Reality Dating & Lack of Diversity...
(I'm contacting the professor referenced in this article. )
July 27, 2004
The 'reality' of romance: Little room for diversity in TV shows
By Tanya BarrientosKnight Ridder Newspapers
When it comes to "romance reality" television, you may think you've seen everything.There are bachelors offering roses to beautiful women, and bachelorettes selecting Mr. Right from a field of hunks and average schmoes. There are ersatz millionaires lying about their worth, grown children choosing mates for their lonely fathers, and anxious parents strapping their kids' suitors to lie detectors.But there's one thing America still hasn't witnessed — an interracial couple locked in a happily-ever-after embrace.
Until now.Starting Aug. 3, UPN will present The Player, the first reality dating show with a cast of many colors. Set in Miami, the weekly show focuses on a white bachelorette named Dawn and her two advice-giving girlfriends selecting a squeeze from a field of 13 men, eight of whom are either African American or Latino.
While the UPN show is groundbreaking in its ethnic array of eligible lovers, it is following what has become a whites-only tradition in the casting of its star. So far, no bachelor or bachelorette starring in a network dating program has been African American, Asian or Latino. And, until The Player came along, their would-be wives and husbands were still, for the most part, also white."Occasionally there's a black face in the field of contestants, but they're always eliminated in the first or second round," said Amanda Hall, a doctoral student in communications at the University of Georgia, who is writing a thesis on gender roles perpetuated by reality television.Reality programs that focus on competition, group interaction or sheer talent, such as American Idol, Survivor and Fear Factor, routinely feature racially diverse casts. But in the hot-tubbing realm of romance, people of color can be as rare as relationships that last.
It's not because minorities aren't auditioning for the shows, said Rosslynn Taylor Jordan, vice president of casting for Bruce Nash Entertainment, the creators of Meet My Folks, For Love or Money and Who Wants to Marry My Dad?"I personally make sure I get as much diversity into the pool of possible contestants as I can," said Taylor Jordan. She explained that her job was to provide a wide field of possible participants. But in the end, network executives determine who will get on the air.
"The American public is accustomed to seeing African Americans be successful in sports or entertainment, so on American Idol you aren't doing anything out of the ordinary," said Todd Boyd, a professor at the University of Southern California's School of Cinema and Television."But when there is some connection to love or sexual attraction, the assumption is that mainstream America might not feel comfortable," Boyd said. "If there was a potential of a black male being linked up with a white woman, you're going up against a long history of America being uncomfortable with race mingling. I'm not saying that's the truth, I'm saying that's the assumption. The networks are very old-school in their thinking, very conservative."Never mind that in real life young adults regularly step across racial lines to find love, he said.
"I think it's mostly about advertising to a preferred segment of society," said Dennis Broe, a professor of media arts at Long Island University's Brooklyn campus. "They're playing to middle America. But if somebody were to take the chance, the ratings might go sky high."
July 27, 2004
The 'reality' of romance: Little room for diversity in TV shows
By Tanya BarrientosKnight Ridder Newspapers
When it comes to "romance reality" television, you may think you've seen everything.There are bachelors offering roses to beautiful women, and bachelorettes selecting Mr. Right from a field of hunks and average schmoes. There are ersatz millionaires lying about their worth, grown children choosing mates for their lonely fathers, and anxious parents strapping their kids' suitors to lie detectors.But there's one thing America still hasn't witnessed — an interracial couple locked in a happily-ever-after embrace.
Until now.Starting Aug. 3, UPN will present The Player, the first reality dating show with a cast of many colors. Set in Miami, the weekly show focuses on a white bachelorette named Dawn and her two advice-giving girlfriends selecting a squeeze from a field of 13 men, eight of whom are either African American or Latino.
While the UPN show is groundbreaking in its ethnic array of eligible lovers, it is following what has become a whites-only tradition in the casting of its star. So far, no bachelor or bachelorette starring in a network dating program has been African American, Asian or Latino. And, until The Player came along, their would-be wives and husbands were still, for the most part, also white."Occasionally there's a black face in the field of contestants, but they're always eliminated in the first or second round," said Amanda Hall, a doctoral student in communications at the University of Georgia, who is writing a thesis on gender roles perpetuated by reality television.Reality programs that focus on competition, group interaction or sheer talent, such as American Idol, Survivor and Fear Factor, routinely feature racially diverse casts. But in the hot-tubbing realm of romance, people of color can be as rare as relationships that last.
It's not because minorities aren't auditioning for the shows, said Rosslynn Taylor Jordan, vice president of casting for Bruce Nash Entertainment, the creators of Meet My Folks, For Love or Money and Who Wants to Marry My Dad?"I personally make sure I get as much diversity into the pool of possible contestants as I can," said Taylor Jordan. She explained that her job was to provide a wide field of possible participants. But in the end, network executives determine who will get on the air.
"The American public is accustomed to seeing African Americans be successful in sports or entertainment, so on American Idol you aren't doing anything out of the ordinary," said Todd Boyd, a professor at the University of Southern California's School of Cinema and Television."But when there is some connection to love or sexual attraction, the assumption is that mainstream America might not feel comfortable," Boyd said. "If there was a potential of a black male being linked up with a white woman, you're going up against a long history of America being uncomfortable with race mingling. I'm not saying that's the truth, I'm saying that's the assumption. The networks are very old-school in their thinking, very conservative."Never mind that in real life young adults regularly step across racial lines to find love, he said.
"I think it's mostly about advertising to a preferred segment of society," said Dennis Broe, a professor of media arts at Long Island University's Brooklyn campus. "They're playing to middle America. But if somebody were to take the chance, the ratings might go sky high."
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