And what we're addicted to is the ABC series, Lost.
[I think this photo may be from Season 2, but I can't be certain]
It all started with Star Trek: The Next Generation. I discovered, months ago, that they were playing re-runs of the show on the SciFi network. So Monday nights Southern Man, and I, got into the habit of having that be our "TV" night.
[Aside: I'm a typical academic in some ways, which means that most evenings I'm actually reading/writing/returning email rather than watching tv, except if it's Bravo's Top Chef, my reality tv addiction]
Anyway, one week we turned on the tv and it's wasn't Star Trek: TNG, it was the pilot for the show Lost. I actually got up and went to my office to work, but Southern Man continued to watch it, and soon he was hooked. And then, when I came out of my office, I started to watch, intermittently, as I returned email. And then I became hooked.
Then we discovered something REALLY dangerous: ABC has made full episodes of Seasons 1-4 available FOR FREE.
We're on Season 3, episode 15. I won't say anything more because if you are an addict, then you probably know exactly where we're at in the series/mythology. And if you aren't an addict, you probably think, as I did, that this is some dumb show with these strange plot twists and you just think it's a waste of time.
But for the race researcher in me, I have to also admit that some of what pulls me in is the racial dynamics undergirding the show. Because I can't turn off that part of my brain.
I'll save more of my racial observations about the show for later, but one of the things I've been mulling over is the choice to make many of the non-white characters be from different countries. There is a Korean couple, an Iraqi, and a Nigerian. There are also an African American father-son duo, an African American-white inter-racial couple, and a Latino/Mexican American man. And I think in Season 4 they introduce an Asian American man (played by actor Ken Leung). The actors who play the Korean couple are, I believe, Asian Americans who are fluent in Korean but who speak accentless English. So I guess I wonder what this does to have the visibly Asian looking characters be Korean rather than Korean American.
From a plot/narrative point-of-view, I think this makes sense. And the truth is, there are plenty of other nationalities represented--Australians, Brits, Americans, a French woman, and we also meet a Russian and a Scotsman. However, my own bone to pick with Hollywood/mainstream media is in the almost default position that Asian Americans actors get slotted into as being Asian rather than Asian American.
But bone picking aside, boy is it a good series!
