As the fall television season continues, viewers can finally see which shows stand out as the winners and losers of the season. After the premiere ratings of primetime network television came in, one thing became crystal clear: diversity works on TV. Among the winners are three shows on ABC: “Scandal,” “How To Get Away with Murder” and “Black-ish.” These three shows premiered strong with a viewership of 11.9 million, 14 million and 10.8 million, respectively.
These three shows have one thing in common: They feature a lead character who is a person of color.
Kerry Washington, the star of “Scandal,” is the first black actress to lead a network primetime drama since Diahann Carroll in the 1970s series “Julia.”
Washington’s show blew up not only because of the major — albeit sometimes overdone — plot twists, but because people of color, particularly black people, tuned in after finally seeing themselves represented on television. Scandal’s success led to the selection of Viola Davis as the lead actress on “How to Get Away with Murder.”
Davis is a seasoned actress who has performed in numerous Broadway plays, films and TV roles — roles that earned her two Academy Award nominations. However, many of the roles given to her, such as that of a pregnant mother or a housemaid, were often menial and fairly static. Historically, network executives simply have not valued black actresses the way they do white actresses — even someone with the credentials of Davis, a graduate of the Juilliard School.
ABC continued the trend of placing black actors in leading roles by premiering the show “Black-ish,” featuring Anthony Anderson. The show includes an all-black cast, and explores the experience of being black in white American culture. Black leads and all-black casts are a rare sight these days. The success of these shows was aided by an explosion of social media activity. People tweeted and used hashtags to demonstrate their approval of the new trend of leading black actors and actresses.
The success of ABC’s new shows is certainly worth celebrating, but a true commitment to diversity will take more work. In fact, the term “diverse” itself must be re-examined. Show runners and network executives seem to think that diversity is strictly about race.
Having a diverse cast does not mean adding a couple of black actors and actresses into a lineup and calling it a day. Diversity includes people of different races, genders, sexes, religions, sexual orientations, ages, cultures and backgrounds. This is an issue through the film and TV industries, particularly regarding those behind the camera.
Minority actors are typically represented by smaller agencies, and the larger ones fall behind in keeping their rosters up to par with today’s demographics. Smaller agencies are less lucrative and do not have easy access to high-profile work. The lack of diversity in large Hollywood agencies constrains the casting options of even the most well-financed directors and producers. In the same vein, the membership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is 94 percent white and 77 percent male, with a median age of 62.
The entire Hollywood mentality is developed from the perspective of aging white men, which does not reflect America’s growing diversity.
Unfortunately, truly diverse representation in Hollywood will not occur until executives see diverse shows achieve financial success. Only then will they begin to seek out talent that is not of the white, cisgender, heterosexual male variety. American consumers of popular media are ready to move forward on diversity. If implemented correctly, diversity can expand the minds and horizons of the growing numbers of American children who rely heavily on TV to shape their beliefs and worldviews.
Harold Joseph is a UF political science junior. His columns appear on Fridays.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 10/10/2014]
