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March 15, 2006
Page B3
Focus
BLACK) WHITE
Families Swap
Race in TV
Reality Series
/ didn't realize, more
than anything, how
hard it was going to he
for whites and blacks to
see the world through
each other ’v eyes.
- Black.White.executive producer R J. Cutler
A white family learns about stereotypes when they take on the character
istics o f a black family in the TV reality show ‘Black. White.'
FX Network
show on
Channel 53
(A P) — W hen w riter John
Howard Griffin turned his skin from
white to dark and traveled the South
in 1959 for a firsthand look at the
depths of racism, he relied on a
simple medical treatment and his
wits.
In the 21st century, such a jour
ney requires Hollywood makeup
wizardry, the well-honed conven
tions of both reality TV and docu
mentary filmmaking, and two fami
lies, one black, one white, acting as
und ercover race detectives in
Southern California.
As superficially different as FX's
“Black.White.,” Griffin’s landmark
book "Black Like Me” appear to be,
they are brothers under the skin.
"Black. W hite.,"airing Wednes
days at 10 p.m. on Cable Channel
53, proceeds with open-minded
seriousness as it leads viewers to a
conclusion both obvious and pow
erful: race counts, for better and
worse. Expressions of racism and
racial identity change, but that bed
rock truth remains.
“I didn't realize, more than any
thing, how hard it was going to be
for whites and blacks to see the
world through each other’s eyes,"
said executive producer R. J. Cutler.
"I didn't realize how genuinely dif
ferent an experience it is to be a
white American and a black Ameri
can.”
Culler insisted the six-episode
show , w hich began M arch 8,
doesn't "aspire in any way to say
definitive things about race." But
the participants and their actions
do.
In a Los Angeles-area house,
"Black.W hite." brings together a
white family from Santa Monica
and a black Atlanta family.
Through artful makeup they
swap races, if not perspectives.
Cutler, whose documentary films
and TV series include the acclaimed
With special-effects makeup that joined a poetry group with young
The housemates have revealing,
"The War Room " and "American artfully used wigs, airbrushed skin blacks; Brian Sparks became a sometimes heated clashes over
High,” was joined by Ice Cube, the paint and other elements, the fami bartender at a place drawing white their attitudes on race and the use
rapper, actor and producer, on the lies were transformed to a new custom ers. The fam ilies also, in of volatile epithets. One unnfronta-
project.
ethnicity that could pass muster in the best tradition o f reality TV, tion pits the black father, adamantly
“Don’t believe the hype, every varied settings.
shared a house in 2005 for the six opposed to the “n-word," against
thing in the world ain’t black and
T een ag er Rose B loom field weeks of production.
his unconcerned teenage son.
white. Everybody ain’t a stereo
type. Just because I look wrong I'm
m a n stage series
about to do right," Cube sings in
McDonald
the title song, which also includes
d ir e c te d by ANDREA FRYE
Financial Group
his sharp rejection of an oft-cited
in the
phrase: "Did you get your race card .’
newmark
Yo, what the hell is a race card?"
Co produced willi >tin m T im in Cumtuny i Acton Thcaln of louisnHo
His hope for the project-was to
“expose the subtleties of racism,
the layers of racism," the musician
told The Associated Press.
The series' timing is notable, wi th
race brought into renewed focus
by Katrina and the disproportion
ate suffering it caused for blacks in
New Orleans.
The families in "Black.White."
are middle-class, the adults all col
lege-educated. They received a
modest fee for their participation,
an FX spokesman said.
REGI NA TAYLOR
Crowns
“ B ecau se I know
h o w to p la y ja z z
a n d t h a t ’s w h e re
m y h e a r t is , I n e e d
to c o m e b a c k to
s o m e t h i n g s im p le
a g a in to s a tis fy
m y in te g r ity . T h e
a v erag e p e rso n
m ay not
u n d e r s ta n d .”
B ria n M c K n ig h t
¡TO/5SIPPI
Writers, Poets
Share Thoughts
The public is in vited to hear from
three p ublished authors, Tim
Barnes, Amanda Deutch and Paula
Friedman, who will read from their
works a, the Bold-Sky Cafe Read
ing Series, Wednesday, March 29
at7:30p.m .at Bold-Sky Cafe, 3943
N. Mississippi Avenue at Shaver
Street.
Barnes is an English professoral
Portland Community College. His
poems and essays have appeared
in Open Spaces, Nebraska Review,
Willow Springs, Puerto del Sol, The
MacGuffin, Willamette Week and
Oregon English, among others.
Deutch writes poetry. Her work
has ap p eared in W atchw ord,
Raven, Artsy Magazine, Hobart
and Barrow Street.
Friedman has published poetry
and fiction in Out of Line, Jewish
W omen’s Literary Annual, Earth's
Daughters, and many other jour
nals. She is a freelance editor, former
museum publicist, and peace activ
ist as well as a reunited birth mother
and former welfare single mother.
Bold-Sky’s monthly reading se
rie s is an ex p re ssio n o f the
restaurant's commitment to pair
creative heroics with soul-satisfy
ing food.
Theatrical makeup turns a black family white in the FX reality series
‘Black. White.'
K M H D is a n o n p ro fit arts o rg a n iz a tio n
d e d ic a te d to p ro v id in g quality jazz, b in es, and
tra d itio n a l A m erican m u sic 24 h o u rs a day,
365 days a year.
k S g .lwww.kmhd.fm
(ootact Koroojo Today to Speak at Yoor:
» W
y ^ 'S F Îh X r ,
L e a ie V S ^ W r a m .
Black History & Diversity Program C o m m en cem en t S e rv ice s
Z m *
A t h le t ic Î P r Z o g r a
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S p o n s o r E v e n ts
MARCH 14 - APRIL
9,
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o , lk ir m
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O’Jays Scratched
The O ’Jays management an
nounced that the March 2,3 per
formance by The O ’Jays with
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of the Clouds in the Rose Gar
den in Portland is postponed.
Refunds are available.
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lislgift illv.e.had the privilege i
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