Seeking Balance and Burning My Race Card

For years networks have reached out with polls and seeking television consumer vantage points. You could assume after a decent web search that Article after article have been published, stories broadcast or even aired – with results indicating a need for more of a visible or audible Latino presence, more of a black or African-American presence or even for that matter more actors or talent of Asian descent.

So, newsrooms across the nation quietly sought out their “token” personalities – without ever admitting then or now to profiling – that they felt it was something that must be done in order to more easily appeal to a viewer or to relate and convey a message to an audience; and even further more casting companies and network executives brought race friendly sitcoms, comedians and dramas to the television sets of millions of viewers – More so – into theaters “near you”.

The viewers asked for it right? It is what the focus groups surmised, right?

But here, I read the LATEST CONTROVERSY from the entertainment industry --- RACIALLY LOADED CRITICISM of a the new TRANSFORMERS: Revenge of the Fallen, movie!

The criticism surrounds the verbal dialect chosen by the voice over actors portraying the characters of “Skids” and “Mudflap” -- twin bots right?

One movie goer is quoted by The Associated Press, saying the character portrayals are “a slap to the black community’s face”.

C’mon! Take it with a grain of salt! ONE voice over actor is actually black or of African-American descent (Reno Wilson). I can’t help but wonder if the voice over actor, he as an individual, is going to take the criticism personally? If I were him, I would.

If Jackie Chan had been the actor providing the voice over for one of those bots, his fandom would be proud. Asian born Americans would find him, his voice rather, easily relatable.

Say if George Lopez provides the voice over? Do you really think Latin America would step up and slap filmmakers for their alleged disregard for politically correct sensitivity?

AND WHILE you are truly ponder on that, consider for once the groups in those television industry focus groups and polls – as they asked for a better representation in the overall media!

Plus – it’s all intended for entertainment value – not out of malice and not to alienate. I surmise major studios are in it for the bottom line and for the joy of entertaining the masses. So, tell me why would they throw a rug out for you to pay to walk on only to turn around and yank it, point and laugh? C’mon!

We’ve got a war, hunger, homelessness, an economic plethora of issues, a democracy we should be more proactive about –

Do you really want to focus on little things that YOU subject yourself to and feel so suddenly compelled and worthy of becoming a critic – waving a race card – and basing it on dialect?

Before you fire off that comment your fingers are itching to pound out on that keyboard, Yes, I know the other twin was made by a Caucasian male voiceover actor (Tom Kenny).

Two Words, three guys:-- BEASTIE BOYS!

So – now we’re talking regional dialect verses the race card– and while racial generalizations and stereotypes are commonly pegged with skin color, regions or even neighborhoods – we often pick up the accents we are most frequently around or are comfortable speaking.

Besides – do you hear southerners crying out and raising a posse every time we hear an awful emulation of a dialect so remarkably unusual it sours the sugar in our sweet tea? And what about the Bostonians who suffer through the horrific butchering of their native tongue?

Really,-- TV, Radio, and Movies – it’s something you have a bit of control over when it comes to consumption. If you don’t like it, you find yourself offended – turn it off, change the channel or just walk away.

If you prefer, take the necessary steps to write, make and create a version more suitable to your interpretation or liking…
But don’t pull some lame little race card out on menial moments ---

Do you really want to be remembered as “that guy”?


NOTE: THIS ENTRY WAS WRITTEN BY A FEMALE, BORN IN ALABAMA, RAISED PRIMARILY IN THE SOUTH – RACE: ASIAN / CHEROKEE – SPEAKS WITH STRONG SOUTHERN DRAWL.

Releasing June 25: The Back Nine

Can an average 42-year old golfer, husband and father of two become an elite athlete? Can he do it after beginning his own "back nine?" And once he starts the journey, what will become of his dream?

It is a journey independent filmmaker Jon Fitzgerald couldn't wait to find out and he left nothing to chance in assembling the best team he could find to stack the cards in his favor.

With celebrities such as George Lopez, Meat Loaf and Chris O'Donnell helping bring the action to life, "THE BACK NINE" documents Fitzgerald's quest to the answer of the question of how he balances a full-time job and family commitments with an enduring dream he's had as long as he can remember - to play professional golf.

Fitzgerald brought in distinguished PGA Professional instructor Tim Suzor of the Kinetic Golf Academy in Scottsdale, AZ to work on his swing, distinguished author Dr. Joe Parent (Zen Golf) to work on his mental game, and yoga guru Katherine Roberts - a Golf Channel favorite - as well as a team of physical coaches to help with fitness and nutrition.

The strategy works, as Fitzgerald sees his handicap go from 15 to 8 in the first year. Ready to test his progress, he joins Golf Channel's Amateur Tour and remarkably, manages to win his first event. Later, he receives an invitation to the National Championships in Orlando, Fla.

Fitzgerald currently plays to a 4 handicap as he works on fine-tuning not only his game and his life, but his dream through "THE BACK NINE".

The film covers this inspirational journey from many angles, beyond merely tracking his golf progress. Fitzgerald must also come to terms with who he is, balancing the experience and guidance of his two father figures - polar opposites as people and influences in his life. Now with children of his own, Fitzgerald senses an opportunity.

Recognizing where his life's mentors have fallen short, Fitzgerald sees his turn at fatherhood as a chance to "break the cycle" and establish a new approach to life, family and golf. "THE BACK NINE" presents the challenges inherent with finding the right balance between Fitzgerald's personal and professional goals.



Shot with Digital Camera's, the festival favorite that reached critical acclaim across the nation,"THE BACK NINE", takes you into one man's devotion to divergent paths in his life, will open for theatrical release June 25.

Granted, it will open up in select golf communties in 23 different states, producers plan to release "THE BACK NINE" on DVD and video-on-demand, as well as pursue other avenues of new technologies.

Do as I say or Do as Do?

June 22, 2009 -- A shift in power governing tobacco products took place on Monday, after U.S. President Barack Obama signed legislation granting the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate the tobacco industry.
It is an action Democrat and Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi was quick to chime in on.
Speaker Pelosi states, "All Americans have benefited from the oversight of the FDA on foods that we eat and medicines we take. Yet, despite the fact that tobacco is one of the deadliest products in America, the FDA has had no authority to regulate it. Today, this new law corrects that wrong.”
It’s called the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act:
• Gives FDA authority to regulate tobacco products and marketing;
• FDA will create a new Center for Tobacco Products to oversee the science-based regulation of tobacco products in the United States;
• Bans flavored cigarettes by October 2009;
• Forces tobacco firms and importers to submit information to the FDA about ingredients and additives in tobacco products;
• Places strict limits on tobacco advertising in publications with a significant teenage readership;
• FDA will now have to enforce a rule banning outdoor tobacco advertising within a thousand feet of schools or playgrounds;
• Bans the use of words like "mild" or "light" in ads that makes tobacco products seem safer.
• Ends all tobacco-brand sponsorship of sporting or entertainment events;
• Requires tobacco companies to disclose ingredients to the FDA (and the FDA can require changes in the ingredient list in the name of public health – BUT the FDA cannot reduce nicotine content to zero or ban a class of tobacco)

Of course – non-profit organizations such as the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association backed the passage of the bill into law.