D is for Diversity

Any time I discuss anything concerning ethnicity and television, I have to start with a particularly strong memory from my childhood. When Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was all the rage and most 6 year-olds were pretending to be Power Rangers on the playground, I was told by another child that I would have to pretend to be the Black Ranger because I was "sorta black".

Now, I don't think little Johnny McTexan meant to be racist in any way at this time. He was really only working with what Power Rangers showed him: a racially color-coded team of superheroes. Since I was one of the only ethnics at my Suburban Texan elementary school, I clearly had to be one of the ethnic power rangers. Maybe the racial undertones to the Power Rangers were unintentional, but I find that hard to believe considering that the Black Ranger was African American, and the Yellow Ranger was Vietnamese-American. The important lesson that this taught me at the time was that diversity on TV is not a question of quantity (I'm not going to pretend that I was really that articulate at six years-old). As obvious as it seems now, apparently at this time, it wasn't so clear that though minorities might be visible, they might not be well portrayed.

The New York Times had a very interesting article on diversity in children's television programming, largely in response to the recent Disney Channel movie, Cheetah Girls: One World, which takes place in India (and which SM will be blogging on sometime soon). Fortunately, quite a bit has changed (though not entirely), and in direct contrast to the television from my childhood, some of the greatest strides have been made with TV for kids.

Gary Marsh, president for entertainment for Disney Channels Worldwide, said that executives at the company talked every day about how to promote greater diversity in front of and behind the camera.

“It’s something we work really hard at to make it look effortless,” he said. “We constantly push directors and casting directors and producers to make different decisions than they might otherwise make.”

In my opinion, though the Disney Channel should be greatly commended for it's success, they must also be careful to ensure that the visibility of minorities goes hand in hand with non-stereotypical portrayal of minorities. Though I don't watch the Disney Channel (I promise!), a good friend of mine informed me last year that the show Cory in the House features a generic foreigner character who seems to be a composite of various stereotypes concerning South Asia and the Middle East.

The article also discusses the achievements of ABC, which is owned by Disney, and it's ensemble drama, Lost, which is one of the most diverse television programs on the air. Lost features Naveen Andrews , who is a British actor of South Asian (his parents are from Kerala!) descent portraying an Iraqi, which, though not ideal, is refreshing, as his character largely resists many stereotypes concerning Arabs. The article also praises NBC's Heroes, which, like Lost, is an extremely diverse ensemble drama that features mostly non-stereotypical roles, with some exceptions. The show should be especially commended for it's portrayal of an interracial relationship, as it never makes any mention of the fact that the relationship is interracial, and thus never gives any indication that it should be viewed as anything out of the ordinary. The show also features Sendhil Ramamurthy (South Indians are really getting a lot of TV exposure) playing an Indian geneticist that does not have an Apu accent.

The one show that surprisingly gets no mention is NBC's The Office, which I feel handles this issue of diversity most expertly. The cast itself is fairly diverse, but the show finds humor in how dangerous the politics of diversity can be. And for those who are interested in the representations of Desis on television, I would argue that Mindy Kaling (born Vera Chokalingam, yet another Southie!) and her expert writing and acting for the show has done one of the greatest services for South Asians on television. Her character, Kelly Kapoor is ditzy, loudmouthed, clingy, and completely stereotype defying (and hilarious). In fact, quite a bit of the humor stems from how her boss's racial insensitivity and stereotypical expectations of her are completely ludicrous (She is obviously annoyed when she receives a "Spicy Curry" award at an office awards ceremony and is told that she should have dressed up like the girl from Bend it Like Beckham on Halloween). She is expected to be an expert on Hinduism and India, but when asked about the origins of Diwali, she replies that "Oh I don't know, it's really old I think". Or even better yet:

Michael: Kelly, you’re a Hindu, so you believe in Buddha.
Kelly: That’s Buddhists.
Michael: Are you sure?
Kelly: No

Kelly Kapoor is no Apu and no model minority, and as a result, she represents the kind of diversity we need more of on TV. Best of all, Mindy Kaling displays the same resistance to stereotyping in interviews (the youtube link is dead unfortunately, but the post and comments should give some idea of what I mean).

Overall, TV is moving in the right direction, and I am confident that fewer children will have traumatic experiences like mine on the playground. Unless the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers make a comeback.