Sunday, February 28, 2016

TOW #19: "Don't Call Me the 'Black Seth Rogen'"

This article is taken from nytimes.com.

        Colton Dunn, known writer for the famous show "Key and Peele," recently went to a Hollywood showcase to meet with movie directors and producers. At these showcases, the directors and producers are looking for the "variety types" meaning those who have a different skin color than white or have a different sexual orientation than "straight." Dunn expresses his gratitude for his dad's darker skin color because it has given him jobs in Hollywood, yet he also shares his deep distrust in Hollywood's way of doing things.
          By using an anecdote that includes specific details about his experiences in Hollywood, it makes him that much more credible towards the subject, and also provides some humor as well. He tells about how his agent told him to enhance his "black accent" and to really play up the experience he received from being around successful black comedians. It bothers him a lot this agent had to make people change or to enhance their "gayness" just to get a part. He also uses a lot of sarcasm to display how angry he is about this phenomenon that occurs. It provides a nice break from all of the seriousness of the topic because he also brings in the subject of racism.
          Dunn connects this occurrence to the Oscars/Academy Awards that are occurring this weekend. Since no black actors were nominated for any of the awards, it caused a major uproar, and this is just more evidence of what Colton is trying to prove: Hollywood is racist, and uses people based on their skin color to make the directors look good for the general public. While Hollywood is making an effort to be more diverse, it can be seen as a step in the wrong direction with this happening, and he uses personal anecdotes and sarcasm to achieve this.
         

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