Feather-ruffling topic, perhaps. Recently I was perusing reviews of the QL DVDs. One site, "Cinema Blend", had an interesting comment when mentioning "The Color Of Truth". The reviewer wrote, "Today, no doubt there would be a huge outrage at a white man in a black man?s body starting the civil rights movement, ..."
That got me thinking. If QL had just begun in 2006, and this episode where a white actor played a black man aired, would people really get riled up into a huge outrage, calling the episode and show offensive? Would this be a major controversy, which would've had major repercussions for the show's survival?
Personally, I had no problem with it when it aired, and I don't think I would if it were new today, especially if I knew of the show's "leaping" concept. I even think that seeing white characters telling a white actor "We don't want your kind around here" would quite effectively impact the viewing audience, exactly what the writers wanted. And for full disclosure, I am mixed race (Filipino-Ukrainian), so I do have sensitivities and history with racial issues. But what about the rest of the viewing public? Would my no-big-deal stance be outnumbered by those of the "this is offensive and should not be tolerated" viewpoint?
I also wonder, if this writer's suggestion is accurate, how such a view would affect a Sammy Jo series. I've imagined episodes where Sammy Jo leaps into a black police officer in the Rodney King riots, into a Southeast Asian "boat person" refugee, into a Hispanic illegal immigrant. (Imagine how timely that last one would would be, considering recent headlines!) But would those not cut moral muster with people today? And could that doom the series with the viewers, network and (unfortunately, but that's how TV works today) sponsors?
For the record, here's the URL for the review: http://www.cinemablend.com/review.php?id=597
-- Mike
That got me thinking. If QL had just begun in 2006, and this episode where a white actor played a black man aired, would people really get riled up into a huge outrage, calling the episode and show offensive? Would this be a major controversy, which would've had major repercussions for the show's survival?
Personally, I had no problem with it when it aired, and I don't think I would if it were new today, especially if I knew of the show's "leaping" concept. I even think that seeing white characters telling a white actor "We don't want your kind around here" would quite effectively impact the viewing audience, exactly what the writers wanted. And for full disclosure, I am mixed race (Filipino-Ukrainian), so I do have sensitivities and history with racial issues. But what about the rest of the viewing public? Would my no-big-deal stance be outnumbered by those of the "this is offensive and should not be tolerated" viewpoint?
I also wonder, if this writer's suggestion is accurate, how such a view would affect a Sammy Jo series. I've imagined episodes where Sammy Jo leaps into a black police officer in the Rodney King riots, into a Southeast Asian "boat person" refugee, into a Hispanic illegal immigrant. (Imagine how timely that last one would would be, considering recent headlines!) But would those not cut moral muster with people today? And could that doom the series with the viewers, network and (unfortunately, but that's how TV works today) sponsors?
For the record, here's the URL for the review: http://www.cinemablend.com/review.php?id=597
-- Mike