They are ignored not for racist reasons but because it is not profitable to invest large sums of money appealing to a small demographic. The amount of advertising dollars would not justify it.
That is a well accepted myth, ...but a myth nonetheless. Shows like Cosby and a slew of films like Waiting to Exhale etc., proved how innacurate such a premise is.
UPN is a prime example. UPN failed because not enough people were watching their minority centric shows and they couldn't generate any revenue. It's a mistake believe that a private company has any obligation to level the playing field. Equality is not their business, generating a profit is.
UPN failed NOT because they were producing shows with Black leading characters, but because the content they were producing was not delivering the audiences they were targetting. The numbers were there for them to be successful. Believe me, no one invests in the kind of money required to initiate the venture without adequate feasibility studies. The problem is not just a lack of inclusion at the cast level, ...it starts with the content.
Do you honestly believe that you can have a bunch of non-lifting sloths write a TV show about body builders, and attract a large enough audience of body builders to make it profitable? Do you believe some guy who horks down McD's everyday, can even begin to write anything with a sense of realism. Do you think s/he would even be aware of the pain you guys go through, the drama, all the stuff that exists in your world, in a real enough way that would make you guys want to tune in? ...or do you think you might end up with a caricature that might prompt you to channel surf? That's the difference. Some guy whose heaviest life is the tab on the beer can which he rests on his gut... might not necessarily be fully equipped to write about your experience. To give that show a fighting chance, it's not just enough to cast a few serious lifters in the leads, but to extend the inclusiveness to having a writer behind the scenes who can write knowledgebly & credibly about the bodybuilder experience and make it relatable to the target audience. And then you had better pray to Mr. Weider in the sky, that the commercial airtime is not purchased by Tampax or Revlon, ...cause I would guarandamtee ya, the story lines would change to a bunch of women griping about what inconsiderate pricks their boyfriends are for going to the gym to play with weights rather than take them out on the town for their birthday. If there is not full vertical inclusion from the script to the screen, all you will end up with is a caricature of yourselves, and the perpetual stereotype of you as just a bunch of dumb meatheads.
As I said, the distinction between BET and any other network is that BET is racially motivated, while the major networks are motivated by profit. Again, the music industry is a prime example of this works. Music by black artist sell well so record companies release a disproportionate number of works by black entertainments.
Blacks are represented well on television if you consider their actual percentage of the population. If you don't see as many minorities as you like, it may mean your conception of equality is skewered. It's a mistake to believe that equality means fifty-fifty. Also, equality doesn't mean that every situation requires the presence of a minority.
Blacks are NOT represented well regardless of their percentage of population.
Throwing a person up on a screen is hardly representation, ...and certainly not when the images are periferal, inconsequential, or derogatory. That's not representation, ...that's portrayal, ...not representation.
If you ever watch black-centric shows it is immediately apparent that whites and other minority are woefully underrepresented. Where are the whites and minorities? You'd think that black people being such a small portion of the population, would be encountering other groups of people quite frequently. Beyond the occasional white guest star or white/minority peripheral character-usual the focus of derision by the way- they are barely visible. I doubt you noticed this because you weren't looking for it.
I've noticed, ...but I along with alot of people don't make a habit of watching racially derisive shit!
Could be a reason why so many fail at creating content for delivering product to an audience. The audience simply cannot relate to the crap they are spewing, and tune out.
