The Negrification of Television

[DGS49]

Last week, while looking for something to watch on television, I clicked on a "link" to "The Sound of Music Live," which has been promoted rather heavily on the cable system. How can you go wrong with the Sound of Music?

As I watched the opening scene - a convent in Austria around 1938 - the first face shown in the center of the screen had a rather odd "hue." I wondered if my TV was out of adjustment. Within a few seconds as the other nuns came fully on the screen I saw that my television was not out of adjustment, but there was a bizarre casting anomaly. Dumbfounding, actually. The Mother Superior of this convent in Austria was an African American.

Oddly enough, I have been to Salzburg, Austria, and I think I can say with absolute certainty that the probability of any nun in any Catholic convent in this city being of African origin is approximately equal to the probability that I will win the MVP award in the NBA this season.

Gimmeafuckingbreak.

Then a few days later I tuned into a nice "holiday" movie called, "A Snow Globe Christmas." The description in the guide said that the story was about a hard-edged woman who, while cynically preparing for a Christmas pageant, was bonked on the head by a Snow Globe, and found herself in the "idealized world" of the Snow Globe, with her own self ensconsed in a "perfect snow globe life," which she struggled to understand and deal with.

OK.

So I start to watch the story (really, a lame takeoff on Scrooged and other such holiday nonsense). After the snow globe knockout, we come to see that the main character - in the idealized world of the snow globe - is married to a Black guy and has two bi-racial kids.

Jesus. Fucking. Christ. This is the "ideal"? The imaginary perfect world? In whose mind, exactly?

I see a commercial with nauseating frequency - I believe it's from the S. C. Johnson company - of a fairly large group of young people singing a stylized Christmas carol. Not one of the kids is caucasian. There are a few Asians, but basically it is the Harlem Kids Choir - or some variation of it. This is inclusion? This is diversity? I don't think so.

Invariably, in television dramas, sit-coms, and even reality shows, black people are portrayed as more intelligent, insightful, compassionate, reasonable, talented, and patient. With few exceptions, the "Black" people who are cast in these programs have light skin, caucasian features (blue or green eyes, etc), and perfect bone structure. The wide noses and negroid lips that characterize the vast majority of "Black" Americans are rare or non-existent.

Television advertising is amazingly inclusive of mulattos of various shades. A martian viewing nothing but American television would conclude that the American population is 20% gay and 50% bi-racial.

How many people recognize this is a giant propaganda campaign, similar to the ongoing campaign to portray all homosexuals as wholesome and wonderful? I find it quite tiresome.

 

[Moonglow]

We all knows they ain't no nigga nuns in Austria! That is what you meant to say, but had to bore us to tears and derisive laughter over your overt style of racism.

 

[bodecea]

Last week, while looking for something to watch on television, I clicked on a "link" to "The Sound of Music Live," which has been promoted rather heavily on the cable system. How can you go wrong with the Sound of Music?

As I watched the opening scene - a convent in Austria around 1938 - the first face shown in the center of the screen had a rather odd "hue." I wondered if my TV was out of adjustment. Within a few seconds as the other nuns came fully on the screen I saw that my television was not out of adjustment, but there was a bizarre casting anomaly. Dumbfounding, actually. The Mother Superior of this convent in Austria was an African American.

Oddly enough, I have been to Salzburg, Austria, and I think I can say with absolute certainty that the probability of any nun in any Catholic convent in this city being of African origin is approximately equal to the probability that I will win the MVP award in the NBA this season.

Gimmeafuckingbreak.

Then a few days later I tuned into a nice "holiday" movie called, "A Snow Globe Christmas." The description in the guide said that the story was about a hard-edged woman who, while cynically preparing for a Christmas pageant, was bonked on the head by a Snow Globe, and found herself in the "idealized world" of the Snow Globe, with her own self ensconsed in a "perfect snow globe life," which she struggled to understand and deal with.

OK.

So I start to watch the story (really, a lame takeoff on Scrooged and other such holiday nonsense). After the snow globe knockout, we come to see that the main character - in the idealized world of the snow globe - is married to a Black guy and has two bi-racial kids.

Jesus. Fucking. Christ. This is the "ideal"? The imaginary perfect world? In whose mind, exactly?

I see a commercial with nauseating frequency - I believe it's from the S. C. Johnson company - of a fairly large group of young people singing a stylized Christmas carol. Not one of the kids is caucasian. There are a few Asians, but basically it is the Harlem Kids Choir - or some variation of it. This is inclusion? This is diversity? I don't think so.

Invariably, in television dramas, sit-coms, and even reality shows, black people are portrayed as more intelligent, insightful, compassionate, reasonable, talented, and patient. With few exceptions, the "Black" people who are cast in these programs have light skin, caucasian features (blue or green eyes, etc), and perfect bone structure. The wide noses and negroid lips that characterize the vast majority of "Black" Americans are rare or non-existent.

Television advertising is amazingly inclusive of mulattos of various shades. A martian viewing nothing but American television would conclude that the American population is 20% gay and 50% bi-racial.

How many people recognize this is a giant propaganda campaign, similar to the ongoing campaign to portray all homosexuals as wholesome and wonderful? I find it quite tiresome.

Oh, this is a delightful thread.

 

[rightwinger]

I agree it is historically incorrect to depict a Mother Superior in Austria as "African Austrian" circa 1938. In a play about Nazi influence in the late 30s it kind of deflects the racial times

As to showing a biracial couple in a Christmas special, what will they try to sell next? A biracial President?

 

[Katzndogz]

I noticed the same thing in a Sound of Music. Not only that but Mother Superior spoke of having grown up in those hills and played there as a child. This is literary license that permits ignoring the woman's color in favor of her voice.

Did you see the SyFy show Merlin? Queen Guinevere was black. How did that happen?

Yes it is part of the general propaganda of how life should be lived. It is doing the same thing that television did when it depicted a stable family with a responsible father as was done in the 50s.

 

[KevinWestern]

Last week, while looking for something to watch on television, I clicked on a "link" to "The Sound of Music Live," which has been promoted rather heavily on the cable system. How can you go wrong with the Sound of Music?

As I watched the opening scene - a convent in Austria around 1938 - the first face shown in the center of the screen had a rather odd "hue." I wondered if my TV was out of adjustment. Within a few seconds as the other nuns came fully on the screen I saw that my television was not out of adjustment, but there was a bizarre casting anomaly. Dumbfounding, actually. The Mother Superior of this convent in Austria was an African American.

Oddly enough, I have been to Salzburg, Austria, and I think I can say with absolute certainty that the probability of any nun in any Catholic convent in this city being of African origin is approximately equal to the probability that I will win the MVP award in the NBA this season.

Gimmeafuckingbreak.

Then a few days later I tuned into a nice "holiday" movie called, "A Snow Globe Christmas." The description in the guide said that the story was about a hard-edged woman who, while cynically preparing for a Christmas pageant, was bonked on the head by a Snow Globe, and found herself in the "idealized world" of the Snow Globe, with her own self ensconsed in a "perfect snow globe life," which she struggled to understand and deal with.

OK.

So I start to watch the story (really, a lame takeoff on Scrooged and other such holiday nonsense). After the snow globe knockout, we come to see that the main character - in the idealized world of the snow globe - is married to a Black guy and has two bi-racial kids.

Jesus. Fucking. Christ. This is the "ideal"? The imaginary perfect world? In whose mind, exactly?

I see a commercial with nauseating frequency - I believe it's from the S. C. Johnson company - of a fairly large group of young people singing a stylized Christmas carol. Not one of the kids is caucasian. There are a few Asians, but basically it is the Harlem Kids Choir - or some variation of it. This is inclusion? This is diversity? I don't think so.

Invariably, in television dramas, sit-coms, and even reality shows, black people are portrayed as more intelligent, insightful, compassionate, reasonable, talented, and patient. With few exceptions, the "Black" people who are cast in these programs have light skin, caucasian features (blue or green eyes, etc), and perfect bone structure. The wide noses and negroid lips that characterize the vast majority of "Black" Americans are rare or non-existent.

Television advertising is amazingly inclusive of mulattos of various shades. A martian viewing nothing but American television would conclude that the American population is 20% gay and 50% bi-racial.

How many people recognize this is a giant propaganda campaign, similar to the ongoing campaign to portray all homosexuals as wholesome and wonderful? I find it quite tiresome.

Wow, God forbid a certain group of people people are portrayed in a positive uplifting way vs. a negative way. End of the fucking world as we know it....

Are you just as pissed off when a movie like Gladiator portrays the main star to be ridiculously strong or ridiculously courageous because it's not "realistic enough" for you? Do you make just a big of a stink over that too [MENTION=36589]DGS49[/MENTION]?

 

[rdean]

You go GOP. You are who you are. I love these threads. They give us honest Republicans.

 

[rdean]

Negrification

They even create new words. Like "boi".

 

[bodecea]

I ever heard that some.....gasp.....use a black person to portray Santa Claus.

 

[Katzndogz]

Last week, while looking for something to watch on television, I clicked on a "link" to "The Sound of Music Live," which has been promoted rather heavily on the cable system. How can you go wrong with the Sound of Music?

As I watched the opening scene - a convent in Austria around 1938 - the first face shown in the center of the screen had a rather odd "hue." I wondered if my TV was out of adjustment. Within a few seconds as the other nuns came fully on the screen I saw that my television was not out of adjustment, but there was a bizarre casting anomaly. Dumbfounding, actually. The Mother Superior of this convent in Austria was an African American.

Oddly enough, I have been to Salzburg, Austria, and I think I can say with absolute certainty that the probability of any nun in any Catholic convent in this city being of African origin is approximately equal to the probability that I will win the MVP award in the NBA this season.

Gimmeafuckingbreak.

Then a few days later I tuned into a nice "holiday" movie called, "A Snow Globe Christmas." The description in the guide said that the story was about a hard-edged woman who, while cynically preparing for a Christmas pageant, was bonked on the head by a Snow Globe, and found herself in the "idealized world" of the Snow Globe, with her own self ensconsed in a "perfect snow globe life," which she struggled to understand and deal with.

OK.

So I start to watch the story (really, a lame takeoff on Scrooged and other such holiday nonsense). After the snow globe knockout, we come to see that the main character - in the idealized world of the snow globe - is married to a Black guy and has two bi-racial kids.

Jesus. Fucking. Christ. This is the "ideal"? The imaginary perfect world? In whose mind, exactly?

I see a commercial with nauseating frequency - I believe it's from the S. C. Johnson company - of a fairly large group of young people singing a stylized Christmas carol. Not one of the kids is caucasian. There are a few Asians, but basically it is the Harlem Kids Choir - or some variation of it. This is inclusion? This is diversity? I don't think so.

Invariably, in television dramas, sit-coms, and even reality shows, black people are portrayed as more intelligent, insightful, compassionate, reasonable, talented, and patient. With few exceptions, the "Black" people who are cast in these programs have light skin, caucasian features (blue or green eyes, etc), and perfect bone structure. The wide noses and negroid lips that characterize the vast majority of "Black" Americans are rare or non-existent.

Television advertising is amazingly inclusive of mulattos of various shades. A martian viewing nothing but American television would conclude that the American population is 20% gay and 50% bi-racial.

How many people recognize this is a giant propaganda campaign, similar to the ongoing campaign to portray all homosexuals as wholesome and wonderful? I find it quite tiresome.

Wow, God forbid a certain group of people people are portrayed in a positive uplifting way vs. a negative way. End of the fucking world as we know it....

Are you just as pissed off when a movie like Gladiator portrays the main star to be ridiculously strong or ridiculously courageous because it's not "realistic enough" for you? Do you make just a big of a stink over that too [MENTION=36589]DGS49[/MENTION]?

It isn't that a certain group of people is portrayed in a positive uplifting way. It's that they are portrayed in a positive uplifting way out of context or historically inaccurate. Yes it's true that a movie like Gladiator portrays the main star to be ridiculously strong or ridiculously courageous, the main star isn't Woody Allen either!

 

[KevinWestern]

It isn't that a certain group of people is portrayed in a positive uplifting way. It's that they are portrayed in a positive uplifting way out of context or historically inaccurate. Yes it's true that a movie like Gladiator portrays the main star to be ridiculously strong or ridiculously courageous, the main star isn't Woody Allen either!

My point is that movies - all of the time - portray people in a fashion that are not always true to reality. We generally like to focus on our "best" qualities too (for the most part). Leading characters are handsome/beautiful, graceful, courageous, strong, and know exactly what to say at exactly the right moment. Historically speaking, this is not how people generally are. People have faults and get angry, they make mistakes, some are secret perverts, etc.

Why all of a sudden is the OP pissed of that blacks aren't portrayed exactly as they might be historically, while seemingly ignoring all of the other "polish" TV will also put on leading white characters, etc?

It's inconsistent.

 

[HenryBHough]

One thing you won't see on TV this year is that racist old Bing Crosby song about his "Dreaming of......".

 

[LTCArmyRet]

Ignore the bigot. He posts the opening post, gets slapped down by everyone, but you don't hear from him again. Ignore it.

 

[Toro]

Last week, while looking for something to watch on television, I clicked on a "link" to "The Sound of Music Live," which has been promoted rather heavily on the cable system. How can you go wrong with the Sound of Music?

As I watched the opening scene - a convent in Austria around 1938 - the first face shown in the center of the screen had a rather odd "hue." I wondered if my TV was out of adjustment. Within a few seconds as the other nuns came fully on the screen I saw that my television was not out of adjustment, but there was a bizarre casting anomaly. Dumbfounding, actually. The Mother Superior of this convent in Austria was an African American.

Oddly enough, I have been to Salzburg, Austria, and I think I can say with absolute certainty that the probability of any nun in any Catholic convent in this city being of African origin is approximately equal to the probability that I will win the MVP award in the NBA this season.

Gimmeafuckingbreak.

Then a few days later I tuned into a nice "holiday" movie called, "A Snow Globe Christmas." The description in the guide said that the story was about a hard-edged woman who, while cynically preparing for a Christmas pageant, was bonked on the head by a Snow Globe, and found herself in the "idealized world" of the Snow Globe, with her own self ensconsed in a "perfect snow globe life," which she struggled to understand and deal with.

OK.

So I start to watch the story (really, a lame takeoff on Scrooged and other such holiday nonsense). After the snow globe knockout, we come to see that the main character - in the idealized world of the snow globe - is married to a Black guy and has two bi-racial kids.

Jesus. Fucking. Christ. This is the "ideal"? The imaginary perfect world? In whose mind, exactly?

I see a commercial with nauseating frequency - I believe it's from the S. C. Johnson company - of a fairly large group of young people singing a stylized Christmas carol. Not one of the kids is caucasian. There are a few Asians, but basically it is the Harlem Kids Choir - or some variation of it. This is inclusion? This is diversity? I don't think so.

Invariably, in television dramas, sit-coms, and even reality shows, black people are portrayed as more intelligent, insightful, compassionate, reasonable, talented, and patient. With few exceptions, the "Black" people who are cast in these programs have light skin, caucasian features (blue or green eyes, etc), and perfect bone structure. The wide noses and negroid lips that characterize the vast majority of "Black" Americans are rare or non-existent.

Television advertising is amazingly inclusive of mulattos of various shades. A martian viewing nothing but American television would conclude that the American population is 20% gay and 50% bi-racial.

How many people recognize this is a giant propaganda campaign, similar to the ongoing campaign to portray all homosexuals as wholesome and wonderful? I find it quite tiresome.

I agree.

These people shouldn't be on TV.

******* should know their place.

Fags and carpet munchers too.

We must make America safe again for white straight Christians, the most persecuted people in America.

 

[Unkotare]

So I start to watch the story (really, a lame takeoff on Scrooged and other such holiday nonsense). After the snow globe knockout, we come to see that the main character - in the idealized world of the snow globe - is married to a Black guy and has two bi-racial kids.

Jesus. Fucking. Christ. This is the "ideal"? The imaginary perfect world?

Why not? As opposed to what?

 

[Unkotare]

Television advertising is amazingly inclusive of mulattos of various shades. .

And you have a problem with that?

 

[MikeK]

We all knows they ain't no nigga nuns in Austria! That is what you meant to say, but had to bore us to tears and derisive laughter over your overt style of racism.

What exactly do you mean by "racism?" I'm asking because that probably is the most over-used, mis-used word in the contemporary American lexicon.

DGS49 didn't say "nigga nuns." You did. And he didn't say anything derogatory about Blacks. What he's done is express an opinion and his observation that racial integration is being promoted via the use of methodical subliminal indoctrination by media and the entertainment industry.

If you disagree, why not address the specific points he's raised and present your arguments.

 

[Meathead]

I wonder if the next rendition of Snow White will be a black woman.

 

[MikeK]

[...]

Are you just as pissed off when a movie like Gladiator portrays the main star to be ridiculously strong or ridiculously courageous because it's not "realistic enough" for you? Do you make just a big of a stink over that too [MENTION=36589]DGS49[/MENTION]?

Portraying the Gladiator as exceptionally strong and courageous is intended to emphasize the essential nature of a fictional character and is in no way deceptive. Many gladiators have been portrayed in movies as being Black, which has not been disputed. There probably were Black gladiators who didn't all look like Woody Strode.

But to portray Santa Claus as Black conflicts with long-held traditional beliefs. And to portray a 1930s Austrian nun as Black occurs as a deliberate attempt to alter an historical reality and may be thought of as a form of socio-political indoctrination. What other reason could there be for such a deliberate distortion?

What would your thinking be if a play or a movie portrayed Mohammad Ali as a blue-eyed blond?

 

[KevinWestern]

[...]

Are you just as pissed off when a movie like Gladiator portrays the main star to be ridiculously strong or ridiculously courageous because it's not "realistic enough" for you? Do you make just a big of a stink over that too [MENTION=36589]DGS49[/MENTION]?

Portraying the Gladiator as exceptionally strong and courageous is intended to emphasize the essential nature of a fictional character and is in no way deceptive. Many gladiators have been portrayed in movies as being Black, which has not been disputed. There probably were Black gladiators who didn't all look like Woody Strode.

But to portray Santa Claus as Black conflicts with long-held traditional beliefs. And to portray a 1930s Austrian nun as Black occurs as a deliberate attempt to alter an historical reality and may be thought of as a form of socio-political indoctrination. What other reason could there be for such a deliberate distortion?

What would your thinking be if a play or a movie portrayed Mohammad Ali as a blue-eyed blond?

In the movie Elf, Santa Claus's sleigh was shown to be equipped with Jet packs. That also conflicts with long-held traditional belief that the sleigh is powered solely by magical flying reindeers. Are you equally concerned about this too? If not, why?

You know what also distorts reality? Implying that St. Nick had elves, or that he lives in the North Pole, or that he's immortal, or that he's fat, or that he gives gifts to all the Christian children of the world. That distorts the "truth" too - right?