What is Your Role?

I was watching the television show 30 Rock the other day and one of the characters, Tracy Morgan, is the only black main character on the show — other than a few other minor black characters. Not only that, but he is there to help the other white characters to make their own television show funny and to bring in more viewers, by making fun of himself in ways that stereotype black people.

I mentioned what I said above because when watching movies and television shows, it is hard not to notice the lack of diversity on the screen. I mean yeah there are more and more black actors making their debut on the camera, but what are their roles most comprised of — supporting characters. There are a few characters who are black and the main character, but there is not enough. In Rita Kempley’s, “Mystical Black Characters Play Complex Cinematic Role”, if a black character is a main character, they are basically there to help a white character. It is not that the black characters are not likeable, it is just that they are given roles that are in a way ‘godly’ or ‘holy roles’ that causes them to be the supporting characters in a sense and help “rescue the better-drawn white characters” (331).

I don’t think writers and producers who create the movie or television show do this on purpose, I just think that there is this subconscious reason to do so. I feel like they have an idea of their character and its attributes and sadly, it does not have a black character playing it. I am not sure what people can do about it, but it is a start that there is awareness of the lack of diversity.