Shonda Rhimes' Perception On Characters She Could Identify With - And The Difference For Asian Americans

Friday, November 13, 2015

I was listening to this story in the car which you can also listen to hear (sorry...) and one of the pieces I found interesting was when Rhimes was asked a question about characters she could identify with she said (paraphrased - with the actual words around 28:05):

Oprah was ruling day-time television, Cosby was ruling night-time television, Whoopi Goldberg was ruling Broadway, Eddie Murphy was ruling the movie theaters, in the late 1980's when I was a teenager and decided what I wanted to be...so to me everything felt very possible.

I think it's great that this can be said and shows at least a portion of what is possible from a racial acceptance perspective.

Because we should be able to say something like that.

Someone like a Shonda Rimes should be able to say that - to be inspired that way.

But the same thing can't be said from an Asian American perspective.

Not from that time period.

And I question if that statement will ever be able to be said in that way or if it can already be said with more shows, filmmakers and directors, writers - all who have AAPI roots.

I don't think it would be quite the same - but media, the amount of media, the way it's consumed might beg to differ.

I'll have to ponder that one for a while...