. They want their  U.S. News and World Report ranking to be higher. They want more applicants, regardless of whether of not they are qualified. They want to seem more prestigious.

Just take Claremont McKenna's recent scandal in which the school submitted false SAT scores to raise its ranking in The U.S. News and World Reports College Rankings. While the difference in the actual scores seems minimal, sometimes only 10 points, it still makes a difference in the rankings according to a New York Times article.  In the article, Robert Franek, the senior vice president of publishing for The Princeton Review, said, "10 points, 30 points to a student that isn’t getting that score on the SAT could be an important distinction." While this case may be specific to Claremont McKenna, its clear that colleges will do anything to look better. 

What do those college emails and letters mean to you? How do you think the business of college admissions and rankings affects high school students?