Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
May 29, 2013
"Apartment 23"
In Taki's Magazine, I try to explain a TV show that nobody, fans or critics, got. If you like my sense of humor, well, the people who made "Apartment 23" are a lot funnier than I am.
Since nothing I like, other than Iron Man movies, ever succeeds in the marketplace, I was hardly surprised when the only new sitcom I've bothered to watch in this decade was canceled in January with eight episodes unaired. But, this week, the eight lost episodes of "Apartment 23" are available on line for free. But not after June 2.
You might think that ABC would have aired the best episodes, leaving the dross unaired, but it appears to have worked the opposite way. ABC tried to pick out the most mass appeal episodes to air, so the ones online this week are particularly Apartment 23ish.
August 6, 2012
"Stuck on Stereotypes"
Why don't relatively smart, sophisticated network TV shows like multiple Emmy-winning Modern Family do well with the Hispanic audience? The answer, according to a variety of Latino activist and media types in the electronic rolodexes of New York Times reporters, is that Modern Family isn't smart and sophisticated enough to lure Latino audiences away from Spanish-language shows.
To find out, the New York Times interviewed various self-appointed spokespersons for the Hispanic Tidal Wave, such as
- "the co-owner and chief operating officer of the advertising agency Zubi Advertising,"
- the "founder of the Web site Latino Rebels,"
- a "31-year-old Mexican-American documentary filmmaker,"
- and "a senior vice president for development and production at Encanto Enterprises."
You can't get a much more statistically representative sample of the typical Hispanic than that (at least, among people who will instantly return Times' reporters calls and not tell them anything that might make them the slightest bit uncomfortable.)
Thus, they all told the NYT that the reason is because these shows like Modern Family are full of insensitive stereotypes about Hispanics and thus turn off the millions of culturally cutting edge Latino viewers who are annoyed by retrograde stereotyping of Hispanics (which by the way, I must add, could be solved just like that by hiring the people being quoted).
- "the co-owner and chief operating officer of the advertising agency Zubi Advertising,"
- the "founder of the Web site Latino Rebels,"
- a "31-year-old Mexican-American documentary filmmaker,"
- and "a senior vice president for development and production at Encanto Enterprises."
You can't get a much more statistically representative sample of the typical Hispanic than that (at least, among people who will instantly return Times' reporters calls and not tell them anything that might make them the slightest bit uncomfortable.)
Thus, they all told the NYT that the reason is because these shows like Modern Family are full of insensitive stereotypes about Hispanics and thus turn off the millions of culturally cutting edge Latino viewers who are annoyed by retrograde stereotyping of Hispanics (which by the way, I must add, could be solved just like that by hiring the people being quoted).
Thus, due to white racists who fail to perceive how sophisticated the burgeoning Latino audience is, Hispanics viewers just stick with watching Sabado Gigante, where they are sure to see a fat mestizo guy with a droopy Pancho Villa mustache and a giant sombrero leer at some dyed blonde spicy senorita and fall down. No stereotyping of Mexicans on Spanish language TV! (Or at least that's the logical implication of this article -- neither the reporters nor the sources for the article give any indication of ever having watched Spanish language programming.)
Stuck on Stereotypes
Networks Struggle to Appeal to Hispanics
By TANZINA VEGA and BILL CARTER
Sofia Vergara is probably the most recognizable Hispanic actress working in English-language television. She is one of the stars of “Modern Family,” the highest-rated scripted show on network television, and she has parlayed her celebrity into commercials for brands like Pepsi and Cover Girl.
Despite her popularity, “Modern Family” is not a hit with Hispanic viewers. Out of its overall viewership of 12.9 million, “Modern Family” drew an average of only about 798,000 Hispanic viewers in the season. That audience accounts for only about 6 percent of the show’s viewers — less than half of what you might expect given the 48 million Hispanic television viewers that Nielsen measures. ...
The numbers encapsulate the problem facing English-language television executives and advertisers: they desperately want to appeal to the more than 50 million Latinos in the United States (about three-quarters speak Spanish), especially those who are young, bilingual and bicultural, but those viewers seem to want very little to do with American English-language television.
They do, however, continue to watch Spanish-language networks in huge numbers.
In May, on the final night of the most recent season of “Modern Family,” far more Hispanic viewers were watching the top Spanish language show that week, the telenovela “La Que No Podía Amar,” on Univision, which attracted 5.2 million viewers.
... The list of top English-language shows watched by Hispanics is headed by the same competition shows as among the total audience, with “Dancing With the Stars,” and “American Idol” faring best this spring, while “Sunday Night Football” was the leader in the fall.
But the discrepancy between English and Spanish language shows is most acute among shows that are scripted in English. The issue, many viewers and critics argue, is that there still hasn’t been the Hispanic equivalent of “The Cosby Show,” meaning a show that deals with Latino culture in a way that doesn’t offend viewers with crude stereotypes.
This winter, CBS hoped to have a cross-cultural hit with the show “Rob” featuring the comedian Rob Schneider. The show, based loosely on Mr. Schneider’s own life, showed his experiences of marrying into a Mexican family and the culture clashes that ensued. But the chief conflict ended up being between the show and its intended viewers.
“Big family,” said Mr. Schneider’s character, when he meets his wife’s family for the first time. “Now I know what’s going on during all those siestas.” In another scene, the character Hector, played by Eugenio Derbez, tells Rob that he is visiting from Mexico. Then he gets closer to Rob and whispers, “I’m not leaving,” and after pausing for effect adds, “Ever.”
For Joe Zubizarreta, the co-owner and chief operating officer of the advertising agency Zubi Advertising, with headquarters in Miami, the comedic devices used in “Rob” were too much. “They’ve used just about every stereotype they could in the pilot,” Mr. Zubizarreta said. “I understand that the general market taste will find humor in the idiosyncrasies of Hispanics. But as Hispanics, when we watch general market television, we’d like to see some semblance of reality to our lives.”
For Julio Ricardo Varela, the founder of the Web site Latino Rebels, both the content of “Rob” and how it was marketed relied too much on stereotypes.
“ ‘Rob’ was a big running joke among our community,” Mr. Varela said. “It just felt lazy, stale and I think that mainstream television is missing the boat.” Mr. Varela noted a contest on the show’s Facebook page where viewers were invited to hit a virtual piñata to “whack and win” a trip to the show’s set. Also on the page were promotional images of Mr. Schneider and the rest of the cast in a conga line. “I thought the marketing was beyond ridiculous,” Mr. Varela said.
Nina Tassler, the president for entertainment for CBS, declined to comment on “Rob” specifically, but said that reaching out to the Hispanic community was important for the network. (The network declined to pick up “Rob” for a second season.)
“Everybody’s culture is wholly unique, so finding the storytelling language that can reach out and communicate with the biggest cross section of the Latin population is obviously what we are trying for,” said Ms. Tassler, who is the highest-ranking network television executive with a Hispanic heritage.
Here's Nina Tassler's background from Wikipedia.
Mr. Schneider declined to comment for this article.
Schneider is part Filipino. I've always found him funnier than his friend Adam Sandler, although perhaps that's not saying much.
Among the series that were in development for next season by English-language networks, one, an ABC show called “Devious Maids,” gained attention for its focus on a Latino stereotype — maids working in Beverly Hills. The show was being produced by Marc Cherry of “Desperate Housewives,” and had been based on a Spanish-language telenovela.
When Liz Colunga, a 31-year-old Mexican-American documentary filmmaker heard about “Devious Maids” she wasn’t surprised at the show’s theme. “I’m used to watching stereotypical roles for Latinas and Latinos,” Ms. Colunga said.
No character stirs more mixed emotions for Hispanic audiences that the one played by Ms. Vergara on “Modern Family.” She plays Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, a sexy Latina trophy wife whose persona has gotten mixed reviews from Latinos.
“It’s working for her, but at what expense?” said Ms. Colunga, the filmmaker. “She’s playing the clueless Latina.”
In a show where all of the characters are a bit extreme, the least stereotypical of all is Gloria’s smart-talking son Manny. Lynnette Ramirez, the senior vice president for development and production at Encanto Enterprises, a production company owned by George and Ann Lopez, said Gloria’s character works because she is tempered by her son.
“Sofia’s character is a first generation Latina,” Ms. Ramirez said. “Manny’s going to grow up to be like Sara Ramirez’s character in ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ” she added, a reference to the actress Sara Ramirez’s role as a doctor on the show.
Judging by who likes summer blockbuster movies the most, perhaps Modern Family could broaden their demographic appeal by adding a couple of fireball explosions to each episode.
June 12, 2012
The diverse aren't interested in diversity
Here's a recent Nielsen ratings for the most popular cable network (not broadcast networks like CBS) shows among blacks. It's not too diverse, except for Keeping Up with the Kardashians, where the sisters keep marrying NBA players of varying degrees of blackness, and pro wrestling, which is quite integrated.
Top 25 Cable Shows in Black Households
Rank | Program | Network | AA Rating | AA Share | Viewers 2+
Rank | Program | Network | AA Rating | AA Share | Viewers 2+
1
|
NBA PLAYOFFS- ROUND 2
|
TNT
|
15.0
|
22.4
|
2,836
|
2
|
NBA PLAYOFFS- ROUND 2
|
TNT
|
14.0
|
20.1
|
2,566
|
3
|
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF SEMIS
|
ESPN
|
13.6
|
22.4
|
2,581
|
4
|
NBA PLAYOFFS- ROUND 2
|
TNT
|
12.0
|
19.5
|
2,259
|
5
|
NBA PLAYOFFS- ROUND 2
|
TNT
|
11.1
|
16.4
|
1,963
|
6
|
NBA PLAYOFFS- ROUND 2
|
TNT
|
9.8
|
15.5
|
1,789
|
7
|
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF SEMIS
|
ESPN
|
9.7
|
14.2
|
1,728
|
8
|
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF SEMIS
|
ESPN
|
9.5
|
15.5
|
1,711
|
9
|
NBA PLAYOFFS-CONF SEMIS
|
ESPN
|
9.5
|
15.3
|
1,732
|
10
|
THE GAME
|
BET
|
9.1
|
12.9
|
1,807
|
11
|
NBA PLAYOFFS- ROUND 2
|
TNT
|
8.7
|
13.3
|
1,622
|
12
|
NBA PLAYOFFS- ROUND 2
|
TNT
|
8.5
|
13.6
|
1,570
|
13
|
BASKETBALL WIVES 4
|
VH1
|
8.2
|
12.1
|
1,603
|
14
|
NBA PLAYOFFS- ROUND 2
|
TNT
|
8.1
|
13.2
|
1,485
|
15
|
LETS STAY TOGETHER S2
|
BET
|
7.3
|
10.4
|
1,433
|
16
|
LA LAS FULL COURT LIFE 2
|
VH1
|
6.2
|
8.7
|
1,217
|
17
|
HOUSE OF PAYNE
|
TBS
|
5.6
|
8.7
|
1,120
|
18
|
WWE ENTERTAINMENT
|
USA
|
5.4
|
7.4
|
1,150
|
19
|
HOUSE OF PAYNE
|
TBS
|
5.0
|
8.1
|
943
|
20
|
NBA PLAYOFFS PRE-GAME
|
TNT
|
4.9
|
7.9
|
874
|
21
|
NBA PLAYOFFS PRE-GAME
|
TNT
|
4.5
|
6.4
|
849
|
22
|
WWE ENTERTAINMENT
|
USA
|
4.5
|
6.2
|
864
|
23
|
BASKETBALL WIVES 4
|
VH1
|
4.3
|
5.9
|
844
|
24
|
KEEPING UP KARDASHIANS
|
E! TV
|
4.2
|
6.0
|
756
|
25
|
THE GAME
|
BET
|
4.1
|
5.8
|
752
|
I can't find a similar list for white households. The industry seems to report breakouts of data as Everybody, blacks, and Hispanics.
May 26, 2012
Signs "Girls" Whiteness Crisis Abating
A new article in the NYT, "Seeing HBO’s ‘Girls’ Without Buying a Television," somehow fails to mention that all four girls on Girls are white. Could this be a cultural turning point?
By the way, when is Roissy going to get his own sit-com?
I don't know that Lena Dunham is directly channelling Roissy's blog, although I would think the odds are at least 50-50. Her characters certainly live in a Roissyesque universe, although perhaps that's because it's Roissy's world and we're all just living in it. (I like to hope that's not 100% true, but what do I know?)
Dunham has an interesting skill set. It's not hard to find young women who claim they will endure any humiliation onscreen to further career ambitions, but Dunham will do it while being overweight, funny, and smart. Plus she learned from her mother, an art photographer of dollhouse scenes, how to light sets and where to place the camera. (That's the point of calling her debut movie Tiny Furniture: her mother's career sounds silly, but helping your mother at a young age on her miniaturized sets is a cheap way to learn part of how to direct. Compare how grown-up looking Tiny Furniture was to, say, the Duplasse Brothers' Puffy Chair.)
Dunham's character in Tiny Furniture / Girls is self-centered, obnoxious, and sluttish, but the sex lives of young women are so inherently important (this is where the next generation comes from) that there's a trainwreck-like fascination to it.
One key to making a Roissy sit-com work is to film it in Washington D.C., not L.A. or N.Y.C. There is so much money in D.C. these days that it's a now glamor destination for young white people, while also being comically unsexy: "C'mon, just one more drink" "Oh, you're so sweet, but I have to pull together some talking points for the Congresswoman on the helium subsidy."
One key to making a Roissy sit-com work is to film it in Washington D.C., not L.A. or N.Y.C. There is so much money in D.C. these days that it's a now glamor destination for young white people, while also being comically unsexy: "C'mon, just one more drink" "Oh, you're so sweet, but I have to pull together some talking points for the Congresswoman on the helium subsidy."
The main issue with how Roissy could have his own show is that what makes him such an amazing blogger -- his infinite fecundity of lines in response to his acuity of observation, his sheer superiority and the obvious impossibility of mere mortals following in real time such advice as: "If she says X, just make up something that's witty, tailored to her, yet subtly discombobulating, like A, B, or C; but if she says Y, then make up something like D, E, of F; while if she says Z, then ..." -- would also make him insufferable as a major character in a continuing series.
The solution might be to make Roissy a legendary offscreen expert who has condescended to advise via text message three or four hopeless Big Bang Theory-like acolytes / losers in their quests. But in the presence of real live girls, they constantly fumble Roissy's lines to comic and endearing effect.
The solution might be to make Roissy a legendary offscreen expert who has condescended to advise via text message three or four hopeless Big Bang Theory-like acolytes / losers in their quests. But in the presence of real live girls, they constantly fumble Roissy's lines to comic and endearing effect.
May 24, 2012
"I Love Lucy" v. "I Love Marilyn"
We've been having some fun posting historical bits and pieces subversive of the increasingly popular interpretation of American history put forward by whiteness experts like Noel Ignatiev: that the Irish, Spaniards, Jews, Italians, and so forth weren't considered white until recently.
For example, look how the CIA wouldn't allow James Jesus Angleton to join because his mother was Mexican. *
Note that actor Mel Ferrer's acting career was so hampered by discrimination that he had to console himself with being married to Audrey Hepburn.
Look how Jose Ferrer's acting career was so hamstrung by bias against Puerto Ricans that he had to console himself with his Oscar and Tony and with marrying George Clooney's aunt twice, Uta Hagen, and Phyllis Hill.
Look how Danny and Marlo Thomas couldn't get on TV because they're Arabs.
Look how Harvard wouldn't employ George Santayana because he was a Spaniard.
I began with Desi Arnaz's colossal success in "I Love Lucy."
A reader comments:
"And the success of Desi Arnaz doesn't really say much. Louis Armstrong was also popular in the past, but that didn't mean anti-black sentiments and anti-black laws didn't exist."
Yes, but Louis Armstrong didn't star in "I Love Marilyn," in which he played an Afro-American bandleader married to ditzy blonde Marilyn Monroe, who was Armstrong's wife in real life in 1951, in what would almost instantly become the most popular TV show of the 1950s.
Just to be clear: "I Love Marilyn" didn't happen.* And it wouldn't have happened in 1951, no way, no how. Marilyn married Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller. Rita Hayworth married the Aga Khan. But marrying, say, Louis Armstrong was a no-go in the 1950s.
The bottom line is that discrimination against blacks in American history was radically harsher than against anybody else, with the exception of American Indians (and the discrimination there was quite different, so it's hard to make an apples to apples comparison between blacks and Indians).
The bottom line is that discrimination against blacks in American history was radically harsher than against anybody else, with the exception of American Indians (and the discrimination there was quite different, so it's hard to make an apples to apples comparison between blacks and Indians).
Everybody else wants to claim the glamor of victimhood (heck, Henry Adams, grandson of one President and great-grandson of another, felt discriminated against for not being elected President). These days, everybody wants to associate the historical slights against their group with the glamor of black victimhood, but this rhetorical trick is extremely unfair to blacks.
-------------------------
* I realize that there are a huge number of people who simply don't know enough facts to tell when I'm joking or not, and thus would get confused and disturbed when I switch back and forth between factual and facetious without warning. Fortunately, most of them don't bother trying to read me.
To recount: James Jesus Angleton's mother was Mexican and he was the head of counter-intelligence at the CIA for decades. When Robert De Niro directed a fictionalized biopic of Angleton's life, with Matt Damon as the Angleton character, the whole half-Mexican part was dropped, presumably as being too confusing to modern prejudices, and Damon played the lead as the most boring WASP in the history of boring WASPs.
Mel Ferrer, a moderately successful movie star of Cuban and Irish descent, was married to the exquisite Audrey Hepburn from 1954-1968.
Puerto Rican-born Jose Ferrer (no close relation to Mel) was a prestigious actor, winning the Tony and Oscar for Cyrano de Bergerac after WWII. He married white women five times, including George Clooney's aunt, songstress Rosemary Clooney, twice.
Danny Thomas was a Lebanese-American. He was a huge hit on early TV and his daughter Marlo was the Zoey Deschanel of sit-coms in the late 1960s.
Spain-born George Santayana was a famous Harvard professor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Wikipedia says his students at Harvard included "T. S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Gertrude Stein, Walter Lippmann, and W. E. B. Du Bois."
Marilyn Monroe was not married to Louis Armstrong.
-------------------------
* I realize that there are a huge number of people who simply don't know enough facts to tell when I'm joking or not, and thus would get confused and disturbed when I switch back and forth between factual and facetious without warning. Fortunately, most of them don't bother trying to read me.
To recount: James Jesus Angleton's mother was Mexican and he was the head of counter-intelligence at the CIA for decades. When Robert De Niro directed a fictionalized biopic of Angleton's life, with Matt Damon as the Angleton character, the whole half-Mexican part was dropped, presumably as being too confusing to modern prejudices, and Damon played the lead as the most boring WASP in the history of boring WASPs.
Mel Ferrer, a moderately successful movie star of Cuban and Irish descent, was married to the exquisite Audrey Hepburn from 1954-1968.
Puerto Rican-born Jose Ferrer (no close relation to Mel) was a prestigious actor, winning the Tony and Oscar for Cyrano de Bergerac after WWII. He married white women five times, including George Clooney's aunt, songstress Rosemary Clooney, twice.
Danny Thomas was a Lebanese-American. He was a huge hit on early TV and his daughter Marlo was the Zoey Deschanel of sit-coms in the late 1960s.
Spain-born George Santayana was a famous Harvard professor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Wikipedia says his students at Harvard included "T. S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Gertrude Stein, Walter Lippmann, and W. E. B. Du Bois."
Marilyn Monroe was not married to Louis Armstrong.
May 23, 2012
The Lynching of Desi Arnaz (1917-1951)
A commenter at Slate attempts to explain to Matthew Yglesias the answer to that journalist's question "Why does the census count me as Hispanic?"
Latinos/Hispanics are individuals whose descent comes from Latin American countries and Puerto Rico (an American Territory). The white ones, who are the descendants mostly of Spaniards, but also of other Europeans who emigrated to Latin America and Puerto Rico are not considered white by most Americans and are therefore discriminated against by the Anglo (non Hispanic white) majority.
The problem, then, is the all encompassing, prevalent, institutional, personal racism of the Anglo (non Latino white) majority.
Right. That's what caused the tragic lynching of Desi Arnaz in 1951 during the attempted filming of the first episode of the never-aired "I Love Lucy" series. As fans of Noel Ignatiev no doubt recall, a mob of furious whites in the studio audience, enraged at Arnaz laying his Spanish Cuban hands on the fair Lucille Ball, spontaneously tore the bandleader limb from limb. Historians sometimes speculate that if it weren't for the virulent white prejudice against Spanish Cubans miscegenating with whites, "I Love Lucy" might even have become something of a hit.
April 25, 2012
Latest on "Girls" diversity crisis
The New York Times solicits eight opinions on the burning issue of the day "Whitewashing on the Small Screen." You see, HBO's new non-hit sit-com "Girls" has four white actresses playing the four titular girls.
Where’s the Multi-Culti Cool?
TREY ELLIS, NOVELIST, SCREENWRITER AND PLAYWRIGHTAudiences Can Be Color Blind
SARAH SELTZER, POP CULTURE WRITER‘Girls’ Starts the Conversation
TEDDY ZEE, PRODUCERDiversify the Entire Industry
JOE HOLT, ACTORBreak the Stereotypes
PHOEBE ROBINSON, COMEDIANReflect Reality, Even if It’s All-White
J-L CAUVIN, COMEDIANFree to Be Biased?
MELISSA MURRAY, BERKELEY LAW, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AND RUSSELL ROBINSON, BERKELEY LAW, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIAGirls, Girls, Girls
MELISSA SILVERSTEIN, WOMEN AND HOLLYWOOD
But, where is the diversity among the debating diversitoids? I see five blacks, two Jewish women, and, mirabile dictu, one Asian dude. But why is the vibrant 50,000,000+ Hispanic Latino/Latina community flagrantly excluded from the debate? It's almost as if nobody particularly cares about them. The New York Times should have a debate over the lack of diversity in this debate. I see the opportunity for an infinite regress coming on.
Lesley Arfin: The witch hunt for the young female John Derbyshire
When Rich Lowry fired John Derbyshire, that of course excited the witchburner sort of pundits to hunt down more crimethinkers suspected of not taking the reigning racial pieties with full somberness. Attention has thus shifted to an obscure young comedy writer named Lesley Arfin, a staff writer for "Girls."
That's the new HBO show that everybody is tweeting about but (virtually) nobody is actually watching. It's a half-hour downbeat comedy about four not-quite-affluent enough young ladies trying to make it in New York City. It was created by 25-year-old Lena Dunham, writer of the 2010 indie film Tiny Furniture.
I don't have cable TV, so I haven't seen Girls. (Here is a rave about the show by Slate's quite reliable TV critic Troy Patterson, who is just about the best black writer in America whom nobody notices is black.)
I don't have cable TV, so I haven't seen Girls. (Here is a rave about the show by Slate's quite reliable TV critic Troy Patterson, who is just about the best black writer in America whom nobody notices is black.)
Unsurprisingly, there were the usual complaints that all four of the girls on "Girls" are white.
Arfin, one of Dunham's staff writers, cheekily tweeted in response:
"What really bothered me most about Precious was that there was no representation of ME."
This is in the same vein as Sara Silverman worked: the Evil Ingenue ("I don’t care if you think I’m racist; I just want you to think I’m thin"), the young woman too narcissistic to notice the rules about what you are allowed to say about race.
Silverman's best joke went:
I got in trouble for saying the word “Ch*nk” on a talk show, a network talk show. It was in the context of a joke. Obviously. That’d be weird. That’d be a really bad career choice if it wasn’t. But, nevertheless, the president of an Asian-American watchdog group out here in Los Angeles, his name is Guy Aoki, and he was up in arms about it and he put my name in the papers calling me a racist, and it hurt. As a Jew—as a member of the Jewish community—I was really concerned that we were losing control of the media.
But Arfin's tweet is still still pretty good for 140 characters.
This enraged various moral watchdogs. It's fascinating how in this Age of Point 'n' Sputter, this Era of Not Getting the Joke, how much pride some of these people take in being humorless buffoons.
On CNN, Soledad O'Brien, the networks go-to gal for all things African-American, and Sharon Waxman were confused and outraged by Arfin's joke:
“Wow!” Waxman responded. “Wow.”
The CNN panel momentarily tried to figure out if Arfin’s racially-inflammatory tweet was a joke.
“Do you think so?” O’Brien asked. “I guess it seems like she’s not necessarily taking the question of representation seriously to me.”
The New Yorker called Arfin's joke "breathtakingly dismissive and intellectually dishonest."
ThinkProgress whined:
Lesley Arfin, John Derbyshire, Vice, Taki Magazine, and the Lingering Cultural Capital of Racism
Elspeth Reeve of the Atlantic, who had piled on Derbyshire, entitled her angry piece:
'Girls' Writer Responds to Critique of 'Girls' with Horrible Joke
and followed up with:
'Girls' Writer Is Learning There's No Such Thing as Ironic Racism
Another notoriously butt-hurt site, Gawker, complained:
A Girls Writer’s Ironic Racism And Other ‘White People Problems’
You might think that the best way to complain about a comedy writer's joke is by making a joke back, especially if your complaints are really intended to get you an affirmative action job writing an HBO show. I mean, there are a lot of complainers in this world, so if HBO is going to have to hire some to write a People of Color sit-com, they might as well hire funny ones. But that kind of thinking is so pre-Trayvon.
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