Mixed-race unions clarified—with a sitcom smile
Anew sitcom that we’ve been liking of late is “Truth Be Told.” The laugh-filled series about young marrieds isn’t just reliably funny, but it’s also full of spot-on insights into the “rainbow” of relationships that’s been making modern US society so challengingly “colorful.”
By this, we mean the trend toward multiracial marriages and families, with differing races falling in love, marrying and “begetting,” in many provocative permutations.
The ideal, of course, is to be colorblind about love and life—but, since that isn’t fully the case at the moment, the next best thing is to depict and discuss those sometimes-confounding permutations and the conflicts and adjustments they often require.
For instance, in “Truth Be Told,” one of the resident families is made up of spouses who are both black, but the guy has had a long history of attracting and bedding girls of all colors and persuasions.
Even more to the trendy point is the multiracial couple made up of a white guy, MarkPaul Gosselaar, and “Pinay tisay” Vanessa Minnillo Lachey, who have a “mixed” daughter (Sadie)—who’s sometimes very mixed-up about her racial makeup!
Her mom and dad don’t seem to have problems in that regard, but the poor little girl does, and her parents don’t know how to help her sort out her identity crises.
For instance, in a recent episode, Vanessa tried to make her daughter feel “More Filipino” by giving her a “Pinay” doll that was dressed up in a terno, yet.
Alas, the confused girl promptly rejected the “traditional” doll because it wasn’t a Barbie—making Vanessa feel guilty that she hadn’t begun her daughter’s racial education sooner.
But, it’s never too late, so she decided to cook dinner for her family and friends that featured— kare-kare!
Well, the “culinary reeducation” gambit was too much, too late, so the exotic dish was rejected, as well. What to do?!
Happily, the domestic debacle and racial confusion were sorted out before the episode ended, so upbeat lessons were learned by one and all.
More to the point, the episode showed how provocative and enlightening some US TV shows have become, especially in the area of “roots reeducation.”
Not only are sitcoms now populated by non-WASP characters, in keeping with what’s really been happening to big- city USA, but conflicts and issues related to mixed-race marriages and families are also being faced up to and discussed, instead of being swept under the rug in the vain hope that they will solve themselves—or go away!
The show and Minnillo’s strong participation in it reflects a trend also evident in shows like “Superstore” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” for FilAm issues to be reflected and dramatized on TV.
Aside from being more enlightened and enlightening, it’s also a smart move from an audience-building and ratings perspective, because millions of Fil-Ams watch TV, and naturally hanker to watch shows about them and their concerns.
It’s about time!