nwasianweekly.com
Oct. 20, 2007

Desperately seeking diversity on Wisteria Lane

In the movie “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story,” the famous martial arts star walks out of a screening of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” offended by the gross caricature of a Japanese man, played by Mickey Rooney. This scene is not historically verifiable — Bruce Lee may or may not have walked out — but the disgust felt by an Asian American at the popular media’s portrayal of Asians is familiar and frequent.

On Sept. 30, an episode of the popular ABC show “Desperate Housewives” hit a nerve with audiences when a character sarcastically voiced her concern that her doctor’s medical degree might be from the Philippines.

Immediately, outraged Filipino Americans began calling the network and circulating an online petition for an apology. The petition read in part, “We are writing to inform you that this type of derogatory remark was discriminatory and hurtful, and such a comment was not necessary to maintain any humor in the show.”

ABC issued a statement on Oct. 3, apologizing and offering to edit the episode. “As leaders in broadcast diversity, we are committed to presenting sensitive and respectful images of all communities featured in our programs,” the statement said.

Kevin Nadal, who posted the online petition, thinks the network should do more. He appreciated ABC’s apology, he told an Associated Press reporter, but also wants to see the dialogue removed from future airings and DVDs. Nadal thinks the show’s producers and ABC executives should make a more substantial gesture than an apology, perhaps through scholarships or donations for Filipino and Filipino Americans and community groups.

We think ABC should do more, too. We want ABC to think about how to prevent such gaffes in the future. Clearly, it was oblivious to the cultural insensitivity of such a line. And clearly, it did not anticipate such an outcry. This should be an indication to the producers that they need to change the status quo on their sets.

The line about medical degrees from the Philippines could deliberately have meant to be a racially charged joke, which is a perfectly legitimate and acceptable type of humor in many contexts. What is not acceptable is that such a line resulted from thoughtlessness, from the dismissive attitude of the scriptwriters for minority groups.

These days, a cultural diversity consultant should be on the staff of every major network show. Shows like “ER” and “Grey’s Anatomy” employ medical consultants. Why don’t TV shows consider cultural sensitivity just as important as getting jargon like “the right ventricular infarction noted at necropsy” exactly correct?

Furthermore, diversity consultants should not be called in only for specific episodes concerning a specific minority group or situation. Diversity should be considered an on-going perspective and outlook.

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