Recently there was a sweet child voted off the horrid show American Idol. I call it the leader in pain television because for every triumph it showcases there is a bunch of agony as they torture the contestants and audience by making them sing one last time. It's creepy television at its best. My BF loves this show as much as I dislike everything about it. Oh sure I will listen when someone is good but mostly I ignore it. Except the child named Haeley. I felt so sad for her I could see watching her sing and speak racial confusion (she doesn't know her ethnicity) and maybe age confusion she acts like a 9 year old. There is so much going so wrong about her. It made me remember my own racial confusion and how growing up in Canada the great WHITE north didn't help my racial understanding or anchoring. So I watched her try to be Miley Cyrus and it was oh so wrong. My BF thought she was awful and I thought she was lost. What do you say to a little girl who doesn't want to be anything but a white Disney movie star? How do you tell her she is the exact opposite and that it is enough? How do you tell her she will find her way in an unfriendly landscape if she maintains a balanced accepting sense of herself? That all of the racial inequity will one day be better for her she will maybe live long enough to see equal pay? How do you encourage children like this not to ditch herself? It's baffling? I am in pain for her and I doubt Disney will pick up the phone. They don't want a black child trying to be a white child and if they did they have a boat load of them still waiting to be called. No television wants a black child to be ghetto and specific and deep street. They don't want beige or blurry socially integrated intelligence. That is threatening to the status quo. If missy spoke with a southern almost pigeon English then maybe Disney would call. But being racially lost and trying to be snow white is creepy and it would scare the already white majority.
Haeley I am praying for you, for all of us who straddle both worlds racially even if it is only in our minds.
6 comments:
Being the parent of a biracial ten year old girl who admires and loves Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez, I can totally relate to what you are saying Rae. In my household I do the best I can to limit the amount and quality of television viewing. Quite frankly, these shows are the worst form of so called entertainment out there. It pains me a great deal to witness these children try to live up to the image of these television icons. Alas, my unsuspecting ten year daughter's mind cannot process and filter these iconic images and put them in there proper perspective. These television shows are a travesty and is causing great harm to the self esteem of our youth. I encourage educational programming to my daughter constantly. I am now to the point of disconnecting my cable service because my tolerance for it has reached its limit. I love and respect theatre and certain movies as an art form but the Disney channel and Nickolodian is one of the biggest, if not the biggest contributors to the destruction of the loss of self and self awareness to children of color.
A darkskin girl speaking proper and playing the guitar while smiling is annoying to Simon, yet a black girl sassing and using broken english is "cute" and "hip". smh at the industry.
I think we all need to get way past the BLACK and WHITE garbage of difference fear hate and opposition movement. Rosa Parks rose up for nothing?
American Idol? I really don't see much dif between the Simonized Garfunkless....geez, I'm actually watching the show with the sound on and it is so lame I could not concentrate...Hollywood went from a leader in spirit to a follower of money overnight. Pigs!
Hi Rae,
I must have missed a few posts, am just catching up. I'm a long time fan of American Idol. I'm Canadian so don't vote, tried to but couldn't get through. This season sucks crap; pardon me but it does. I loved Paula. Ellen is not right for Idol. I am a fan of hers but not for Idol. Who is Hailey? Well it is America who votes so it is up to the audience to vote. Reuben Stoddard won in the second season so I'm not sure it has to do with race but it does seem like coloured go first. It's not fair. I would vote for talent not by looks. It's fair to say that the hot young guys are those who are picked by young girls. Vice versa for the girls. I liked Lilly and she's now gone, I liked Todrick and he's gone. I'm not impressed by most of them this year.
I wish they liked it.
so hard to flowarm on this blog...
Heart pressed love rules! Kinetic, electric and very scientific!
Har! Best friend and Lover could never be better!
Like I said.... Peeps don't get love! Wake up! People are just plain stupid that don't love and interact with you when you make yourself so real and available...I don't care if yer famous or not. I feel you and always have, not yer Dad. He's totally dif..and more lame, if you ask me. I thought he was embarassing on the "70s Show"...but we can't always hate embarassment...huh? Maybe I'm off base????
LOVE, and all the trickley little spinoffs! Ha! Thanks Rd!
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