Your brain on white people

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:00:00 +0000

It simply isn’t true that there are no folks of color in the new HBO series "Girls," in which young, attractive white women try to find their way in the post-9/11 Big Apple. For example, in the last minute of the very first episode, a homeless black guy talks to our quirky, spunky heroine, Hannah. “Why don’t you smile?” he says to her. “Does your heart hurt? Oh, girl, when I look at you, I just want to say Hellloooo, New York!”

Hello, New York, indeed. This isn’t the first time TV pushed millions of immigrants and people of color to the margins of one of the most diverse cities in the world. Hello, Woody Allen! Hello, "Seinfeld"! Hello, "Friends" and "Sex and the City"! If "Girls" can’t make it there, it can’t make it anywhere. Of course, the rest of TV has been overwhelmingly white, too. Ever since "Father Knows Best" and "Wagon Train," the medium has long presented a whitewashed version of the way we live.

That might be why some "Girls" writers take exception to their show being singled out for criticism. Here’s what writer Leslie Arfin tweeted in response to criticisms: "What really bothered me most about Precious was that there was no representation of ME." ("Precious," the 2009 film about a mentally and sexually abused teenager, featured a predominantly black cast.)

Salon.com > Jeremy Adam Smith

Your brain on white people