Joneka Percentie

Instructor: Malcolm Campbell

English 1103
11/6/13


The Real Scandal on TV: An Exploration of Black Women Behind the
Scenes and on the Television Screen


The six members of my immediate family gathered in our small living room for a
special occasion. The 65
th
Annual Primetime Emmys. What is normally a mundane
evening in our household became charged with excitement and anticipation for one
important reason Kerry Washington was nominated for best lead actress in a drama
series, Scandal -- the first black woman nominated in the category since 1995, the year I
was born. The Emmy awards recognize televisions outstanding series, actors, and
actresses. In the 65 years of the award shows existence, a black woman has never won the
award for best lead actress in a drama series. That night could have been the night to
change it all, and my family gathered anxiously to witness it live.
Kerry Washington did not win the award, and her loss sparked several personal
questions.
Why did it take over 40 years for another black woman to be a lead on a major television
network show? What does a deep look at the makeup of the production team reveal about
the portrayal of these black leading ladies?
Television became an integral part of American lives in the 1940s as radio
networks transitioned to televised broadcasts. Three networks quickly took over
broadcasting in America -- CBS, National Broadcasting Company, NBC, and American
Eileen Jakeway 11/25/13 4:49 PM
Comment [1]: Love the anecuoteieally
uiaws in the ieauei
Eileen Jakeway 11/25/13 4:49 PM
Comment [2]: I like the questions,
especially if you auuiess them latei on.
Eileen Jakeway 11/25/13 4:50 PM
Comment [3]: I like the biief histoiy of
television you pioviue
Broadcasting Company. In the history of these networks, only five shows have featured
black women as the leading actress. A deeper look at the shows Beulah, Julia, Get
Christie Love, Scandal, and Deception reveal that the role Black women have in the
production process plays a huge part in the reception and success of the show. In the
evolution of TV, how have the few opportunities for Black women in the production
process affected their portrayal on these major broadcasting networks? Directors, writers,
and producers, making up the production team, play a large role in the complete
conception of any television show.
It wasnt until 1950 that NBC would air Beulah, the first major television network
show with a black female lead. In his book Blacks and White TV, Fred MacDonald
summizes Beulah as the trials and tribulations of the black maid for the white Henderson
household, an accurate summation of the shows three seasons (21). Watching episodes
of Beulah was a strange experience for me. I was transported back in time to the days of
racial segregation and Jim Crow laws, and the first show to ever star a Black woman still
painted her in the stereotypes of that time. She was simply the mammy. The mammy
figure -- usually portrayed as a Black maid in a white household -- was a familiar
stereotype. She emitted a certain human warmth that was sometimes difficult to discern
beneath her aggressive self-confidence and implacable personality (21). Beulah, a
portly, conscientious, and lovable stereotype of the black domestic, was the answer to
all of the Henderson familys problems in times of crisis (21). While the show sometimes
included her best friend Oriole and her romantic interest Bill, her life outside of the
family was nearly nonexistent. According to the Classic TV Archive and the Internet
Movie Database, all credited writers, directors, and producers of the show were men.
Eileen Jakeway 11/25/13 4:50 PM
Comment [4]: Bo you neeu anothei
question. You staiteu to answei it in the
sentence befoie. Naybe show moie
eviuence in oiuei to auuiess the question.
Eileen Jakeway 11/25/13 4:51 PM
Comment [5]: Bo you go on to auuiess
the poitiayal of all women in a business
uominateu by men oi focus only on Black
women. It'u be inteiesting to sneak it in
biiefly; love this though!
With a production team staffed completely by males, a true and authentic representation
of the shows main character was missing. The success of Beulah and her stereotyped
characterizations were short lived and the show ended in 1953.
Fifteen years would pass before Diahann Carroll starred in Julia, the first show to
portray a Black female lead in a non-stereotypical role. Julia followed the life of Julia
Baker, a widowed single mother and nurse in a doctors office. In comparison to the
characters seen in Beulah, Julia was the the most assimilated Black character ever to
appear in the American mass media. Beyond the the stereotyped mammies and maids of
early TV, she was everything that [they] are not (115). What Julia made up for in
representation, it failed in creating a dialogue about social issues of the time. Hal Kanter,
the shows creator, was heavily criticized:
Kanter was criticized on many fronts for the shows inability to translate the
complexities of black life on television. Julia could not have emerged at a less
fortuitous time. With racial frustrations at a peak and with urban police often in a
veritable state of war with inner-city rioters, the comfortable image of black
success on Julia was in stark juxtaposition to the images seen on local and
national newscasts In the words of Carroll, Julia Baker was a white Negro,
the overly good, overly integrated fantasy projection of white writers acting, they
felt, in a manner sensitive to decades of TV prejudice (Achem 116).
Julia failed to make any progress on the representation of the black narrative: if there
were racial references, they were one-line gags (MacDonald 116). Carroll even
questioned whether the
Eileen Jakeway 11/25/13 4:52 PM
Comment [6]: I ieally like this sentence.
united states would ever accept shows that are about black people who are neither
stereotypes nor supersades, programs that would show black people simply relating to
each other (126). Watching episodes of Julia was interesting. The dated laugh track
made me uncomfortable, but it was interesting to see where the producers decided to
place the laughs, and which jokes were supposed to be the most humorous. I was
intrigued by the show by the show not only as a historical piece for television, but also by
Carrolls portrayal of a character that she wasnt a fan of.
So far, the portrayal of black female leads on major broadcasting television
networks were controlled solely by men, until Get Christie Love! made its way onto
television screens. Teresa Graves portrayed Christie Love in ABCs Get Christie Love!
The first police drama to star an African American woman followed the standard
detective show formula, with each episode focusing on Christies new case to solve
(Achman 171).
Fast forward over 40 years, and Scandal makes its way to the small screen.
Former White House Communications Director, Olivia Pope, portrayed by Kerry
Washington, now runs a crisis management firm that solves the problems of
Washington's elite in ABCs Scandal. Pope is a no nonsense, strong, independent Black
woman, yet her major fault is her relationship with the married president of the United
States. While Scandal ranks first in its 10 pm Thursday slot, and maintains a large
fanbase, the show does have its failings.
In a report by the Directors Guild of America, in its 2011-2012 season, Scandal
hired women or minority directors for 67% of its episodes. Kerry Washingtons 2013
Eileen Jakeway 11/25/13 4:52 PM
Comment [7]: Aie you going to elaboiate.
Emmy nomination created excited buzz in the media. If she took home the award, she
would be the first black woman to win for best lead actress in a drama series ever.
In response to Scandals success, NBC premiered Deception, starring Meagan
Good as Joanna Locasta. After her childhood best friend is killed, Locasta, who is an
LAPD officer, decides to go undercover to solve the murder. The show received poor
ratings and was canceled after one season.
A deeper look at these shows reveal that while more black women have roles in
the production process, the number is still very small. A study by the Directors Guild of
America shows that in the 2011-2012 season, four percent of episodes were directed by
minority females.
Interviews with Black female filmmakers and directors revealed that they have
something to say about the lack of representation of Black women on the television
screen. Their personal experience of working behind the scenes gave insight to the impact
pre-production work has on a television show. Independent filmmaker Tchaiko Omawale
spoke on the importance of diversity in the creation of art:
If youre an artist, who you are and how you see the world comes out in what you
do. So if you have a medium where its a majority of one type of person making
that medium, youre gonna get that one type of persons perspective. I think its
just really important to allow other voices to be present.
Lena Waithe, writer for the television show Girlfriends and Black Youtube miniseries
Hello Cupid!, expressed similar sentiments:
If you dont have any people of color working on a show, and yet you have a
person of color in the cast, its sort of doing a disservice to that character[...]I
think that at the end of the day, we need--with our casts and our own screen
talent-- a desire to have diversity, to really show we are a diverse country. But I
feel like thats not always being reflected behind the scenes. The writers room
and the crew and all of those things, thats really important. I think a big deal is
having more executives of color.
After exploring the production of these television shows and their varying success, I am
still left with questions. What steps are being taken to increase the diversity on the TV
screen? There is a domino effect -- Black womens role behind the scenes affects their
portrayal on TV, but in turn how do these representations of Black women affect their
personal lives?
Exploring these television shows, and experiencing firsthand the writing and
portrayal of the characters of the five major network television shows to feature black
women, left me in a strange state. I was satisfied by the information that I gleaned from
my research, yet there are still so many questions that need answers. Despite insufficient
answers, the available information has shown that there is still progress to make.













Who is constantly in control of the narratives of black women on TV? Not black
women ahhhh.


Eileen Jakeway 11/25/13 4:53 PM
Comment [8]: .. Not suie the best way to
uo this
Eileen Jakeway 11/25/13 4:53 PM
Comment [9]: Nice ieflection
Revolution televised by Christie Achman


If nothing else she saw it as an opportunity to draw more African Americans into
television production. pg 117


[Carroll] questioned whether the united states would ever accept shows that are about
black people who are neither stereotypes nor supersades, programs that would show
black people simply relating to each other. pg. 126


Get Christie Love
first police drama to star an African American woman pg.171


Blacks and White TV by J. Fred MacDonald


The mammy figure--usually portrayed as a black maid in a white household--was a
familiar stereotype. She emitted a certain human warmth that was sometimes difficult to
discern beneath her aggressive self-confidence and implacable personality. In early
television the black maid was a highly popular character. pg. 21



Julia Baker was the most assimilated black character ever to appear in the American
mass media. Beyond the the stereotyped mammies and maids of early TV, she was
everything that [they] are not. pg. 115


Julia made no pretense of dealing with contemporary social issues. pg. 115


If there were racial references, they were one-line gags. pg. 116


Julia could not have emerged at a less fortuitous time. With racial frustrations at a peak
and with urban police often in a veritable state of war with inner-city rioters, the
comfortable image of black success on Julia was in stark juxtaposition to the images seen
on local and national newscasts...In the words of Carroll, Julia Baker was a white
Negro, the overly good, overly integrated fantasy projection of white writers acting, they
felt, in a manner sensitive to decades of TV prejudice. pg. 116










Format
Introduce show- main plot
Introduce main character/actress
analyze the lead production team
how it addresses race and representation of black women
React react react
what was watching an episode like


Each show has perpetuated some sort of black female stereotype
Beulah- Mammy figure
Julia- it completely ignored that she was black; not every black person has a struggle but
it didnt try to make the black narrative different from any other show
Get Christie Love-Blacksploitation
Scandal-Jezebel mistress slut shaming



Joneka!! I absolutely love the questions you are exploring in this essay. You have a great
structure to the essay, using relevant sources to back up your argument. Is this essay an
exploratory essay? You are asking a lot of questions and asserting some very basic
fundamentals but I would work on writing a conclusion making some sort of statement.
Other than that, I have nothing to add! Keep up the good work :)


Eileen Jakeway 11/25/13 4:54 PM
Comment [10]: Befinitely incoipoiate
this iuea moie into the essay; it is veiy
intiiguing.