The Fairy Princess has been lax – no, not hanging in LA, just lax in general because she has been checking out what is going on with Asian Americans in Entertainment, and, truthfully – it is getting better. So she wanted to point you in the direction of some things you may/may not be aware of, and just…well, see if it gives you any hope.
FRESH OFF THE BOAT, DR. KEN and QUANTICO ALL GET FULL SEASON ORDERS!
Thanks ABC – that was well done.
And over at The CW – the writers at Crazy Ex-Girlfriend have given “Josh Chan” – played by Vincent Rodriguez III – his very own boy band number to accompany their full season order!
It’s like a K-Pop video with only your favorite member in it!
In other news about singing and dancing Asian Americans…..
ALLEGIANCE has officially ‘frozen’ their show!
Oh sorry, that’s a GOOD thing – it means that, for those who have been keeping up with this groundbreaking show, that the changes that have been occurring on almost a daily basis during their Previews are concluded. The show is ‘Frozen”, in other words – anyone viewing the show from now until the Opening on November 8, 2015, will be seeing the same show.
In ad finitum.
ALLEGIANCE is not the ONLY show that one should be aware of – oh no, my children…there is yet ANOTHER show aside from that has an Asian American Cast entering it’s previews…
The show is called CHARLES FRANCIS CHAN JR’S EXOTIC ORIENTAL MURDER MYSTERY.
Some may see this title and think…
but TFP is here to tell you to NOT lose your sh*t.
Hold on to it, because this is being produced by the National Asian American Theatre Company, and it is written by esteemed playwright, Lloyd Suh.
Here is the log line: 1967: The auspicious beginnings of a new political identity called Asian American, a young literary hippie named Frank essays an inscrutable Chinese detective. A harmless sing-song orientalist minstrel show that ENDS IN A GROSTESQUE CARNIVAL OF MURDER!
If you go to www.naatco.orgyou can find ticket information – it is running from November 2-21st. Tickets are $40.
Directed by Ed Sylvanus Iskandar and starring Jeff Biehl, Jennifer Ikeda, Peter Kim, Orville Mendoza, KK Moggie, Jeffrey Omura
Other cool things to look for – BD Wong on GOTHAM, AMC’s INTO THE BADLANDS which is new, but also AMC’s Hell on Wheels…kinda rocking TFP’s world there AMC!
There is some stuff going on!
For those who are mourning the possible death of The Walking Dead’s GLENN, played of course by Steve Yeun, there was a particularly funny ‘take’ on what some consider to be television tragedy over at You Offend Me, You Offend My Family website, posted by Phil – and I will leave you with that.
The Fairy Princess is recovering from the joy of seeing that Dallas Summer Musicals has cast the very talented Alan Ariano in the role of The King in their production of Rogers and Hammerstein’s The King & I. She was also thrilled to see that the Broadway Cast of the same show has wound up in Vogue Magazine, and that Anna Wintour is rumored to be taking over the Red Carpet of the TONY Awards so that everyone stops wearing a dress ripped from The Little Mermaid and puts on a damn eyelash!
These are good things and must be celebrated accordingly.
Then she read this article from Hollywood Deadline which yes, ‘reports’ Insider industry news, but in this case has forgone actual facts and gave us instead, a fearful Zombie Apocolypse “What if“, should projects like EMPIRE continue to decimate all others on the television and cable landscape and leak it’s considerable influence into pilot season.
Apparently the writer at Hollywood Deadline is concerned about all these pesky minority actors getting opportunity.
In fact, the writer of this, Nellie Andreeva, is so concerned about minorities booking jobs on television shows, she is so fearful of the result this may have on , well, I guess on ‘the children‘, everyone is always worried about ‘the children’ right?, that she has manufactured her own ‘backlash’ with the ridiculous question – has Hollywood in pilot season ‘gone too far‘ in casting minorities during Pilot season?
“The TV and film superhero ranks have been overly white for too long, workplace shows should be diverse to reflect workplace in real America, and ethnic actors should get a chance to play more than the proverbial best friend or boss.
But replacing one set of rigid rules with another by imposing a quota of ethnic talent on each show might not be the answer. Empire, Black-ish, Jane the Virgin and Fresh Off The Boat have been breakouts because they represent worlds and points of view that were not on TV‘
Hmmm. So what you are saying is that now that there is Jane The Virgin, the television landscape is full and we no longer have a need for a world with Latinos on our screens?
TFP has one word for you – Univision. (Look it up)
Did anyone else get a little ‘privilege’ in their eye, or was that just The Fairy Princess?
And now you are going to ‘come at me’ because my eyes are a slightly different shape, oh Miss Andreeva?
I don’t think so.
First of all, the logic here is faulty – Networks are not casting more creatively because Cookie Lyon needs a friend with a fabulous hat and four inch heels on another network – they are casting that way because the world in which we live, in America, is colorful. As TFP has often said, and which is backed by actual numbers – Diversity equals Dollars!
Producers are not sitting around trying to think “Hey, how can I cast a show that totally will not find an audience and will waste everyone’s time and money” – No, they are not. They are trying to make shows that sell. Television is the one place in the world where ‘trickle down’ theory works (perhaps that is where President Regan got it, when he was President of SAG) does not work economically, but in showbiz? Yeah, it works.
In the long history of Television in America, they have always, always done the exact same thing – they look at what is on television that is finding an audience, pulling in revenue, and entertaining people and then they toddle along and try to do that same thing. That #TGIT is making everyone wake up to the reality that there are strong Actresses of Color who can anchor a show and keep viewers coming back week after week with smart, snappy dialogue, and complex plot lines is a great thing. That this investment in opening minds is the brainchild, essentially, of one woman, Shonda Rhimes, is staggering.
The fact that Tina Fey and Mindy Kaling have two of the most successful and talked about comedies available to watch is mind blowing. That Maurissa Tancharoen Whedon has successfully rewritten the narrative of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to include an expanded possibility of what it means to be seen as a Hero in America, is nothing short of amazing. The Gender Gap that was so prevalent behind the camera in the creation of shows is not fixed, not by a LONG shot, but the successes of it cannot be argued with it. Nanatchka Khan has created a number one network comedy with Fresh Off The Boat – have any of their shows ‘suffered’ by waving the banner of diversity?
No.
Looking, Orange Is The New Black, Devious Maids all yes, meet a ‘demographic’ audience, but they surpass what is expected – because when there are multiple actors who can pull from varying life experiences, it gives the writers that much more to work with.
One could even argue that these shows are not waving any banner at all – they just cast wider, they looked further than the ‘status quo’ – they looked to the world.
Grey’s Anatomy was successful,
so now we have The Night Shift.
NCIS was successful, so now we have one in every damn city except Poughkeepsie…and that is probably coming if Mark Harmon gets a summer house there. The joy in this for ethnic performers is that they can finally have a Pilot Season flush with auditions just like less pigmented friends!
‘You booked a Pilot? Hey wait, ME TOO! – HIGH FIVE!”
Actors do not live in a bubble of privilege unless they are a child of celebrities – Actors are out there, seeing plays, supporting friends, making connections – and they get, sorry ‘we’ get, that the world is made up of supremely talented people – people who through career longevity and talent should get that moment of peace that being on a television show will give them artistically, which will have a ripple effect to their career, and that skin color has nothing to do with talent.
Color has only do to with opportunity and perception in Hollywood – and that is a truth most will not admit, but it is a truth nonetheless.
If you are an API Woman you will get called in for a hooker at least once in your career, to a cop show, because they are going to do the classic variant of ‘a brothel in Chinatown’ story that shows up on EVERY cop show. If you are Latino, you are going to be called for a Gang Member at some point in your career – why? Because that same Cop Show has a Latino Gang episode.
You may meet the API Hooker in the hallway of the audition and you kind of give each other a ‘Hey, what’s up” – because you both know why you are there – you are there to up the ‘Diversity Numbers’ for that particular show so that the Producers do not have to have ‘a conversation’ about Diversity on their show set in a major city with no Ethnic Main characters, even though the city in which the show is set, has large ethnic populations.
Or that is the way it has been.
However it seems that THIS pilot season…things are changing!
There is a clause in the SAG Contract that the Producers sign about this very issue – it is worded that the Producers, in getting the permission from SAG/AFTRA to produce this show, that THEY agree to ‘reflect the American scene’, which is what they are finally doing!
Casting is an art – if it is done well, as most Directors can tell you, they do not have to do much ‘heavy lifting’ at all. Some of the most successful shows on television right now – ABC’s Fresh Off The Boat, Fox’s Empire, CBS’s Elementary demonstrate that bringing Casts together of different experiences and backgrounds enhances the ability to tell compelling stories. Also, according to Scientific American, Diversity makes you smarter!
But you do not have to take TFP’s word for it, we can look at what people ON TV RIGHT NOW IN HIT SHOWS are saying:
For example, Constance Wu, when interviewed by TIME said:
It’s important to see Asians in those leading roles because it changes what I’m calling the anglo-heteronormative status of TV. [Imagine] that a producer says, “Guy and girl meet-cute at an ice skating rink. They fall in love, but then she has to move away.” If you say that to anyone, including an Asian person, you picture a white person because that’s what’s become normative to us.
She seems pretty smart…and if you do not think so, may TFP ask you when the last time you used the word “Anglo-heteronormative’?
There are of course, shows that exist ‘within a world’ that is, for all intents and purposes, Caucasian – AMC’s MAD MEN for example, but MAD MEN is wrestling with specific time period and the inclusion of women in the workplace and the change in America at the time. There are many, MANY more shows that exist within a Caucasian world than there are within the America we all actually live in – so to write –
“ABC’s medical drama pilot The Advocate was based on the story of former CAA agent Byrdie Lifson-Pompan and Dr. Valerie Ulene, who launched a healthcare consulting company. While the real-life inspiration for the two central character are both Caucasian, the show cast them with one white actress, Kim Raver, and one black, Joy Bryant’
is ridiculous.
Oh, it’s not?
You want to get into a discussion about WHITEWASHING ETHNIC PEOPLE OUT OF ROLES BY HOLLYWOOD NOW
MS. ANDREEVA?
Where to begin? Where to begin?
You want TFP to keep going or should we just let the Spirit of Bruce Lee smack you in the head, Ms. Andreeva?
TFP is gonna lay some truth down now, Ms. Adreeva, so get ready:
There is NO WAY that out of the HUNDREDS of pilots being shot, the casting of a small percentage of minority actors IN ANY WAY imperiles the status quo of white privilege in this country we know as America. Casting some people of color and gender and sexual preference on one or two televisions pilots that may or may not be picked up for broadcast will IN NO WAY harm Caucasian people in this country looking to turn on the television and see reflections of themselves.
You know why the pendulum will never, ever swing ‘too far‘ to prevent Caucasians from seeing themselves on television?
Because television is run by Caucasian people!
See all the Presidents…look close, can ya see what TFP is talking about?
They don’t look like they are leaving anytime soon, now, do they?
(Also, Gentlemen and Lady, thank you, sincerely, for shaking up your Pilot seasons and diversifying, congratulations on that)
1. Minority actors are underrepresented in film by a percentage of 3:1
2. Women are underrepresented in lead roles in a film by a factor of 2:1
3. More than 1/2 of the films had 10% OR LESS casting of Minority Actors
4. Minorities amongst Film Directors are underrepresented 3:1
5. Minorities are underrepresented among Writers by 5:1
6. In Television, Minorities in LEAD Roles are underrepresented 7:1
7. In Television, Minorities are, 7:1 more likely to be leads on REALITY SHOWS than Network shows (thanks Top Chef)
8. Minorities are underrepresented by a factor of 9:1 in creating Broadcast Comedies and Dramas
9. Women are underrepresented by a factor of 2:1 in creating Broadcast Comedies and Dramas, and are ‘less likely’ to be creators on Cable
10. Dominant Talent Agencies contribute little to Broadcast Television Diversity
So you can relax, Ms. Andreeva…’Mount HollywoodLand” is for the most part safe from these pesky hordes of creative people whose skin shade is not alabaster, who have feelings and talent and ambition and the will to use them – for the most part….in the grander scale of things…white television is safe, and will be for a long, long time.
TFP is sure you will sleep better at night, on your lvory pillow, wrapped in a blanket of Caucasian condescension within the fortress of solitude that the internet firewalls provide, so you do not have to interact with the peasants and dream on, Ms. Andreeva….
“We‘ of the minorities are not ‘coming for your TV“, we would just like to expand the meaning of what it means to see and be seen, and ‘we’ would like to book a pilot because for an Actor, it can be life changing. It can provide a bit of financial security, health insurance, and opportunity to continue on in a life of creation.
It has nothing to do with which way your pendulum swings….we have a broad definition of inclusiveness, in that we, of the minorities (which include people of age, sexual preference, color, women, differing physical abilities) would like to be seen in this country, and television is the best way to do that.
For stirring up racial panic in the midst of what looks to be a good Pilot season for Minorities, TFP fines you 35 whacks of the wand – you invoked racial fear to write a column that had no statistics to back it up, just a general sense of warning to show runners not to get ‘carried away’ with this pesky “People of Color” thing – and that is wrong. Flat out wrong. TFP read your article and was not going to say anything, because it was so poorly substantiated, but then she thought “what if someone actually takes you seriously?” and then she thought
Not only is it wrong, it is disheartening when there is good news, to have someone who has a national platform to discuss these issues, choose to come down to “Boogie Man’ threats that get in the way of progress.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
TFP is thrilled that Pilot Season is getting with the program of inclusion – it makes us all better – what you did, was to try and make it worse.
The Fairy Princess is not a Halloween fan. Not because she does not enjoy a good costume, she enjoys a good costume as much as the next person and she does not look down on anyone who dresses up their kid as a zombie or a princess or a butterfly, or any of the myriad of ridiculously cute costume choices available out there.
Some are amazing.
This is my friend’s daughter…they WIN! The Russo Family wins the Internet!
Some are heartfelt.
Some are completely inappropriate in a really fun way.
The Studs of the People’s Couch – Blake as Capt. America, Scott as Elaine Stritch, and Emerson as ‘The Bible Belt”
Some are culturally insensitive and donned by people who should know better. Which is why Halloween tends to not be TFP’s favorite holiday, when, honestly, it used to be.
She doesn’t like it that much anymore because of what some people choose to wear, because, well…they choose to wear Asian folks…like a coat. As someone who cannot ‘pick up, put down’ her skin and heritage anymore than a certain little girl in a certain film filled with joy and luck could pick up/put down chess, Halloween has, on occassion, become a rough holiday.
Yes, there are culturally offensive costumes, and they get worn every Halloween, by all sorts of people.
Yeah, the one who told us about ‘pain and sweat’ on the FAME teaser and who made us all want to be better versions of ourselves. Perhaps even, to be performers? That Debbie Allen?
Maybe there is another one?
Nope.
THIS DEBBIE ALLEN:
For that work on Fame, and A Different World, Motown 25, Amistad, the Debbie Allen Special and The Academy Awards, Ms. Allen was the recipient of 10 Image Awards from the NAACP.
Image Awards are given to those who are outstanding in her field – and make no doubt, Ms. Allen is outstanding in her field as a choreographer, an actor, a producer, a director….but The Fairy Princess is finding her choice of costume less than stellar.
The Fairy Princess could have done without this image.
Of course, dressing as a person of a different culture is always dicey to begin with, but the issue The Fairy Princess has is not only is this a dated image, it is inaccurate.
The mask Ms. Allen is wearing is ostensibly a Thai face and headpiece, but she is in Chinese pajamas, and flip flops! (One supposes from Bal’i Hai or some other place that people not of Asian heritage imagine Asian people are from.) Or maybe they are Manolos, who knows?
So that is the first issue – Ms. Allen, if you are going to attempt to represent an Asian person, pick one.
A Thai Dancer – not wearing Chinese PJs now, is she?
Just one.
Because if you do not, it falls under that ‘all look same‘ category in my book, and The Fairy Princess takes a very dim view of culturally smashing all of the Asian groups together with little to no regard as to what makes us so very unique and different.
As you are a wonderful dancer and choreographer, had you gone ‘full tilt Thai Dancer‘ – the costume, without the mask, The Fairy Princess would have given you a pass. Because costumes are ok – The Fairy Princess appreciates if you take the time to try and be honorable and authentic.
However you did not do that. Which, is, well…it’s lazy.
Which is a word that The Fairy Princess has never, EVER associated with Debbie Allen. Never.
The OTHER issue The Fairy Princess is having with this costume is -you are wearing it ON THE SET OF GREY’S ANATOMY!
A SHOW WHICH CURRENTLY SHOWCASES NO ASIAN AMERICAN TALENT AS SERIES REGULARS ON A SHOW SET IN SEATTLE IN A HOSPITAL.
Seattle has an Asian American population that has grown 8.1 % between 2010 and 2012 – and while looking at the numbers, you might think “Hey, 7.5% of a population of a city is not that much…”, you would be wrong.
Graphic from Seattle Times showing ethnic makeup of Seattle
Because it’s not really just that 7.5%, you see that green triangle? 3.7% – more than one race. Which means, Eurasians. Not that all who identify as two races are Eurasian, but having spent quite a lot of time in Seattle, The Fairy Princess can tell you there are a LOT of Eurasian children running around there. So there are a few more than 7.5%.
It’s a lot for one group – one group that keeps growing.
Also, among all 50 states, Washington State has the 5th HIGHEST population of Asian Americans, according to both the US Census and this article from The Seattle Times.
So let me spell it out for you –
1. No Asian Americans as Series Regulars on the show set in Seattle.
2. Seattle has 5th highest API population in the Country.
3. APIs are dominant in the medical profession in all areas, including research, nursing, and physicians
4. You came as an amalgam of Asian parts on Halloween, mocking the people who are least represented on that show, a show that is supposed to represent a city where APIs are a large part of the population.
In fact, one would be hard pressed to walk into a hospital in any major city and not find API Medical professionals….
Except in Seattle Grace.
On Grey’s Anatomy.
A show which you appear on as an Actress and also, every so often, direct.
A show where you chose to wear this to the set:
Now, you may be getting all upset about being called out on this, but here is a quick question for you:
Would you have worn that if Dr. Yang was still making the rounds as a top Cardio surgeon?
The Fairy Princess thinks not.
Let’s face it, you did not come as a composite Latino, could it be because Sara Ramirez is on the show?
Just wondering….
RuPaul? Thoughts?
The Fairy Princess agrees with RuPaul – you would have thought twice about wearing this costume when Dr. Yang was racing around being Meredith’s “Person”.
Because you would have considered that the actress playing one of the lead characters for ten seasons on the show might have some thoughts and feelings about you coming dressed to work as a cornucopia of Asian people
You see, this is the danger of non-representation, something which, Ms. Allen, I know you have spoken about in your career.
There are no Asian Americans currently on Grey’s Anatomy as series regulars. Which means that there is no one of the group you are mocking, that you perhaps see every day as a peer, that would make you think twice before showing up to work and tweeting that photo.
A photo which The Fairy Princess, a true fan of yours, was very hurt to see. She was so hurt, she checked several times to make sure that it came from your account, and that it was you. Because she did not want to see it.
What one person thinks is harmless, can be harmful. However on ‘your’ show there are no Asian Americans around to make you think about that.
So when you needed to play ‘dress up’, you picked on a group that has minimal representation on the culture of that show, and you came as ‘them’.
Asian people are not a costume. They are not a costume any more than African Americans are a costume. They are not a costume any more than Native Americans are a costume.
Costumes are clothing, and they can be fun, and enjoyable. But putting on the face of another race?
That is not acceptable. Positioning your hands in what can be described as a stereotypical stance? Not acceptable. Not a costume.
The Fairy Princess’s tiara is tilting sadly, as she tells you this, Ms. Allen, she hopes you feel just a bit of pain and sweat as you read this and… KISS MY FAN TAN FANNIE!
The Fairy Princess needs some sleep. Seriously, between the time zones and demands for this or that to be put on tape, she is too tired to function and well, to say she is needing some intervention…
would be putting it mildly.
The Fairy Princess is mainly exhausted because her 2 year old has discovered that he can climb, and at less than a moments notice she has to pull him from the top of a table or a piano or a flight of stairs – you understand, he’s a maniac, maniac on the floor – or the stairs, or the hallway, or…you get the idea.
However she came across a letter written by the BBC explaining why they cannot have a more diverse television palette in the UK, which she found shocking because here in the US of A, our television Networks continue to make great strides in their commitment to Diversity – particularly, it should be noted, the aptly named ABC(American Broadcast Company).
American Networks, though not ‘even Steven‘ integrated ’tis true, are hosting shows that reflect a broad range of experiences, families, and most importantly, diverse faces. In short – our televisions are slowly but surely starting to ‘reflect the American scene‘ as required in production contracts.
Why is why she felt a bit flummoxed upon reading the response from the BBC – and while she is NOT in the UK, she felt she should let some support to the British East Asian Artists who are having to deal with some outrageous Public school prats who live in the proverbial bubble and never deign to step outside their world, lest they have to deal with the riff raff.
The beginning of the story is, a letter was written to the BBC by a British East Asian Actress named Bess Chan
She asked the BBC why in America, Asian Americans are viewed as Americans, but why in the UK, Asians are viewed as “Foreigners’ and vastly underrepresented in a variety of roles.
(I have to interject that we fight that same battle in the USA every day, but we do have several examples of Asian Americans on the small screen who do not play ‘foreigners’, in terms of representation, we are light years ahead of the UK)
The BBC wrote back to Ms. Chan. Their letter is exceedingly long winded, and as a real Queen once said…
So The Fairy Princess is going to break it down, the BBC’s reasoning for accepting public funds but refusing to represent the public.
1. They are ‘too big’ to demand diversity from themselves.
“…we are a much larger, much more complex and massively more separated multimedia broadcaster with many different and separate departments and divisions, as opposed to one all-encompassing department which oversees absolutely everything.”
2. They believe demanding Diversity would limit the freedom to ignore people of color
“Some…believe that we as a publicly funded public service broadcaster should be subject to formal quotas on diversity, but the the reality is that this cannot happen as it would be contrary to the Equality Act….television must be able to maintain artistic choice and discretion in what they do’
3. They believe that hiring few actors of color is because they hire the best actors available
“The actors hired are employed on the basis of their judged suitability for the role…this includes things like ethnicity…but that’s not to say there is any bias against or in favor of any group of society in terms of television drama productions…what we couldn’t do is simply shoehorn a British East Asian family …in for no reason or relevance…that would equate to…’positive discrimination’…’
4. They believe that writers are immune from having discrimination, and they cannot force them to write about people they do not want to
“There is absolutely no discrimination by writers and producers against any section of society….it’s simply about characters, relevance….questions would be is there a sizeable British East Asian population/presence/culture in the type of area (it) is mean to reflect?….a medium like television does have to allow programme makers withe ability to have a very wide choice based upon the dramatic and artistic requirements upon them.”
5. They are not ‘The Boss of Everyone”aka “There are none”
“…put simply we ourselves cannot create British East Asian Actors, we have to rely on schools, colleges, drama clubs…the theatre and so on to identify, train and nurture young talent, which then feeds through…The BBC does not oversee or govern such things itself, no should we, as it is not our role to create actors…”
6. They have ‘initiatives’ that are just not working, but that’s not really their fault
“But what we can do and do do is work with many different partners across the country and support emerging talent to come forward, is to encourage applications and approaches from…groups which might be under-represented’.
And then they list each and every British East Asian Actor who has EVER, and I mean EVER, appeared on the BBC.
Ok, BBC, The Fairy Princess has heard your reasoning and….well….Victoria, you want to ‘take’ this one?
First off, the BBC is unaware of the ethnic population of London, London is fairly diverse.
(40% BlackAsianMinorityEthnicity – BAME)
As the yellow, pink, and blue dots represent People of Color in London, it is interesting to note that those colors appear in every neighborhood – some more or some less, but they do appear. Which means anyone who works at the BBC knows someone of color, it would be mathematically impossible given the density of diversity in London to live a life without a person of color in it.
Unless you live in a palace. Which, some do. It is London.
Let’s see, do people who live in a palace know people of color?
Prince Charles with Will.I.am
The Royals with Bollywood Actress Kajol, Nita Ambani, Mukesh Ambani & Ajay Devgan
The Royals with President Tan, of Singapore and his wife, Mary.
HRH’s Wills & Harry with Kanye West & Sean Combs
The Royals in Tuvalu
I guess they do.
Even people who USED to live in a palace know people of color
Sarah Ferguson & Naomi Campbell
Just so we all understand one another, the Royals extended social circle has more diversity than the BBC.
The BBC, just like the Royals, receives funding from The Public. However, in the Royals case, they do their best to be ambassadors for Britain the world over and meet people from any and every social strata, the BBC….not so much.
How can one live and work in London, walk around, talk to people – people of color – all day, and then shut out their existence from your place of work? A place which, incidentally, is supposed to represent them? The denizens of the BBC live and work in London, mainly, and yet, they apparently do not ‘see’ BAME people. Remarkable.
The Fairy Princess read with interest the letter from the BBC, and marveled at the hubris and pomposity with which a self admitted “…massively separated multimedia broadcaster’deigned to address the issue of diversity, she read it over and over again – even out loud with a posh accent – in order to better formulate her thoughts on the matter.
Are you ready, BBC?
First off – when one IS a ….what was that self described term again? Oh right, “Massively separated multimedia broadcaster‘ it essentially means one is a corporation. What is a corporation?
Corporations are (to The Fairy Princess’s horror) able to be treated legally as individuals. They can be guilty of human rights violations, they can be convicted of offenses in a court of law, the only thing they are not considered is a breathing human. A Corporation is, in theory, owned and controlled by it’s stockholders, under the supervision of appointed peoples.
The BBC is a corporation, independent from direct government intervention, with its activities being overseen by theBBC Trust.
The BBC is a a public service broadcasting statutory corporation – and it operates under a Royal Charter. (Which, actually, can be revoked – will never happen, but it can, in theory). It’s main responsibility is to provide impartial public service broadcasting in the UK, Channel Islands and the Isle of Mann. It’s work is funded by an annual licensing fee, which is awarded by Parliament and is charged to all British households – it is charged, in fact, to anyone who watches television in the UK on any type of equipment that receives broadcast signals.
In short – taxes. Taxpayers are the BBC’s stockholders.
The BBC does have many channels, and they all have their ‘thing’, some are Arts based, or Sports, or News – but they all fall under the giant BBC umbrella – even if they are BBC4 and not BBC3, even if BBC2 has a complex about being the second channel and therefore not as loved – they are all in the same family.
In 2007, theBBC Trust was formed, and they, 12 Trustees appointed by Monarchs, set the strategy for the Corporation. The whole thing. All of it’s multi-media-ness. BBC Channel ad infinitum – all under the Trust. And what is the Trust supposed to do? It’s stated aim is to make decisions in the best interests of those who pay the licensing fees.
The taxpayers. The Trust is supposed to watch out for the taxpayers and see that they are best served. How can one best serve the taxpayers on the small screen?
They can have people on the small screen who look like the people who are watching it.
In response to the first point in their letter, The Fairy Princess wanted to point out that, actually, you CAN require more Diversity because ultimately, you are headed up by 12 individual people who hang with The Royals.
No, David Beckham is not a Trustee of the BBC – but he TOTALLY COULD BE if he plays his cards right
The BBC is not an amorphous matrix of broadcasting, it is simply a Corporation where 12 individuals set policy and then they allow minions to run and do work for them. There are, of course, existing policies and different levels within this corporate structure – but…it’s not MI-5 or 6.
It is not an ‘I’d tell you but then I would have to kill you‘ scenario. It’s television.
You CAN actually know what other departments and associated productions are doing because at some point during a Trustee meeting, it has to pass by 12 individuals. According to the way it is set up by Royal Charter.
Therefore to that first point, which is really –we can’t know what we are doing because we are too damn big to know….
The Fairy Princess replies:
The second point in their response, is that to require Diversity would violate The Equality Act.
The Equality Act is England’s Anti-discrimination law designed to protect people from discrimination based on race, creed, color, sexual preference, sexual harassment and so forth.
However, by citing The Equality Act as a response, the BBC has actually weakened it’s ‘case’ because The Equality Act is supposed to guarantee equal access in employment. Equal access to everyone and everywhere within their entity – and that includes on the screen, writing for the screen, and producing.
Monitoring being what it is, in our ‘Big Brother’ society, it should be easy to pull the records – how many pitch meetings for writers who are BAME? How many BAMEs cast on a show set in London? How many produced shows by BAME producers on your Network?
The Fairy Princess is Asian, and horrible at math, but even she can see that this response does not add up.
Perhaps before citing The Equality Act, you should have looked at their list of current productions.
Numbers do not lie.
If the BEA are not being given equal amounts of auditions as their Caucasian counterparts, then already, the BBC is in violation of The Equality Act. Therefore in order to fulfill the requirements cited by The Equality Act, they should instigate some sort of Diversity program to get more People of Color on their small screens.
Taking steps to ensure equality is not a violation of The Equality Act.
It’s making sure that The Equality Act cannot NOT work.
The rest of their points – they cannot talk to their poor, overly sensitive writers?
Let me tell you about writers – they will write just about anything if they think it is going to sell. Therefore when hearing pitches for new shows, or showing them numbers from their existing shows, perhaps it is best to cite numbers from American shows that are diverse in order to show them that DIVERSITY SELLS.
And no, you do not always have to ‘write what you know’ personally – you can make stuff up and have it be fantastic and magical and include Diversity, oh British TV Writers.
The more diverse the cast is, the better it does – and if they do not believe you, hand them this article from the USA’s National Public Radio.
The BBC believes that they have already hired the best actors around?
Well…not really – BAME Actors are fleeing to the USA in fairly large numbers because of the opportunities to be seen as something more than ‘foreign’ in the UK.
Opportunities to headline a Broadway show perhaps?
Or did you not know that Sophie Okonedo won a TONY last week for her role in “A RAISIN IN THE SUN” on Broadway?
What did Lenny Henry say again?
“….Since 2006 -2012 the number of BAMEs working in the UK TV industry has declined by 30.9%”
Diversity is, as Diversity does.
Lastly, while I do not have exact numbers from British Equity on the number of Union members who self identify as BAE, The Fairy Princess is confident that there are Conservatory graduates and dwellers of the leading British theater companies who are British East Asian. They are on your stages RIGHT NOW!
Gemma Chan & David Yip in DHH’s YELLOWFACE, re-opening in May 2014
Why, there is even a whole Facebook page devoted to British East Asians, called – wait for it –
British East Asian Artists
– so the answer that you are waiting for BAE’s to pop out of conservatories like Dame Edna out of a corset is ludicrous. There are many, and they have been on the stage and all sorts of screens, and by even talking that way it only shows you have not practiced your due diligence when responding with that wretched letter.
Come ON my BBC Possums!
You are probably feeling a bit knocked around now, bit bruised by now BBC? Aren’t you?
Listen BBC – there are, yes, a few British East Asians that have appeared on your network – some in groundbreaking shows, some in good roles, but they are few and far between. The fact that you can list them in one paragraph in a letter should show you right there that you are aware that this is an issue.
Besides, when did having a few Caucasians on your networks prevent you from hiring more Caucasians?
The answer to that is never.
Having Caucasians on the screen has never been an obstacle against having more. And all things being EQUAL…..having a few BEA Artists on television shows of the past should not prevent you from having more in the future. British East Asians have been in England for the last few hundred years.They have been part of the fabric of the UK, because you are a seafaring nation.
Chinese peoplehave been visiting England since the 17th Century!
This is the first one – he was a friend of the King James the Second.
Shen Fu-Tsung was the first ever recorded ethnic Chinese person to set foot in what is now the United Kingdom, having visited over 300 years ago in 1685
Which means that in any period drama, there could be one. Or two. The Fairy Princess does not wish to limit you, but to cite historical accuracy or population numbers as a reason that there are not enough BAEs on television is a diversion.
En garde!
It is time, BBC, to acknowledge that you are trying to run what we in the States call a ‘shell game’ with that letter. You want us to look here, when the truth is there, meanwhile you have been hiding it all along and it never was a possibility to win in the first place.
You are the BBC! You exist by Royal Charter! You are supposed to be gracious!
You know what would have been a better answer?
I will write it for you:
Dear Ms. Chan,
Thank you for your letter. We at the BBC do understand that the UK is changing and we exist to serve our various communities and our population as a whole, as per our Royal Charter. The numbers you state and the questions you ask are ones we are grappling with ourselves, and we do understand your frustration.
We do have a plan to introduce more Diversity on our screens, or rather encourage it, by having workshops, panels, and showcases of underrepresented talent for our writers, producers, and show runners. We are also setting up Diversity departments that will have regular meetings with Casting Directors, to encourage them to broaden their scope when looking for an actor to fill the role. While the BBC cannot control anything on the Agency sides – meaning the Talent Agents that submit their clients to our Casting Directors, as part of our public service, we will invite, to these showcases, Agents from the top UK Agencies, in hopes that they may add someone found at our showcases to their roster.
Our Diversity Department will also be responsible for meeting with each showrunner and asking for their Diversity numbers from past seasons, and requiring that they examine the demographic for the area in which the show is set, and try and remember that when casting.
This is not going to be a quick process, because we do, at the BBC encourage Artistic License, however we are aware that this is an issue that is ongoing, and we are going to push for our screens to represent our population as much as possible. It may not be ‘every’ show, but within the next year, we hope to see a huge rise in the number of, at least, guest starring and supporting roles that are BAME, with of course an ultimate goal of series regulars who are BAME Actors, to better serve our country.
Thank you for your letter and allowing us to respond, we appreciate that we exist by public support.
The BBC
That would have been a better answer BBC – and look, The Fairy Princess has actually shared with you the way American television has made their screens more diverse!
That’s the way it worked – with mission statements, by coordinating casting, production, executives, and writers, by having showcases…all of these things worked, and now our small screens look more like America.
Don’t you want your small screens to look more like the UK?
Take a look at our Networks – because they too, are corporations, but they look a bit more like….
Some of the Cast of “Madame Secretary”
The Cast of SCANDAL
They look like America.
Come ON BBC! Do Better!
Because BAME Artists are not going silently into ANY dark night, and as for me?
The Fairy Princess had an audition and she was required to use an Accent.
If you have been reading along, you might guess that The Fairy Princess has a problem with this, and the answer is – within parameters, The Fairy Princess does not have a problem using an accent of any kind.
Yes, some people just flat out refuse to do them, due to personal mores (which is fine), but The Fairy Princess comes from a family built by immigration and the accents she heard growing up – Irish, Australian, Chinese – and by marriage – Korean -, and through friendships – too numerous and international to be counted – means that she is well aware that accents exist on the planet, and it would be completely ridiculous not to acknowledge that when one is acting.
In her own opinion.
This post is not really for Actors, who kind of ‘get’ what the job is, but it is more for the “Activists’ out there, who I have noticed, seem to lose their mind when an Actor of Color has to use an accent.
So The Fairy Princess is going to share her very simple rules for when a Minority Actor or Actress should/can use an accent without getting flack for it from the general public, bloggers, and those who share their every thought on social media.
You know – people like me. 🙂
THE FAIRY PRINCESS’S EIGHT SIMPLE RULES FOR USING AN ACCENT
1. If the character is an immigrant.
Asian Americans will not like this first one, but the truth is, though the API population is growing rapidly, we still get most of our population numbers from immigration. It would be ludicrous to assume that someone arriving in America is going to get off the plane speaking “The Queen’s English”, one or two – likely, every single one? Not possible.
Immigrants have accents because they have not assimilated to the new country – and this is not just an Asian accent thing, immigrants from Australia, Britain, Ireland, Wales – they all have accents to American ears – accents are not ‘owned’ by any particular group. We all have them – look at New York vs. Chicago – Fuggitaboudit!
2. If the character comes from a region where a specific dialect is well known and expected
Examples would be, of course, the American Deep South, or Australia, or Norway. Or a particular city within the USA that has well known regional flavor…or Canada. There are lots of regional accents out there, and if a play is set in a particular city, one would expect to hear them.
3. If the character and the play are set in a historic time and the entire cast is using an accent –
Well, for example, Shakespeare – even Americans sound vaguely British-y when they do Shakespeare, perhaps it is psychological or perhaps it just sounds better that way, who knows – but it is hard to say “Out damn spot!” without trying to Dame Dench it.
Those are my top 3 reasons of why an Actor would choose to do them, but having said that, The Fairy Princess has rules, for herself (but she is sharing now), of what she expects of herself when doing an accent as part of her work, so here are 4-6….
4. It must be authentic.
If the character is Korean – then the accent must mimic someone from Korea who has just learned English – likewise for Hispanic, Cyrillic, Celtic, just ANY accent – it has to be authentic. If you are supposed to be from Japan, you cannot sound like you are from the Philippines.
By being authentic, you are being respectful. Which brings me to my next personal rule:
5. It must respectful.
The Actor should not allow the accent to wear them, they should ‘wear’ the accent. In practice, Actors often need to find something about a character to like, in order to do the character justice. If the accent is being used for comedy, that is fine- but have the joke be funny by performance, not by accent alone. It is a fine, fine line – yes, but the benefits are that one does not feel that one has taken a bath in sewage after every performance.
6. It must serve the play, television show, or film
Having an accent ‘just to have one’ does not really, to The Fairy Princess, have a point to it. Given that the world is getting more diverse, one expects to hear more accents on our screens and stages – or that is the dream, in my mind. The accent has to be given to the character for a reason other than to play into stereotype or to serve as a foil for debasing the character who has it.
Those are The Fairy Princess’s rules for personal use of an accent – but there are a few exceptions and we are going to go into them right now:
7. Caucasians do not get to use accents to mock the Immigrant character.
We have seen it in film,
television,
The Cast of How I Met Your Mother
and Broadway,
Revival of The Mystery Of Edwin Drood with Andy Karl and Jessie Mueller
– it is not what is supposed to happen in this day and age.
Let’s all agree to be better than that.
Otherwise what good are theater conferences and diversity panels? None at all if you are going to turn around and give us a tv show or musical without employing Actors who can take the stage/screen without browning, yellowing, or blacking their faces.
8. Other Minorities, likewise, should be judicious with assuming that because we ‘share’ minority status, that it’s ‘allowed’ to put on accents of other races.
Not so much, Folks – not so much.
Just because you are not Caucasian does not mean you get a free pass. Because you are not Caucasian means you know what it feels like when you are mocked by a stereotype that you do not embody – so let’s be kind to one another.
If, for plot’s sake, your character has an accent because it fit the ‘regional’ requirements listed above, that is, of course, different kettle of fish. Plot points are plot points.
Are there exceptions to any and all of these rules?
There are to most rules, but these, not really.
Accents are part of the costume that we Actors wear, and they will always be a part of the profession – unless we decide to get dull and boring and lose all sense of reality and humor – some are already there.
Ahem.
However, it is not the accent that makes the performance, it is the execution by the actor and the intention behind the employment OF an accent within a role.
If you hate the accent, so be it – turn the channel. But let us not flay actors who are gainfully employed by taking away their tools to do their job – if they are playing an immigrant, they WILL have an accent – and uber sensitivity is NOT going to help the great strides being taken by both Networks and Actors in breaking down the doors that have been closed to diversity.
The Fairy Princess eagerly awaited “Up-fronts’ this year like a small child whose dreams of sitting on the lap of a costumed man of girth had not yet been dashed by the commercialization of the holiday in question.
LUCKIES? Seriously Santa, WTF?
And, unlike when someone wanted a BB gun….
She got what she has wanted for every major holiday and wish upon a star for a long time….
The Fairy Princess heard tell of 4 new shows with Asian Americans featured prominently and thus, she did NOT want to shoot her eye out – which is usually how she feels after hearing what got picked up at the Up-fronts.
How many IS that Feist?
Let’s, for the heck of is, just list them:
Madame Secretary:
Set in Washington, DC – unlike other shows set in that fair city, this one has a diverse cast that does include Asian Americans like Actor, Geoffrey Arend – who was so great in Body of Proof. Also in the cast, Yale Grad, Mozhan Marno, CMU Grad & TONY Winner Patina Miller, and of course, from the Musical Theater, Mr. Erich Bergen, who is also going to be appearing in the feature film directed by Clint Eastwood, Jersey Boys coming out in June.
The cast in exceptionally diverse in gender & ethnicity & most likely, sexual preference (because why would they leave that out?), and The Fairy Princess looks forward to this show. It seems smart, quick, and topical, and when looking at the bios of the cast on IMDB, quite a few are fluent in several languages, and that can only add to the portrayal of a dynamic White House with a Madame Secretary of State.
Selfie:
The Fairy Princess likes this trailer for several reasons –
1. it takes it’s concept from Pygmalian by George Bernard Shaw.
2. It looks like it is going to examine our current obsession with all things superficial
3. Stars John Cho as the Romantic Lead. Yeah, I said it – ROMANTIC LEAD. JOHN CHO. ROMANTIC.
GET INTO IT.
Fingers crossed for you, Mr. Cho – I hope the show knocks it out of the park.
STALKER:
The Fairy Princess is going to like this show – it is going to scare the s##t out of her, because it will remind her of friends who have gone through this problem, and it will remind her of when someone did not like her blog and threatened to hurt not only her, but her kid….but she will watch this show, for sure.
The Fairy Princess is particularly partial to Hapa Actresses whose surnames end in Q.
(You may have heard that before….)
Quigley? Quill? Get it? Get it?
And finally….drumroll please…
Fresh Off The Boat
Now Fresh Off The Boat, is the story of a little guy named Eddie who grows up to be this guy:
Celebrity Chef, Eddie Huang. It’s based on a book that he wrote, and it is, for all intents and purposes, his ‘brand’.
The term Fresh off The Boat is giving some in the Asian American Community agita, and here’s why – because we, Asian Americans, use it amongst ourselves to denigrate one another.
We totally do.
We do. Not anyone else. We, us.
It is a term used to separate ‘cool’ Asian Americans, with an emphasis on American, from those who were freshly arrived immigrants who probably had accents, and perhaps lacked some fashion sense, according to American Asians. We are very judgy, Asian Americans – no wonder we suffer from depression – right, Kristina Wong?
So now, APIs who have been gleefully disdaining one another for YEARS, are worried that “White People” are going to hear the term, “Fresh Off The Boat’ or “FOB” (sometimes said, fob, as in watch fob and not just the initials), and they are going to add it to the pantheon of insults to call Asian Americans as they walk harmlessly down the street.
It should be acknowledged that ABC Network wanted to change the name of the show to “Far East Orlando”, but no one liked that title either – particularly not Chef Huang, and he lobbied fiercely to get it changed back to match his title and his brand.
The Fairy Princess is not disavowing that racism happens – she could not possibly when she herself has harmlessly walked down the street and been called all sorts of racial names by ignorant people driving by safely in cars, or heard what was yelled from a school bus while she rode her bike to school, or even, just you know, well, for example this is a conversation she actually had, but it is repeated at least twice a week, somewhere in her week:
ME: Bagel and Coffee Please
COUNTER GUY: Where are you from?
ME: New York.
COUNTER GUY: No, where were you born?
ME: Manhattan.
COUNTER GUY: NO, I mean, where is your Family from?
ME: Ireland.
Never got that bagel and coffee. A bit of Hapa Humor – because what he really wanted to hear was China…or Japan…or Korea…or some other Asian country that he would then be able to tell me he either wanted to visit, was once stationed there during a war, or perhaps, he wanted to tell me to go back to there.
These are all things I have heard throughout my lifetime. And worse. Much, much worse.
The Fairy Princess gets that APIs are concerned about the title – but growing up in New York, she can assure you of one thing – we all borrow from other languages to express ourselves, capice?
Even if FOB makes it into the vernacular – is it really worse than ‘Chink‘? Or “Jap“? Or “Gook“? Or “Slant“? Or “Hey, Love You Long Time“? Or “Bitch“?
Or any combination of those with added slanderous words concerning my perceived place of origin, my Parents, or my very existence, is it?
Given those variables, The Fairy Princess would relish simply being called a FOB. Because she has been called all those other things throughout her life – being a Viking explorer would not actually be that insulting.
These Folks are Fresh Off the Boat as well….I dunno, they look pretty fierce
So I’m newly arrived? So what?
Is that, in a nation of Immigrants, really a big deal? That one arrived by boat? Shouldn’t one be glad that someone in his or her family took a giant leap of faith and left everything they knew, in order that we, Asian Americans might wallow in hypersensitivity and yell about titles of television shows that have not even aired yet?
My Forefathers took a boat to get here – they were escaping oppression and war, and they took a boat.
It was from Dublin.
Everyone has suffered from Xenophobia in America – Everyone
My point is – at one time, any transoceanic travel was only accomplished by boat – Asian Americans do not have a monopoly on arriving anywhere via ocean.
The uproar over FOB is because we are the ones that turned it ‘into something’ and now, we do not want to reap the consequences of that. Too bad.
This show has not only been trashed talked because of the title, but because the lead actress, Constance Wu, has a accent. Which, she should – because her character is from Taiwan. Asian Americans do not get their increase in numbers from birth rate, we get them from immigration.
Let me put it another way – if the character were Caucasian and from Dublin, and had an Irish accent – would you have a problem with it?
Colin Farrell has an accent. I am ok with it- Ladies? How about you?
No. Because it would make sense for a character from another country to arrive in America and speak with a slight accent. As it does in this case – it makes sense for the character.
The complaints keep coming though, and they are getting more and more upsetting…
I read a comment that said they were upset that lead actor, Randall Park, who is of Korean heritage, is playing a Chinese American.
Really?
REALLY?
The Fairy Princess says NO!
Absolutely NOT!
Do not project your own issues onto an unsuspecting sitcom. Do you have ANY idea how GREAT it is to have not one, not two, but FOUR television shows on major networks with Asian Americans, showing a panoply of the depth of Asian America? DO YOU?
The Fairy Princess does.
It has been a long, hard struggle for those both in front and behind the camera to get to where we are now – twenty years have gone by since an Asian American family was the subject of a sitcom on a Major Network.
DO NOT BLOW THIS FOR US!
Or just do us all a favor and just watch kitten videos for the rest of your life. ONLY kitten videos.
The Fairy Princess will NOT listen to any more of your idiotic complaints….
The Fairy Princess is going to challenge Asian America – here goes:
I want you to watch, DVR, On Demand, Internet – however you watch television now – I want you to watch the above four shows.
I want you to prove to NBC, CBS, and ABC that Diversity matters.
I want you to prove that Diversity = Dollars.
What you are doing, by going to town with these complaints is proving that Diversity = Damage Control.
This is the wrong message to send.
The end result will be less Asian Americans on television, because you will have effectively told the Networks that you are going to raise hell every time an Asian Family hits the air, and you will make it ‘too much trouble’ to have an Asian American family hit the air at all.
Are you hearing me?
All this bickering and in-fighting and you know what? No one cares about your insecurities except you, your Family, and a trained Therapist that you should definitely call after reading this.
The Fairy Princessdoes care if your internet hashtag war it is going to give a network exec pause before greenlighting another sitcom about an Asian American family that may be coming down the pipeline. Or if it gives ABC second thoughts about where it places Fresh Off The Boat come mid-season.
The Fairy Princess thought the trailer was funny. The end. Funny trailer, it deserves it’s shot.
Pull it together, Asian America – you are acting like someone who needs a Snickers bar cuz they are having delusions that they can see Russia from their backyard.
I am going to leave you with these final words, Hunties….think about them, because all these ‘protests’ seem to come from deep rooted insecurities and perhaps a smidge of self-loathing, what scares you about this show? Really? Because, it’s a comedy. It is not supposed to send you to your ‘dark place’, but if it is – you have other things to think about.
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