Valid point, but a studio is different because they can take chances an individual can't. ABC is a well established network that cycles through shows all the time
I agree, but they won't believe they are different and that's my point. Because that's where it all becomes a matter of opinion. And they will throw that out against anyone like ellen to defend their decisions.
Glad you mention that, because that is the other thing that is missed. Alex Kingston, Isaiah Washington, ect. There are other people trying to get ahead and survive as well. We can all applaud people like Ellen and Eriq for what they did to help their careers, but there are ones who got rejected in the process because of what race they are plain and simple, there are others that want the same thing for their careers. It isn't just about them. They aren't the only ones looking to survive and make a career.
But belief doesn't trump truth. It's like saying as a bm all I need to do is follow the rules and I won't be harassed but its largely on the powers that be not to harass me. Leaving all responsibility in a game of systems is ridiculous. Unfortunately too many people are too simple to see truth.
Sounds to me like she picks her battles to get the most impact...smart and savvy...the fact that some of you can't see that is troubling I find the radical pro black just as unstable as the radical conservative....which would be the best explanation for not understanding why some white women would try so hard to be black I wouldn't want a black man to try to be white or somehow lose himself in order to be with me...
Bless your heart for not being able to see it...it is so blatantly a obvious to me when someone try's way to hard to the point of being fake...aka no longer real...
LaSalle was not worried about his black female fanbase. Instead he was taking a sort of political stand. Since his prickly character had relationships with black women that never worked out he thought it would be sending the wrong message if he his character finally found a working relationship with a woman who happened to be white. A small part of me admires his stance and understands his point of view. However the greater whole of me, then and now, think he was a fool. He had GREAT chemistry with Kingston and their characters were perfect for each other. He could have opened up doors for more IR relationships like that on network TV because the couple was gaining popularity very quickly and not to mention it was a top rated show. I laughed at him then because I thought to myself if a black actress found herself in a situation like that she isn't going to ask out of an onscreen relationship with a white male just because she doesn't want to send the wrong message. And low and behold look like I was right. You think Kerry Washington, to use one example, is worried about the message of the first leading black female character in decades not being interested in black male characters but having all type of steamy affairs with every white guy in the world? Too many black dudes are suckers. You couldn't find enough white men in the world to participate in Scandal parties if the lead character was a white woman having affairs with exclusively black men.
I remember when seeing Alex Kingston in a film, I forgot what the title was(she was topless),she played the wife of a gangster played by Sean Bean. She was beautiful. The film was based on a true incident that occurred in England. I've seen Kingston in CSI and Law & Order : SVU. Anyway, back in the 80's the soap opera All My Children toyed with IR a few times. One time with actress Debbie Morgan and Peter Bergman and an ir couple(bm/ww). I forgot their names, but they were there. Darnell Williams and actresses Kim Delaney and Tasha Valenza , who was very attracted to him(she even called him out and stating that he wouldn't date her because she was white) almost happened, but Williams' character didn't partake of ir other than friendship The soap The Guiding Light had on bm who dated a white woman but he lost her to a guy she ended up marrying who turned out to be a shady guy. The bm ended up marrying a black woman when they both got drunk. They decided to give their marriage a go. I felt Eriq LaSalle's decision was respectable, but I also thought it was kind of dumb because he and Kingston worked very well together. But ER was one of the top rated shows back in the day. The show was set in Chicago, Illinois, not Birmingham, Alabama. Like I had mentioned before, and I will say it again, the only way to show IR is through the independent film lens. Hollywood will never touch ir unless the show or film is guaranteed to make money for the studios.
It looks like it was based on her wanting to avoid recreating her personal life, which is just as valid as any other position she could take as an actor. She probably didn't want a role that could possibly affect her emotionally and bleed over into her personal life, given Hollywood's penchant for depicting IR as dysfunctional and fraught with peril for those involved and any children that might result. It wasn't based on any latent racism, etc, so I don't see any problem with it. Just because you support IR doesn't mean to me that you need to become a walking poster child for it.
This basically sums it up. It's hard enough for actors to maintain their privacy as it is without playing something that in some respects mirrors their own personal lives.