on the other hand

[winterbadger]

I highly recommend the program Bravo's shown called TV Revolution. It's a look at how TV treatment of controversial and important topics in American life (sex, violence, race, gender issues, women's rights) has changed over time. They aired it the last week of May, but I expect they'll be showing it again, and I'd encourage people to watch it if they're interested in issues of popular culture and society. I found it fascinating, much of it in a "I had forgotten how much the world has changed since I've been alive" way. Fascinating.

Comments

[winterbadger]

I know what you mean (e.g., Norman Lear talking about the choices that he made, and fought for, in producing All in the Family), but I think they weren't so much trying to *create* a change in the way society worked as *portray* that chnage and say, "Look, *this* is what reality looks like. Not all feminists are loud, ugly, man-hating women; black people do things besides clean people's houses." I was struck by the one guy remarking on how straight men who had seen Queer As Folk said that they felt less frigthened and repulsed by the idea of gay men having sex and could actually identify similarities with their own (straight) sex lives).

What astonished me more than anything was being reminded how recently some fairly (to me) uncontroversial things couldn't be depicted on television. Also, how few minority-cast dramas (as opposed to comedies) there are. They obviously produced this pretty recently; I was surprised therefore that they didn't mention Soul Food, which has just finished its last season on Showtime. It had its weaknesses here and there, but I thought it was a pretty strong and diverse drama about the life of a black family.

I had totally forgotten about "All American Girl"; I remember it coming out, and I think I watched a show or two, but I had not known it got cancelled, in part, because of a negative reaction from the Asian-American community. Andturning down Bruce Lee as a star of Kung Fu in favor of David Carradine? Damn, some people are stupid...