that being said, id now like to interrupt regular programming to complain about something on the L Word.
i was just looking at my fav L Word fan site www.thelwordonline.com and saw that they had new promo pics from season 4. this one stood out to me:
alright. so ive known about Papi and Marlee Matlin and Cybill Shepard (huh?) being added to the show. i talk to hundreds of lesbians every week. and with all of that, ive heard NOTHING about this black chick. i found myself asking (as Kit would), "who dat?" her name is Rose Rollins and by the looks of things, she's gonna get down with Alice. *yay*.
but that made me think about my random issues with the L Word's black characters.
the first of course being Kit. Pam Grier is an icon. she's growing less young gracefully and im sure she's a lovely person. in real life, she seems to be articulate, poised...you know, normal. but on the show, she says things like "Who Dat?" (i DIED when i heard her say that!) and "uuh UH girlfriend." she doesnt write her lines. so this must be how the writers think we talk. and just because i do talk like that, it doesnt mean we all do!
now...i noticed something in Season 2 and 3. when you put a hot comb to Kit's hair, she all of a sudden starts talking less ghetto. have yall noticed that?? Put that girl next to Bette, with both of their hair straight as a board, and instead of hearing about how "dat fool done her wrong girlfren," instead you almost think you're watching an episode of "Frasier"!
also, when it comes to black men, they go completely in the other direction. remember Tim's coach friend from season 1 and the return in 3? he talks like a surfer dude. and Kit's son. "dude...no way man." i understand that we talk in all different ways. im a bit of a mixture between Ozzy Osburne, Arnold from Diff'rent Strokes, and Edith from All in the Family.
but it just seems to me the L Word writers have never met black people before. so i'm hoping with Rose's new character, we'll get to see a dark-skinned girl speak with the sense her mama gave her. who can be sexy, funny, and get through a conversation without saying "sheeet."
by the way, theyve named this character "Tasha." TASHA!! *sigh* i guess i should be grateful it isnt "ShaKimberly" or "LaJennifer" or RayRay.
< /rant>
Season 4 starts in the U.S. on January 7th. watch-party at my place?
12 comments:
I SOOO FEEL YOU ON THE KIT THING!
I've noticed that the writers give her lines that i think are out of character. I look at Kit as a smart black woman. I wonder if the writers are trying to make up for the lack of black characters by giving Kit xtra ghetto. And remember the angry black woman from group therapy in season 1?!?!
I LOVE THE L-WORD!!!!!!!!!!!
AND YOUR BLOGS!!!!!!!!!!!!
PS-I'M WHITE
I thought the exact same thing, except, I said, "Who the hell is that? She's hot." Then I thought "Alice got a black chick... nice." And now I'm wondering about the whole Kit thing. I did notice the ghetto speak (which I am appalled by) but, apparently I was oblivious to her lack of ghetto speak. Perhaps, I was too busy drooling over Ms. Beals...
And side note: Papi is no substitute for Carmen. We need Sarah Shahi (Don't yell at me. I know she's not really even Latina. That fact devastated me when I first found out. But, I've learned to accept it. Shit, Persian chicks can be hot to.)
Fin.
Arlan, isn't Jennifer Beals African-American as well? At least partially? IMDB says that her parents were an interracial couple. So they don't portray all African-Americans as speaking in a certain way. :) But I'm a Caucasian-American so what do I know about it? :)
As to L Word watching party at your place, Hell Yes! but you're in San Diego, last time I was down there was with the USS Florida and I'm not in the Navy anymore...I'm back home in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'll have to find out if there is a group up here that would let a (95%) straight male watch The L Word with them...anybody up for it???
I'm not a typical white male, I actually have an androgynous personality, I listen to Sarah McLachlan and Alanis Morrisette, in fact I have 5 albums from the former and 4 from the latter, and I watch my Sarah Afterglow Live DVD at least once a week, he he. :) So maybe they wouldn't mind. :)
--Brian (myspace.com/neutrino78x, on your myspace friends list)
yeah jennifer is, but she's light skinned. i guess i didnt make my point strong enough. and i wonder why they give her julia sugarbaker type speeches, but they give kit "who dat?". :-)
oh and youre the 3rd straight guy this week thats told me they read this blog. hmmm....its ok for now. but if i hear any heavy panting, im getting my pepper spray. ;-)
hehe .. you re totally right for the Kit thing... and this is coming from a white girl that happens to come from the Caribbean and has a creole accent! You should see how people stare at me and my family when they hear us talk in Canada.. haha, they don t know where the hell we come from! :P
thats hot. i wanna hear that.
I agree with Arlan. What's your myspace stauts? lol
space.com/LaSunset
Arlan...why am I in love with you? i dunno...lets make milk chocolatey babies :)
then our wives (Brittany Snow and McPheever can be jealous)
<3
Heather
hey heather, im all about it. we wont use the phrase "milk chocolatey babies" when we go to visit my mom, but im totally up for all of the chocolate on vanilla baby making. lets do this.
a. i subscribe to your blog all the way from mauritius i like it that much. however, i had no idea you were poc. not as if we have much of an internet presence. yay for shaking things up.. woot!
b. i heard some rumor about a black woman joining the cast.. but then i saw the promo video and she wasn't included. what the hell is that about? i think someone at showtime has some 'splaining to do. the only excuse i'll accept is that her character is not going to be a regular.
c. as angry as i am about the l words representation issues from a black woman's perspective, mexcian and chicana women should be RIOTING by now.
for the second straight season, chaiken hired indian and middle eastern women and gave them spanish lessons so that they could play mexican woman.
when it was just carmen, i didn't read into it that much.. however, this papi thing is just ridiculous.
having seen a few bollywood films in my day (there big in Mauritius, and what unifes them all is that they feature female leads who at 5'8, 125 lbs are essentially brown, curvaceous versions of Barbie)
..the message i get loud and clear is "sorry chicana women, you're simply not living up to the exotic latina sterotype. guess we better cast indian women in your places instead."
WTF? That is not okay.
i think we need to begin a
CAMPAIGN TO END BROWN-FACE ON THE L WORD.
anybody with me?
I'm going to have to partially disagree with you on this one Arlan. Although I don't like the way tv portays most black characters, I don't feel that way about Kit. I have known plenty of intelligent black women who chose to use "ghetto-speak". You have to consider the surroundings and situation for the conversation. In general: there is a time for ghetto-speak and a time "fancy-talk". I have been known to use my share of "who dat"'s and "what had happened was", oh and let's not forget "what yo name is?"; but that is definitely not the dialect I would use at a business meeting for the reopening of the Planet.
Much Love
Your blog rocks my socks
myspace.com/kikilabobo from your friends list
p.s. I know I'm white on the outside but I'm black at heart
i agree kikilabobo, there is a time and a place to use it if you want to. but um...she never uses it at the correct time! how Angus could inspire it, i have NO idea. :-)
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