Entries from June 2012 ↓

OKLAHOMA CITY – Not many know much about the guy who dominated Game 1 of the NBA Finals other than he's pretty good. Kevin Durant is a my.
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OKLAHOMA CITY – Not many know much about the guy who dominated Game 1 of the NBA Finals other than he's pretty good. Kevin Durant is a my.
See all stories on this topic »

We had some criticisms for ABC Family’s new dance series Bunheads for its inaccuracies about the lives of young aspiring ballerinas, but it turns out that’s not the only aspect of the show being criticized as unrealistic. Just a few minutes into the show’s pilot on Monday night, Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes tweeted,

Hey @abcfbunheads: really? You couldn’t cast even ONE young dancer of color so I could feel good about my kid watching this show? NOT ONE?

If anyone were going to speak out about the show being pretty whitewashed, of course it would be Rhimes. It’s almost too fitting, like she’s become the poster child for a TV show that uses colorblind casting. Because what struck me as the weirdest aspect of this beginning Twitter feud was that Rhimes challenged a fellow female showrunner—Amy Sherman-Palladino, whose groundbreaking series Gilmore Girls was at its peak while Shonda was writing the screenplay for The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.

I’d rather see Rhimes more supportive of someone whose work helped pave the way for Grey’s Anatomy to hit airwaves in 2005. After getting some flak from Twitter followers, she clarified,

I did love seeing girls of all shapes and sizes. That was great. Am a huge Gilmore Girls fan. Just pointing out one issue…

Of course, yes, we also don’t want a show where the only characters who “deserve” names and conflicts and dance sequences are white. I have to agree with Zap2it that showrunners are in a position of power where they should be more sensitive to presenting the most heterogenous cast possible: People of color, differently-abled folks, LGBT characters, etc. It’s that line between oblivious whitewashing and painfully obvious token casting, and knowing when it’s appropriate for a character to actually be white or some other privileged type.

Then again, Shonda Rhimes herself is in that position of power. Wouldn’t her smartest move to be to write those kinds of role models for her kids? To be fair, her kids are both under the age of 10 (I believe), so there’s nothing for them in Grey’s Anatomy right now. But it’s likely that she’ll have moved on to a new show by the time her older child is a preteen, so maybe she should try her hand at some age-appropriate (and colorblind) material.

Amy Sherman-Palladino doesn’t have a Twitter, so it was on ABC Family to respond to Rhimes tweet; so far, they’ve instead tweeted about other programming like Pretty Little Liars and have reblogged positive reviews. Typical social media work, sure, but I expected them to jump on this with some sort of statement.

Photo: ABC Family

Related posts:

• Why Cast Cameron From Ferris Bueller’s Day Off In Bunheads If You’re Just Going To Kill Him Off?
• A Real Dancer’s Take On Bunheads
• In The Bunheads Preview, Sutton Foster Has So Much Broadway Charisma That I’m Literally Uncomfortable
• Video: This Kid Raps In 11 Different Accents, Comments On Racial Stereotypes
• Lena Dunham Finally Addresses The Racial Backlash To Girls

Post from: Crushable

When we saw these photographs of Jennifer Lawrence, we thought she may have already started filming Catching Fire. But then we saw all the tell-tale tick.
VH1 Celebrity

Joe Manganiello and werewolf babies? Hello! The True Blood hottie opens up to Parade Magazine about the possibility of seeing werewolf offspring on his hit HBO show and dishes about Sookie and Alcide’s relationship. Here are some snippets of his interview:

On Monday, the 36-year-old actress was spotted in Beverly Hills with her son Jackson, sporting a very different hairstyle. Charlize Theron shaved her head to a pixie for her upcoming role as Furiosa in the movie “Mad Max 4: Fury Road.”

The actress was first attached to the movie back in 2009 and after it has been shelved in production, Theron said that she is very excited about filming it.

“It’s been three years. It’s time to skin this cat already! I’m very excited about it,” Charlize said while promoting her newest film Prometheus. ”The original Mad Max created such a vivid world, so to go back and re-imagine it and re-play in that sandbox sounds like fun to me. Its a really challenging piece of material.”

The start of 2012 has been great for Theron, she starred in Snow White and the Hunstmen together with Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth which earned roughly $ 73 million domestically.

Photo credits: GSI Media

DAVID Arquette has filed for divorce from wife Courteney Cox. In his papers, which were filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Arquette cites irreconcilable differences and is asking for joint legal and physical custody of their daughter Coco, who turns 8 on Wednesday. The couple, who wed in June 1999, announced their separation in Oct. […]