The Viewing Culture

I read this article and wondered why the person who wrote it thought it was timely (besides the fact that the New York Times  already wrote about the subject). The fact that the majority of children's book characters are white is hardly surprising. I think we're all aware of this fact. The solution proposed is to make sure that the editors and staff at publishing houses are more diverse so that the cycle can be broken somewhere along the line. The editors choose the books with primarily white main characters. Those books are the only options for children. We all get use to those choices...and maybe even get locked into them. I say that because the article kind of glosses over the fact that books featuring non-white characters tend to sell poorly. This begs the question: why aren't we buying books with diverse characters? Maybe a clue is what one African-American journal professor said about "not trying to make [her] kids read books about slaves all the time"...

My first impressions for the Caesar Chavez trailer... There was no Spanish--I guess to not scare away the Americans. No strong narrative either. The trailer is kind of unfocused. Trying to tell two different kinds of stories--biography and civil rights drama. I'd pick the civil rights drama for the first trailer. That's compelling and makes us ask questions about the man behind the revolution. Lastly, did any of the women speak? An odd message there.

This actually looks okay. It has a mystery. How he end up there? A somewhat clear goal and stakes. He's got to get out...or else. And is very much urgent...I think. The lead boy is all special and will lead the lesser, no-so-enlightened boys on the path out. He'll also find love? Don't know how that fits in. The cast is diverse, so that's a plus. There's a bit of implications going on, though, that I don't even want to get into.