Elementary 102 discussion post

[killerweasel.livejournal.com]

Elementary 102 'While You Were Sleeping' just finished airing.

What did you think?

Spoilers for the episode in comments.

Comments

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

One thing I loved was that moment of Capt. Gregson greeting his old friend and immediately switching vernacular to sound more Noo Yawk and less Standard Business accent - he knows this man and can use his natural voice.

Very happy that Detective Bell (another Doyle reference!) was treated with respect, and reached an accord with Holmes - I'm kinda tired of the detective-show trope of White Guy Hero is foiled by either a prissy woman detective or a by-the-book POC detective, he's proven to be right at the end, and the woman/POC comes begging his forgiveness for ever doubting a white man. As someone said, now BBC Sherlock has to step up by treating Sgt Sally Donovan with some freakin' respect!

[midori-yee.livejournal.com]

"I'm kinda tired of the detective-show trope of White Guy Hero is foiled by either a prissy woman detective or a by-the-book POC detective, he's proven to be right at the end"

YES! Have you watched House? Omar Epps's first episode was EXACTLY like this. His character was a stickler and totally "by the book" and then House solves the patient case by being an "impressive" maverick, causing Epps to lose face in the process. Ahhh you are so so right.

I have been very sensitive to how CBS is portraying POC and women in Elementary. Although it's definitely been mixed (casting a woman as Watson, but then showcasing graphic violence against women in the pilot episode), there are signs of promise. Thank you for your comment. You hit the nail on the head re: that trope!

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

I've seen this trope play out in cop shows like Starsky & Hutch, One West Waikiki and The Sentinel too - and God knows how many of the crime dramas I've never watched. I sometimes MST problematic stuff to remind myself that this is all a white privilege construct: "Oh, forgive us for ever doubting you, Mr. White Man!"

[midori-yee.livejournal.com]

Just curious, what recommendations would you have of TV shows or movies that have positive portrayals of POC? I'm always on the lookout for them because, as you said, racist tropes like the one you mentioned are quite common. Most recently I've only been watching Community, The Mindy Project and Elementary because they are the LEAST racist (implicitly or explicitly) shows I could find.

By the way, what does MST stand for?

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

MST is short for Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (also MST3K) - a local cable show from Minneapolis about a guy and some robots commenting on bad films - that exploded into a national craze. To MST ("mistie") is to talk back to the TV, snarkily or to object to dated or problematic material. (For example, every time a woman gets hit in a film they boo loudly.)

I don't know a lot about current shows (and I have $20/month cable), but one good one is DEXTER on Showtime - set in Miami with a lot of POC characters. Some open-eyed look at whiteness and white privilege and how it affects POC in positions of authority.

[midori-yee.livejournal.com]

great, thank you!! :)

[ms-mmelissa.livejournal.com]

Butting in to recommend Scandal which has Kerry Washington in the lead as well as a large cast with a few poc as supporting characters.

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the heads-up!

[ms-mmelissa.livejournal.com]

I'm kinda tired of the detective-show trope of White Guy Hero is foiled by either a prissy woman detective or a by-the-book POC detective, he's proven to be right at the end, and the woman/POC comes begging his forgiveness for ever doubting a white man.

I've just started watching Fringe and I swear I have this comment ringing in my ears every episode. It's amazing how relevant it is. The main cast is mostly white and all the guest star poc seem to have paper thin characterization and exist only to be criticized by a certain (white, male) lead who chastises them for having such narrow views. It's kind of gross, tbh.

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

Bleah. As I keep saying when I bring this up, you know something's racist if white people notice it.