Black and White

A couple days ago, I read about a new reality show called Black.White that will debut on FX in March, the premise of which is two families—one black, one white—will trade places through the miracle of make-up and experience what it’s like to live in each other’s skins.

AlterNet’s Laura Barcella has a good piece about it here, and elucidates many of the same thoughts I had:

"Black.White" has the potential to be a TV must-see -- even a milestone, if it's done with sensitivity, grace, and authenticity. But if it's done wrong (c'mon, Ice Cube, baby -- don't let me down), this sort of smoke-and-mirrors pseudo-reality could do little more beyond exploiting and exacerbating the trials of people of color… and further alienating all of us from each other.

It clearly has the potential to be just as rife with eye-rolling awfulness as the recent spate of TV hosts who bravely explore the world in fat suits. I’m also reminded of the truly dire ’80s flick Soul Man, in which C. Thomas “Ponyboy Curtis” Howell poses as a black man to get a college scholarship. What I remember about that movie is its incognito protagonist being told one can’t genuinely understand another’s experience, when one has the choice to opt out of it at any time. I think there’s some truth in that.

I wonder if the two families in “Black.White” won’t learn more from simply living together than from masquerading as one another.