The Disposable Black Love Interest - A Tokenistic Cliché
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
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The "Disposable Black Love Interest" functions as an obstacle along the way to the protagonist’s real (white) love. Fundamentally, this trope is a form of tokenism - an attempt to “check the boxes” of diversity, without actually casting people of color in the main roles audiences are encouraged to identify with and care about.
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You Ladies are solid on ALL of your videos. Thank you. It's bold of you to actually confront the good and the bad within the media we consume as people wish to brush away any discomforting conversations. We forget that the images we see ARE social constructs and aren't meant to be enacted in reality to real people. Shout out from South Africa!
Is The Take run by a hardcore leftist.
Or a paid propagandist?
@@realAfrican Take a seat.The Right consists of a bunch of people who humanise crazies like The Joker.
@@suzygirl1843 TF ??? HOW ???
@@realAfrican Cringey incel. How is this relevant to an economic political stance like leftism? Back to school with you
My best friend said it best; Black women in media are over-sexualized and de-romanticized. There are zero popular ships in media featuring a Black woman and Black women being loved and desired in media makes (racist) people uncomfortable, and resented by most fandoms. We are used as rebounds at best or a sexual escapade at worst.
And there should be more popular ships. Like I just discovered Shawn and Angela from Boy Meets World. And Olivia and Fitz were passionate but toxic for each other in Scandal. And do Archer and Lana count in Archer since it’s an animated show lol
A word.
@@themarshmallowconnoisseur41 omg Shawn and Angela!!! 😩😩 their story had so much growth and depth. They should have totally ended up together 🥺🥺🥺
Pressing X to Doubt
damn this really just made me realize, there aren't 🙁
Finally! Call It Out 👏🏾 Also, the "black best friend who is more interesting than the main character" needs to stop as well. Just make the best friend the main character! (I'm looking at you, Netflix's Tall Girl 🙄)
There's nothing hing more I hate than the black freind character.
Likewise, I hate when the usually white protagonist has a POC best friend who only exists to prop them up, and we almost never learn anything about themselves, their families, or their goals and dreams.
Exactly. The best friend was so much more interesting than the "Tall Girl."
Are we talking about "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist"?! Cause..........
Like kevin hart. Hate his movies roles
This trope angers me like no other.
It’s not just the disposability of the characters that bother me. What makes it even more insidious is that a black person’s love and effort is never enough. It doesn’t compare to whiteness.
It’s annoying because usually the black love interest treats the main character so much better than the official one. Like Peter from To All The Boys is cool and all, but over John Ambrose? Absolutely not.
Yeah, they cast all these actors and actresses that look perfect, act perfect, are perfect, and any real-life person with a functioning brain would pick them, but then they make the main character choose the white love interest. WTF?
It sends this message that similar skin color is somehow going to make a relationship work, or that whiteness is more attractive. Nope!
And let's face it many of the relationships the white protagonist chooses are toxic. So it's even worse. Pick the white person, even if they caused you heartbreak and misery.... like, what?
To be fair, John Ambrose was originally white (both in the books and in the first movie) before Jordan Fisher was cast. So that example is more that the second male lead treats the main character better than the first rather than anything to do with race.
Would it have been cool if the Netflix movie series had a departure from the book series and had John end up with Lara Jean? Yes, absolutely. I stan John over Peter any day. But it was more or less set in stone who Lara was going to end up with, and, regardless of John's race, it wasn't going to be him.
That said, the trope of toxic white boy winning over any person who treats them better is tiring. And then as if to silence any criticisms, the show/movie then tries to discredit or attempts to make the poc secondary love interest "unlikeable" or "justify" the toxic white male with a "tragic" backstory.
@@sabrina21797 its still a nice example though
Book and film wise, her not choosing john ambrose gets me so angry.
Book wise, they even went to the same college which was the main issue in book 3 and film 3, but no he did not even get attention in film 3. Lara Jean, that was tour sign that peter is not for you.
Peter is a big jerk most of the time and I felt he never got over Gen.
Another thing that irks me is john gave her the snow globe in book 2, but the film turned into a nice symbol of her and peter. Ugh!
Danny phantom anyone shit made me mad for weeks
I'm both happy and sad watching this video. Because black people have been talking about this for years, and instead of receiving empathy, we usually get gaslit by white viewers. Told we're overly sensitive, crazy, or pulling the race card.
We appreciate your advocacy The Take! But we would also appreciate being taken seriously by white people when we talk about on screen manifestations of racism.
yes! most valuable comment! It always takes advocacy and alliance from white people (and like you said, it is greatly appreciated) for black issues to receive any attention or credibility. I'm so happy with how thorough they were with the video, it seems well researched
Preach sis!! Most fandoms are racist as hell and skirt around the real reason they are so critical and demonizing of Black characters.
I believe the narrator for this, and other videos about POC tropes, is a WoC. She's been introduced in previous videos.
White people not taking black people seriously just may be attributable-in part anyway-to the fact that so much effort by so many folks in that community is devoted to griping about "representation" in sitcoms, while very little energy is devoted to rectifying the problems of our inner cities. Predominantly black neighborhoods in The US are the most blood drenched and shabby corners of the nation, yet relatively few black intellectuals seem interested in doing anything about this
My mom was never really into Friends because there were no black leads on the show. She'll pick Living Single every time, and that makes sense. It was Friends before there was Friends spotlighting a group of Black 20-somethings.
Whew Chile as a black person navigating dating irl who is open to dating people of all races and ethnicities you gotta look out to not be the disposable black love interest in real life too because I’ll be damned.
It's better to just date black anyway, we have to help these women who are trying to erase their blackness by dating whites. Eve, Serena Williams, Kamala Harris.
@@Chris-rg6nm If it was easier to "just date Black", there'd be no need for this conversation. Every race have their cultural problems within them, and Black people are no different.
@@Chris-rg6nm bro some of your comments are giving off a real eugenics vibe
@Chris or some people just like having options. I'm sure some people would be much happier Serena dating some busted rapper in the hood than a wealthy white guy, simply because he's White. You don't actually care about these women, you just wanted the highest amount of women loyal to people who look like you.
@@Deathhead68 as much as I dislike "black love", it's the opposite. In my country (Brazil), there used to be serious projects to "unblackify" the population and heavy propaganda that sugested more interacial couples, so the black love idea is more like an answer to that. As I said, I dont agree with it, but it's not racist, its an answer to racism.
this reminds me of how after Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart broke up he started dating FKA Twigs who is a biracial women. the wyt twilight fans were so upset about him not dating Kristen anymore that they racially harassed and bullied Twigs for the entirety of their relationship until she couldn't take the harassment anymore and they broke up. they treated her like she was the reason their fav wyt couple wasn't together anymore (even though it was because Kristen cheated on him!) and took out their anger and racism on an innocent person. so it's not even just in TV shows!
And Kristen had cheated on Rob too
Man Twigs can’t catch a break, ppl were really shitty to her over her relationship with Shia L too (I don’t really know the details of that one, just that it was hella traumatic cause she wrote a bunch of songs about it)
ughhh i remember this so vividly because i am a fka twigs fan...i still hate twilight fandom because of this mess
I remember that!
They recently did the same to the dude from Sabrina the teenage Witch for dating his biracial costar. We do talk enough about how racist white women are the reason romantic representation for Black women is low.
I feel like they make them almost/perfect because they can't accept there's competition unless the black person is flawless, as if being a human black person isn't enough to be loved
Even then, they're tossed aside
ACCURATE! which is why we're in constant competition with the mediocre, mildly interesting white-presenting character. the message is that we require excellence to even be considered but no one else does.
This is the one!
I’ve been feeling this for a while and it feels really good to know that I’m not the only one ☝🏾
and bw and bm marry less than other groups btu ya'll want pple to portray u as so desirable....lol...
@@MsDesiree39 are you saying that we aren't desirable?
This reminds me of how they did bonnie in the vampire diaries. Her being the black girl friend that constantly sacrifices herself to save her white friends while nobody was really doing the same for her. They would give her some relationships. But her being the one person who always sacrificed her whole being and more but THEY STILL GAVE HER A SAD ENDING.WHAT?? it was crazy to me.
Yep. They mentioned her too.
They did mention her in this video. I also saw a video a few weeks ago that was devoted to highlighting how badly this actress was treated in the entirety of the show.
I know! God, i'm so pissed
Bonnie deserved better.
Bonnie was the only likable character on the show and they treated her horribly.
This isn't just in media; this is LIFE. I've been that POC who gets dumped despite all the friends liking me and 'bringing so much to the table'. Glad this is getting called out more.
That's why you need to stick to your people.
If someone disposes you or anyone who bring much more to the table . Regardless of why they don't deserve you. My grandma used to say a head of a pig won't stay in a golden tray🤣🤣
Wow, that's just awful. I'm so sorry. It just goes to show people subconsciously really do believe what they see.
@@Chris-rg6nm you're such a red flag
@@hirrorstories I like your grandma
I’m glad someone talked about this. It’s so annoying to have our “representation” be the girl the main character dates at a low point or as a rebound just to realize she wasn’t the one all along. ‘You’ has done this twice already.
I'm genuinely curious, when was the 2nd time 'You' did this? Obviously yeah, first with Karen in S1, but when was the next time? I was thinking maybe with Marianna, but she technically becomes Joe's main interest (although, we all know whether he finds her or not, he'll eventually move on to someone else- cuz that's what he does lol). Is the 2nd time maybe with with Spanish girl (the landlord/ property manager can't remember her name) he slept with in S2? She's not black, but still POC
I think it was Delilah...? 🤔
Marienne wasn't disposed of, as she was end game for Joe in s3. You could argue everyone is disposable as each season focuses on a new "end game" love interest. However, the way they did Karen, especially by naming her Karen, was dirty. This is so common in media, I think even the less socially conscious audience sees it. "Oh! Here comes a black person. Wow, they're perfect! Oh! There they go." I'm not black. I am POC with an adoptive black dad, but I'm also white-passing, so I don't know how valuable my opinion is here, but it's almost like this is sort of "representation" is worse than having none at all. As for my representation, I'd love to see a Mexican character who isn't a maid or a cholo.
@@helloleesh Jane the Virgin helped me see a different side but I have meet and within weeks was having attraction and attractive people on on me. I was always in a group setting of getting to know people while visiting relatives. So, I felt the ethnic acceptance that should happen when people meet. No ethnic blocks because I was one of two Bk women in an almost all MX group. No holding back friendship or even, some flirty situations, happened. We need diversity in the backrooms to get imagines on screen or the perception
That s WHY WOMEN SHOULD NEVER DATE DOWN!
Yeah, this trope has such a huge impact and is why Shawn and Angela not being together will always make me rage. Justice for so many: Hale, Dolls, Martha Jones, Bonnie, etc.
I loooved Shawn and Angela together
You’re part of the reason I learned to spot this trope from a mile away😂
I'm still not over Sean and Angela. Peak disposable black love interest in writing
Tara from True Blood! My girl was dragged through broken glass the entire show smh.
Noticed this with so many of the genre shows like Buffy and Agents of SHIELD as well. It's tiresome.
Yeah, this is a sore spot. People might think they don't treat Black folk or people of colour this way, but representation like this sends a subconscious message. I'm really glad this is being called out.
Me too. I always noticed this somewhat subtle trope but didn’t really have a phrase for it. I think it’s because it’s a trope that’s masquerading as positive representation, but it’s actually just lazy character writing
@@yespls6260 Exactly, SO lazy. And cynical.
This is so true. I put music video on my ig yesterday for international women's day. I played Spice singer she Jamaica and I played Yemi Alade she from Africa. Some guy mix up Yemi Alade with Danielle Di a Jamaican singer. When I called him out on it saying they don't look alike and maybe he meant Spice cause they're both Jamaican he got mad.
Yup its a dangerous yet very deliberate
@@yespls6260 It's not lazy - it's very intentional!
It would be revolutionary for a dark skinned black girl/women love interest to be endgame in a series/movie made in this era. I know Amber from Invincible is gonna end up in this trope.
Coming 2 America did it. There you go.
@@Oversurge_ the love interest was light skin in the first movie.
@@millsgurl8358 that's the first movie. I'm talking about the 2nd one. Clearly the mistake was corrected.
She broke up with him I believe
SPOILER FROM THE COMICS
Amber and Mark break up and Mark ends up with Eve. Amber dates the goatee guy she met in the college party but he's abusive. Last time we see comic Amber, she's in a date with a new guy. The fact she falls in this trope is a good example why tokenization is just a "Who can we get away with making black?" They couldn't with Eve (thank God) but the character was already in this tired trope.
The colorism part is 100% true! Rashida Jones barely looks Black and she always plays “racially ambiguous” characters
I hadn't known Rashida Jones had any black in her until I read an article about an actor who was playing a professor who got in trouble for alleged racism and then people found out he was passing as white his whole life and it turned out the actor was also passing as white. The article mentioned Jones and a few other actors who were passing and I had no idea some of them were anything other than white, but I remembered Rashida specifically because I had been watching "The Office" and felt outraged when her character left the show because I honestly liked her more than Pam.
ETA: a word
Remember that aweful hip hop video she did. I thought it was a joke but she was serious. 🤣🤣🤦🏼♀️😭😭
If I wasn't told, I wouldn't have believed it. It's harmful to place biracial, multiracial, and black into the same box because, for one, the experiences are not the same due to colorism inside and outside of the community.
Yep, totally didn't even know she was Black until my dad mentioned she had a Black father. I legit thought her parents were appropriating Blackness when they named her when I found out her name was "Rashida"🤣🤣
Rashida is not black she’s multi racial. Her Quincy is a light skinned black man with white ancestry so that’s why Rashida is more 1/4 black
Are we ignoring the colorism? Every time they named black love interests they would name 4 of them and 3 out of the 4 were mixed-race.
No, ma'am, I pointed that out to them. Black and biracial need to be distinct.
This is exactly why I say black and biracial aren't one and the same. Zendaya, Obama, Bob Marley, etc. they're not black. They're biracial.
@@aspebb and Simon from Bridgerton. She keeps saying he is black. Rege jean page has a white father
Exactly.
Lol biracial/mixed and BLACK are not the same.
And most them mixed women ...you can't even tell that they got black in them....
@@aspebb EXACTLY 💯
Hollywood seems to always have trouble with Black love interests as a whole, but the disposable black love interest is usually the most obvious. It always feels like they're just doing it to check the diversity box while also providing "an obstacle" to the main characters. And just like the video mentions, a lot of times when a white male protagonist had a black love interest, it's almost always the Zendayas, the Zoe Saldanas, the Thandie Newtons, etc. A stock light skinned or mixed race woman that white audiences would like or are already familiar with. Nothing against them, but even they are aware of this problem with casting. You'd think they would do better after all this time but smh you know.
Exactly, always racially ambiguous or biracial. Fully Black women almost don't exist on TV.
They know most Bm don’t like full Blk women.
Even pop stars, black girl with black feature is no no. Look at Beyonce, Doja Cat, Mariah Carey etc. And those actress and singers barely show their natural curly hair without style.
They know. But “palatable Black” is marketable and reduces the risk of low viewership. Especially if the show/film centers the white protagonist.
This is so true in The new Batman "ppl" are mad that Zoe Kravitz playing Catwoman like did you'll forget Eartha Kitt played Catwoman in 1966 smh.
Joe being more interested in Beck than Karen in YOU is a good thing. Joe is psycho and eventually kills his love interest. Karen dodged a bullet.
It’s always nice when racism works to your benefit
@@junebug6134 It sure does. 😂
I said the same lol. I was like girl get out of there before he gets you too! I was happy with the outcome of her storyline. Also, she knew what was up that's why she left with no complaint. Love that for her
Hell, probably literally.
@UC7lPH0b6jQGogBb7MzM9RQw That’s why by the end of series I didn’t feel bad that Joe unalived Beck. That girl was asking for a stalker by not having no curtain/ blind/or a sheet covering her window.
Dumb decision after the other. 😩😂
i know that colourism was touched on in this video, but i wouldve liked to see it focused on more. its not a coincidence that in all the examples of a black woman finally getting to be the main love interest, they were ALL lightskinned. the effort to erase darkskinned, fully black women in tv and film is real.
the fact that we're only represented as love interests in all black shows/all black films, just shows tv writers only cast us when they have no choice.
the take really needs to do a video on colourism in general, darkskinned black women are so shut out of tv and film and mainstream channels need to start talking about it more
Hopefully the take will do a full on analysis video on colorism.
Preach!
I find that this channel's videos consistently ALMOST get it whenever they talk about a topic. Because here they're not recognizing that biracial is not black. If biracial is black, it's equally white or whatever the other "half" is. So, they're still perpetuating the "one-drop rule" even while trying to highlight social issues. So, they're not bad, but still.
Let's not act like the main perpetrators of colorism against darkskinned black women aren't black show and black films. It's been that way since Oscar Micheaux's first film in 1920.
To this day, I cannot forgive Sex and the City's treatment of Blair Underwood 's character, Robert. What a waste.
Samantha with Chivon was unforgiveable as well. Black characters were written to be treated atrociously.
@@FabalociousDee Yep! Personally, Robert's case pisses me off the most because Miranda left him for a mediocre white guy, which wasn't exactly the case with Samantha and Chivon. Both are very upsetting, but I had slightly higher hopes for Miranda with Robert.
As if a real life Miranda would go back to that beta male
@@Torihappyness My point exactly!
@@FabalociousDee RIGHT!! The Chivon and Adina characters were SO CRINGY!
Finn’s treatment in Star Wars will never not make me violently angry.
Everything about it is horrible and insidious. Yes, let’s pair the main character with the literal space tyrant who tried to kill her multiple times instead the black character who actually saved her and actually fought to protect her…FROM THE VERY PERSON SHE ENDS UP WITH.
I agree, John Boyega was far better than the subpar material he had to work with. Same goes for Kellie Marie Tran, she was almost completely sidelined in the last movie.
And what makes me mad is instead of fixing Rose in the last movie, they make her a glorified extra and gave power to the people who harassed Kelly Marie Tran online and sent her death threats. Clearly saying they cared more about the toxic fans who did that rather than her.
Honestly I think it would’ve been more interesting to see Finn get a romantic relationship with Poe. I know Oscar Isaac was into it and I would have loved to see the juxtaposition of the toxic white hetero relationship when compared to a loving biracial homosexual one. I think it really could’ve added so much to those movies.
Oh man this is a video topic I’ve been begging The Take to do.
@@trinaq Yeah I feel compelled to watch almost any and everything that John and Kelly are in, partly because SW really screwed them over.
Hollywood is so racist, I think Zendaya is an amazing actress, but she's not the only actress of color who deserves recognition. Viola Davis deserves as much recognition as Leonardo DiCaprio or Meryl. I still remember when Fernanda Montenegro lost an oscar against gwyneth paltrow.
Zendaya doesn’t have an Oscar Viola Davis. Most actresses who are black with Oscar’s are Dark Skin.
The thing with Zendaya, though is, she's not even black. She's biracial and because she has those more European features it works in her favour. Now that's not to say she didn't earn her place, but one can't ignore the fact that certain factors were in play.
@@aspebb i agree but she lifts darker skin women up and that’s why she’s cool
They aren't in the same category.
Hollywood recognizes older black woman actresses because they've aged out of the "young and desirable" category.
They can be SBWs (Strong Black Women) which is the only type of role Hollywood believes when it comes to black women.
Young, pretty, vulnerable, protected, feminine? She's gotta be mixed and/or lightskinned.
And Gwyneth Paltrow was not a good actress. I like Zendaya alright but they can spread the roles around a bit, some would say she earned her roles but I would challenge that with its unfair to say that if other actresses have never been given the same opportunities.
This hurts. I remember as a kid I wished I could look white because I genuinely thought that unless I looked white I wouldn’t be loved when I grew up.
I know so many Black and brown girls that felt this way, but just know it’s not true. I’m a dark skinned woman and happily married. The media poisons people’s brains with racism but there will always be someone out there for you.
I never wished I was white per se but I always thought I had no chance with crushes cause I assumed they probably aren’t attracted to black girls until they specifically showed me that they are.
@@witchplease9695 Amen. I, too, am happily married. Navigating the toxic aspects of life is a constant battle for your mind!
your parents are the ones who are supposed to give you self esteem not tv shows or movies...lmao
@@MsDesiree39 so what happened with your parents?
As an Asian-American woman, I was sooo offended by Scott Pilgrim's treatment of Knives. She was way cooler than mopey NLOG Ramona. My only solace was that Knives deserved way better than Scott, so in my mind, she's happily moved on to bigger and better things.
She was a high schooler in the beginning of the books, from what I remember. So yes, she did deserve better
This! And what makes me mad about that ending is that it's not accurate to the book. In the book Ramona breaks up with him and says, "You've had a better option this whole time" and then gestures towards Knives, and it's Knives and Scott who ultimately walk through the door together. They filmed that ending for the movie, but when they showed it to (predominantly white) audiences, the majority of viewers didn't like it, so they changed it to Ramona.😤😤😤😤😤😤
Remember Harry Potter? Another example.
@@sumlem this times a million
@@zeewann yes I’ll never understand how he let Cho go but that’s just tv🤷🏽♂️😂
Art is imitating life. At the end of our one and only date, a white guy told me he couldn't wait to tell his best friend he found, in his words, "the perfect black girl to have sex with." My response: "No, you didn't." The objectification is repulsive. For many people, the black sex partner before settling down is a rite of passage. This truly needs to end once and for all. Human beings are not disposable.
Say what now???! 🤢
That’s disgusting 🤢🤮🤮🤮🤮
Indeed 💗💗💗
Black guys use black women for sexx more than white guys. lol
what an amazing point, we're just someone to add to their body count
Worst treatment of a POC character:
1. Bonnie in TVD
2. Finn in Star Wars
Not only did they sideline well written characters but they ruined the main story in the process. They went out of their way to justify these characters not getting a happy ending when it would've been easier and more logical to make them a love interest.
Finn did have a happy ending though. Not with Rey but there was another one
@@OHCAM5 that was so forced and contrived, and the character disappeared in the movie after, never saw her again. Mostly cause the fans hated them together, for the right and wrong reasons.
Add Abby from Sleepy Hollow to this list
@@kimberleywilliams7802 Yeah go watch The Rise of Skywalker and come back
You need to watch more media because those are not the worst treatment of black/biracial characters. Not by far. They're just two of the most visible ones.
Even in areas where there seems to be progression in diversity, they’ll still cast someone that’s more “appealing” to the eye. For example, a light skin black woman or someone racially ambiguous.
I wouldn't say "appealing to the eye" I'd say appealing to a yt aesthetic. Thinner features, lighter skin, straighter hair.
I often find that darker-skin, fuller features, etc, are more objectively appealing outside of rigid beatuty standards.
@@muvaofpearl completely agree, hence the quotation marks because it’s by yt standards, what’s close to it.
Maybe we should make black female characters like that more.
Say it! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
looks are important, attractive pple of different backgrounds are chosen
The Vampire Diaries' treatment of Bonnie was absolutely abhorrent. Julie Plec (showrunner) killed her off every season, gave her 0 interesting love stories (till the last season), and constantly isolated her from the rest of the cast. She was given the worst wardrobe and they wouldn't let her wear her natural hair. I swear it was cuz they were trying to diminish her beauty to prop up Elena as the main love interest, but they failed cuz Kat Graham is an absolute gorgeous queen
Facts! Kat and Bonnie deserved better.
The disposable black love interest (in reference to black women) is what we in the community refer to as the "come-up woman." It has tended to happen with black men celebrities who start out their lives and careers with unambiguously black women at their sides who help and support them, "mule-ing," if you will. Once they have gained success and notoriety, the wives and girlfriends become increasingly non-black. Thankfully, more black women are turning away from this dynamic.
Yeah. It’s because in this misogynistic society, women are seen as trophies and objects for men to “win”. This sexism is what makes men choose wives based off other men’s validation rather than love.
So since European beauty standards colonized the world, black men want WW or other non-bw in proximity to whiteness when they get money. This is what misogynoir is, when you combine anti-blackness with misogyny.
It’s really horrible. I hope more black women wake up.
Yes, ma’am!
When did you drop the cape?
And when he get on...
Facts!;
It rarely happens though.
Martha was studying to become a doctor, super intelligent and self-reliant (not to say Rose wasn't, but she was more of a typical Damsel in Distress) and still got reduced to being characterized by her unrequited love for The Doctor. That was really hard to watch as a young black girl.
I was so happy when the doctor got a black companion. And then they did THAT to her 🤦🏽♀️ Martha deserved so much better.
Feel like there was so much to do with the aspect of her being a doctor that was overlooked. A big part of being a doctor is having to work out illnesses from a number of clues like a detective so I wish they’d done more of that- her spotting things that the doctor overlooked. Would’ve been amazing if she was on the same intelligence level as him
I will never not be angry about this. People often name ten as their favourite Doctor, but I can never forgive the way he treated Martha. Justice for Martha Jones!
It was hard to see how dismissed she was, not just by the Doctor, but by the fans as well. The horribly, racist insults that were unjustifiably flung at Martha and the actress playing her, were completely unwarranted and cruel and I blame the writers for this.
Remember the first time the Doctor and Martha went back to the past, I think it was the Shakespeare episode, and Martha was asking legitimate questions about her safety being a small, black woman during that time and the Doctor just brushed her concerns off like they were nothing? That got me so steamed!! >:(
@@alcu11 love that episode! I don’t think she got to shine during season 3. I remember loving her when she returned in season 4 with unit, something about her getting to stand her ground more and be an accomplished black women in a high ranking position was so fun. Wish we’d got to see that during season 3!
And even when the "black" character is the romantic lead they're not actually black. They're a biracial actor that the creators are trying to pass off as black (ex Zendaya). It sends the message that the only way you can be the actual romantic lead as a black person is if you're not actually black, but half white.
Even in the spy Disney Channel series in which she played ( I don't remember the name of it) her family was clearly all black but she is lighter than all of them as she is actually biracial. I still like her but biracials are not exclusively black ! I actually liked how Big Mouth addressed the issue with Missy
What about Jayce x Mel from Arcane? Both of them are one of the main characters of the story. Both of them are in love with each other. Not to mention Mel is a black woman with dark skin who plays an important role in the story.
Well they are cast as casted as mixed with their white mom or dad. Don’t like don’t watch.
@@jujublue4426 her mom was light skin. Y’all do know light skin people can still be born in a all black family?
I don’t know why Rick/Michonne from The Walking Dead was not included in the video when the ship went canon in 2016 where it was the first time in television history that the white main male character on a popular television show falls for a dark skinned black woman who was fully fleshed out and her own person and who wasn’t a “rebound” for the main white character.
It’s very good TWD did that. Good on them.
Yes, I agree, I was going to message the same thing! It didn't feel disposable at all, it was such a loving and natural relationship. I really liked how Michonne was able to connect with both of his children as well.
And the best part was that the fandom loved them
This was only after Rick had exhausted all his other options in a literal Zombie Apocalypse...Like I get that the relationship was fleshed out and it felt genuine in the end, but it also felt like well...of course? Because who tf else?
@@Thickthickly nah, you should watch them at comic con the fans called for that and if she didn't get with Rick it would have been with Daryl
I'm starting to notice an uncomfortable pattern in several teen movies concerning a love triangle. The main couple, usually both white, are finally together, until a POC love interest swoops along in the sequel, threatening their relationship. After a lot of drama, the couple end up back together. Jacob from "Twilight", Tommy from "Tall Girl", John Ambrose from "To All the Boys"...
To All the Boys pissed me off because she was a much better fit with Ambrose!! I remember being shocked when she went running back to the dude she had nothing in common with.
Well....Lara Jean isn't white. I do get your point, but I'm not sure it applies with her
The Kissing Booth with Marco and Chloe (even though Chloe wasnt a love interest but an obstacle nontheless).
@@0104brit It does. Just because a movie can do well in one form of diversity doesn’t mean it won’t fail in others. Two things can be true at once.
Lara Jean can be great representation and John Ambrose can be a mistreated black love interest.
Well if all 3 were white it would be a problem, if all the couple was POC and the white person came in and broke them up it would be a problem, the only "acceptable" solution is all 3 be POC.
Forgot how Charlie left ross, that was actually pretty good, flipped the script in that way, making it clear that ross was a disposable character in her story.
And Julie got off pretty easy considering what Emily and Mona had to go through
Thank you!!! 😍
True, it was clever, but this was also in service of showing Ross that sometimes "the one who was there all along" is The One so I don't know how much credit I'm willing to give the writers there
That's exactly the point! It was Charlie and not, for God's sake, Ross for whom two love interests were fighting, and fighting dirty. "Disposable love interest" kind of implies that the other person in a pair is a "prize". Ross is far from being considered one. He is just one of the main characters.
In friends though.. Charlie was saved. Imagine marrying someone like Ross. Argh! He and Rachel deserved each other. 🤢🤮 Charlie was so intelligent, funny and charismatic.
Exactly this lol every woman Ross ended up dumping for Rachel dodged a HUGE bullet. Charlie deserved so much better.
And sooo beautiful!
@@eurekamreum5458 True, he did do it multiple women of different backgrounds, particularly Emily. But I understand what they're saying
@@FluteCheerios Ross and Rachel are one of the worst fictional couples ever. And it’s amazing how much people hate Emily after he humiliated her. The worst anyone can say is she didn’t want him to hang out with Rachel anymore - which is literally what any sane person would do in that situation. Something similar happened on SatC when Aiden didn’t want Carrie to hang out with Big after she cheated with him. These shows have the most baffling logic and awful relationships. Women and men have probably ruined lives emulating this behavior.
She was such a good person, too, even though she had great reasons for disliking Rachel and wanting Ross to stay away from her, she Trusted him!! And she shouldn't have!!
Shoutout to Vanessa Morgan and John Boyega for sharing what they went through.
TV writer here. From the inside of the beast, I can tell you that one thing that needs to be taken into account is that there are execs who look at the world through the lens of "what do white people in [insert predominantly white town] want to see?" and use this excuse to discriminate in casting, calling it color blind only to put a white person in the main cast.
The writing and the casting are absolutely an issue here but add in the machine of the industry being rife with its own biases and prejudices in the service of an outdated audience model that just reinforces stereotypes and propogates the racism.
Yikes...but, thank you for this insight.
Senegambian la
Definitely looks like a corporate process map the way they will be engineering these “love decoys” to check the boxes.
It’s like when David Bowie called out MTV for being racist. Why would you even cater to people of that mindset?
@@msroxannablack because sadly the make up the larger % and at the end of the day tv shows are there to bring in a higher audience in order to bring in more ads which brings in more money
This reminds me of the first season of Love Is Blind, with Cameron, a white man, and Lauren, a dark-skinned Black woman. I read an article where the writer expressed that it was validating to see a dark Black woman being deeply desired in reality TV, when so often they are token castings that get eliminated early on on shows like The Bachelor.
And even if the Black character IS the central love interest, the racist fandom will either demonize or dismiss them as a disposable love interest anyway.
Mel Medarda from Arcane is one of the most interesting and complex Black female characters I’ve ever seen in any form of media, especially in animation, and was also portrayed as beautiful, intelligent and desirable. However, the fandom treats her as an evil manipulative seductress that “gets in the way” of the nonexistent Jayce and Viktor gays romance that white female fans fantasize/fetishize.
The take should do a video on fandoms and how they can get so toxic.
The same with Candice Pattons Iris in CWs The Flash. Iris is black and Barry’s only true love and the fandom hates her. They constantly try to ship Barry with Caitlin who is white even through they never had any love scenes or chemistry. To this day, Patton and the character constantly get bombarded with hate messages to the point where Grant Agustin who plays Barry’s had to come out and publicly defend her.
YEP. Racism in fandoms completely function in this way!
It's funny because I heard people complaining before ever watching it, so I went into it wondering what was gonna happen. And nothing bad happened. It was typical hate against a prominent black female character. I saw this same kind resentment towards Vivienne in Dragon Age: Inquisition. Like, how dare there be black women in fantasy and how dare they be powerful and assertive? Ugh. Meanwhile, I'm sitting there thinking that Jinx is manic-pixie-dream-girling my face off and I can't stand it. But it's okay to them because...
They just hate our nuanced representation by default. It's annoying. (And there's a conversation to be had with how masculine Mel's mother is presented, but that's another conversation entirely. It's like they had to take something away when they gave something.) Finally, Jayce was the problematic one, not Mel. Anyway.
The whole “Jayce x Viktor ‘vs’ Mel” reminds me of a good chunk of KLance shippers absolutely DESPISED Alura once her and Lance became a thing. Like. I know there’s a whole thing with people hating female leads for “Getting in the way” of fan favorite ships but. GOLLY. It feels a lot different when said female lead is darkskinned. Whole other breed, I’ll tell ya.
The disposable love interest is just a terrible trope. Like this case when the disposable one is clearly a better person than the actual love interest, yet the protagonist for no good reason insist in going back; or the disposable one (that is implied to be good to the protagonist) suddenly turns "evil" when the love interest threatens his relationship, when in fact it's just defending the partner. That's just throwing dirt at them.
Case in point: Rock Lee, the most wholesome guy ever, was overlooked by Sakura in favour of Sasuke, the hashtag brooding tormented guy by Sakura. Sakura isn't an angel herself either, so I made my peace with it.
it's a case that you have to be perfect to get half of what these mediocre white people get. The character is impeccable and still doesn't deserve it to be the love interest for someone
@@abhijiththampi somebody having a crush on you doesn't make them a love interest nor is it a relationship. She never wanted Rock Lee. Sakura made it clear she had no romantic interest in him whatsoever.
I think this also goes with the main character choosing the “bad” person despite all of the red flags and bad qualities. They rather be with the wrong person instead of taking a chance with the good person. Not the “nice guy or gal” but the actual good person.
I see this all of the tome no matter what race they are.
I feel in this case, the disposable black love interest takes an intersectional approach with the “nice person finished last”. Again not the “nice” person, but the genuinely good person.
@@maishi I get that. And I agree with the general sentiment that the goog guy/girl does not have to get with the hurting, damaged one and save them. The world would be a better place if the good people found other good people, instead of trying to 'save' the damaged ones.
Colorism is a very real issue and I wish it was discussed more. I'm glad it was touched on in this video that when you do see a black woman playing the lead role/ love interest in many current shows... she is biracial. That isn't representation. It would be great to see black women of darker complexions represented more in media and television.
Exactly. It's NOT representation.
Thank you, I was going to make this comment.
Facts. That's representation for BIRACIAL women. As a medium-brown Black women, I don't see myself in LS Biracial women like Zendaya or Zoe Kratviz. MOST monoracial BW do not look like them so it's perplexing when they continue to get called Black and touted as progressive, when you have actresses like Kiki Layne, Ryan Destiny, Tiffany Boone, etc. barely getting any work. When I see a BROWN and DARK-skinned BW in multiple lead roles, esp as a love interest, then we can talk.
@@Utada379 Exactly👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
I can only think of a show that has black woman as the lead and it’s how to get away with murder (each and every cast member is amazing). viola davis made it impossible to hate her since the character is so complex (I hate what she does but her personality is a flip coin switch)
I’m so happy you guys tackled this! Even though there has been some improvement, its very incremental. Typically these love interests are black men….women of color are still basically invisible or de-sexed. I’m hoping as more creators of color are taking a seat at the table, we will see more stories regarding these folks. White people are a global minority so I’m excited to stories more reflective of the actual world.
Perfectly stated!
I wouldn't say "de-sexed" I would say under-romantazied" they dont see darker skin POC women as feminine, attractive, romantic modern women. It's just overplayed oversexed & demonizing stereotypes.
Just a night of fun before you find the perfect woman you actually want.
Hey same name!
Thank you!
"White people are a global minority so I’m excited to stories more reflective of the actual world."
You know movies are made in other countries as well, right? Do you only have access to US movies? And do you also complain about the lack of white people in Nollywood or Bollywood movies?
we NEED to see more black women as END GAME love interests... where's the slow-burn story? the will they, won't they story? show me the black woman that is the driving focus of the protagonist
How does exactly help you? What benefit does that give you?
@@BradLad56 Humanity!
@@ms.bubs4fun506 Your humanity shouldn't depend on a movie(Which isn't real)
@@jordannewsom3606 representation matters trust i know
@@BradLad56 the benefit is that it's fun to see
It's not just in TV shows and movies, we also don't see many dark skinned girls in the music industry. They just don't get enough exposure.
Great vid as always !
make your own shit
Mexican guy here, I remember two occasions where I told two different women, both minorities, how hot I thought Candice Patton was (I saw her in person at Comic Con and she's even more beautiful in person). They both saw her, thought she was really pretty then asked me "You like black chicks?" Now I'm known for not having preferences, I find all sorts of different women attractive from curvy to skinny, long hair, short hair, really white, black, red head, blondes, brunettes, tall or short, but the only times I've occasionally had people be surprised is when they hear I found a black woman beautiful. In my mind I find no one reason why I wouldn't find black women attractive but it's not that uncommon for people to be occasionally surprised by it.
I'm sure I'm not the only one to experience this and it's always a reminder that society at times doesn't realize their own blind spots in terms of seeing race. It's not that those two women are racist, or any of the others who occasionally show surprise, it's they don't realize that while they themselves see how beautiful the women are they still find it surprising men would view them not just as beautiful but as desirable.
yikes
Isn't Candice Patton biracial? So that assumption was double-sided on their part.
Anyway, people worldwide copy the way black women look, dress, act, talk, style our hair, our skin tone, etc. but NONE of them want to give us credit. We're the blueprint people want to keep invisible. As bad as people's use of social media can be, it's a double-edged sword because it also gives black women visibility to prove people wrong and show the sources, which we didn't have back in the days when white artists were stealing from us without anyone but us knowing. We've outpaced every race/gender in college enrollment and outpace other races of women in starting entrepreneurships. We're extremely loyal and self-sacrificing (to our detriment, unfortunately). Yet, because the world needs someone to dump on, people believe that we're worthless. If we're so worthless, stop using us and our image. Let us ascend in peace. Because we're gonna do that regardless.
@@LadyAstarionAncunin no, she's not biracial. That was mentioned to her at a Comic-Con and she said she wasn't sure where the rumor started but isn't true.
Other races of women know black women are beautiful but they want to feel superior over black women. Other races of women, especially white women want to keep their undeserved pedestal by making sure black women are not seen as desirable.
@@jamesmarshall6619 well she looks biracial
This video essay was fantastic, but I wish you'd covered Cho Chang from Harry Potter whose actress was a minor who went through hell in fandom and the saga of cult fave Blaise Zabini being attractive/desirable until fandom found out he was black.
I remember the response to Blaise well. Ugh. I found him more fascinating than Draco and was heartbroken to see how many in the fandom suddenly dismissed and demonized him when he was confirmed to be Black.
Huh, so sad to hear that. I got to meet him from the movies first and thought he was really attractive
Don't forget how the actress for Lavender Brown was Black in previous movies, but they recast her as a White girl when she became Ron's love interest
@@newph0newhodis true, but it was a lose-lose situation, because the character was so damn awful. If Lavender had been black in that movie they would’ve received just as much backlash if not more.
@@ParanoidOwlet True... honestly the HP series had such little POC rep that it pushed itself into that corner tbh
Probably this is why in Kindergarten I came to the conclusion that being a blonde white person is more physically attractive. I learned at a young age that I was either a sidekick or the hoochie, all because of my ethnicity. I hate it. This is something I try to subvert with my characters.
How can anyone hate Lauren Tom? She's so sweet and awesome.
you're the ones choosing the pookie and ray rays and behaving pretty badly in public
@@MsDesiree39 People love demonize bw but excuse non-bw for doing the same thing
Kirtsten Dunst's MJ - A regular, struggling fresh highschool graduate.
Zendaya's MJ - Now that she's black she has to be some kind of genious, even if she's just a highschool kid 🤦🏻♀️
And ethnically ambiguous...😑😐🙄😒😓
In the case of MJ, I read what they were trying to make.
In the comics, Mary Jane Watson was young woman from the 1960s in a world where some of the attitudes resembled those from when Steve Ditko and Stan Lee were younger. She very much contrasted with some of the other female characters (especially other love interests of Peter) who were more traditional girls, and girls were more likely to identify with her.
In the Sam Raymi trilogy, they kept some of this, but they really emphasised on the girl next door aspect and merged her with other characters.
In the MCU, they were trying to do something similar to her original creation concept, but in the first movie I think they were not sure what they were doing and she felt more like a parody of modern teenager girl. The later movies fixed this to some degree.
They also made some changes to Flash Thomson. This was done to justify him ending up in the same places as Peter.
That line from Scandal is so true. My mother used to say you needed to get an A++ to compete with their B.
Remember in "How I meet your mother" when Lily had a Black woman friend and started "behaving differently".
It’s like micro aggressions- a tv show!
I didn't like that entire bit. But wasn't the friend also behaving differently around Lily?
😂😂😂😭🤦🏼
I forgot about that episode, it was so hard to watch.
Tbh, we’re not really seeing an increase in black love interests. We’re seeing an increase in BIRACIAL love interests which still adheres to white acceptability. And also not to mention the few black love interests that are actually black are usually men. Black women are not allowed to be love interests at all especially if they’re brown or dark skinned in cinema.
THE TAKE DONT MISS!!! Y’all are the best, most insightful film criticism channel on youtube!! Please never stop!!
It’s despicable that in this day and age, people are sent death threats for just being a certain demographic or not.
8:56 WTF Imagine dying and as you float away to the afterlife your partner already has another person by their side. I'm. Haunting. Everybody.
Love it. But instead of haunting. I'm taking him with me. He ain't getting the love story that easy.
I just realized this happened to Algee Smith's McKay on Euphoria. He got his own opening back story in season 1 but then he disappears in season 2. He was involved with Cassie but they never really go into why Cassie ended things and if McKay knew what she did at the end of season 1. McKay deserves better.
He knew Cassie was pregnant and didn't want to be a dad so he has to know what she did.
McKay was at least 18 in college hanging out w highschoolers - McKay needed to move on & hang w people his age
I wish The Take had mentioned this trope being used excessively during daytime soap operas when they were popular. The only soap opera that actually had POC as functioning, fleshed-out characters was "The Young and the Restless". Not surprisingly, this is a show with a lot of black viewers because of that.
Those were the worst! 😂😂
The blk characters who never got laid when everyone els did...it was almost comical.
These producers really sleep on the black audience, but black people watch television more than any race. We have billions of dollars to spend. So, they're really just being stubborn at this point.
Also, One Life to Live and All My Children were successful in that endeavor. Btw, Michael B. Jordan got his start on AMC.
@@angelagoodwin5758I watched both of those shows and the writing for them as far as minorities were nothing compared to "The Young and the Restless" and yes, I know Michael B. Jordan was on that show.
I used to watch (through no choice of my own 😂😂) Y&R with my mom. I agree, I think they did a better job than most. I didn’t watch other shows though. Are there examples where they really use this trope?
S*x Education's Ola and Jackson fall into this trope at basically the same time, as they're both initially the partners of the two leads that treat them horribly and we're supposed to root for, Maeve and Otis (a ship I think is rather boring and it's annoying just how much time has been spent on their "will they, won't they"). Once Jackson and Maeve break up and his arc with his parents is finished, he's basically pushed to the background until season 3 where he's still a minor character, but he had more screentime than before
I will never get over the way they treated Jackson and Maeve.
@@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343 same
also another poc, ruby just sidelined for shitty romance between otis and maeve
Argh! Remember when he compared Ola to Maeve and said that it's easier being with Ola because she isn't intimidating, she's approachable and on his level meanwhile Maeve is so amazing he couldn't possibly get with a girl like that. Pissed me off to the extreme.
@@liabstrait8306 will never forget what they did
Just as annoying to me is how often the woman disposable “black person” is intentionally cast and coded as mixed and/or adjacent to white. For example, Rashida Jones in The Office, who was only ever referenced as Italian but the show clearly wanted to get some kind of credit for the racially ambiguous casting.
Of course, this usually isn’t the case for men who are coded as Black.
True, but that's intentional. Colorism works in favor of dark skinned Black men. This is the opposite case for dark skinned Black women hence the reliance of light skinned, mixed/ racially ambiguous women being pushed as Black women representation.
I noticed when they said the Black love interest was more successful represented in current TV/films it definitely was the showing the coupling you’re referring to or more often the Black Male/White Female pairing.
Does anyone remember Brandy, the Rogers and Hammerstein Cinderella? Why don't they make films like that anymore, it was so racially confusing but amazing lol
That movie is a classic. I have it on VHS, DVD and saved on my favorites list on Disney Plus. Lol. Hamilton is cast the same way and I freaking love Hamilton.
Not really racially confusing but an example of true colorblind casting.
I guess Brigerton and Hamilton are the closes to colorblind casting. But I can't see a colorblind Cinderella of 2022 do as well as Brandy's version because whyte people feel more threatened than ever before about being replaced by black people. They'll call it too "woke" and then boycott the show.
I agree. There just needs to be more multiracial casting: Black, White, Latino, Asian, and Native American. Also, there needs to be POC's behind the scenes to make sure these characters are fully humanized.
Still don’t see it with dark skin women. The only time dark skin women get to be the central love interest is when the story is written by black women
Sadly, I agree
We’ve been saying this for years. And this translates to real life because I’m often fetishised for a moment of fun and sex rather than be taken seriously as a love interest/partner.
Gurl, black guys also fetishized black women too. lol
Wait on God for your husband
@@libfuzzy4629 don’t push your religious beliefs please… not everyone believes in god or his husband delivery service. Furthermore, nowhere did I imply I have any desire to have a husband ie love interest/partner doesn’t mean I want marriage.
A lot of these black actors are biracial not black which is even more problematic.
This was common in Scandal & HTGAWM as well despite having leading black female protagonists
Thaaaaaank you. Who does Olivia end up with TWICE after dumping a black guy aand using him TWICE? white men. They think it doesn’t mean anything because it’s produced by Shonda and had black female leads. Who did Analise marry? A white man. But who did she frame? Ummm… who did she end up with in the end? Eve, the white woman. I mean, I’m glad she mentions it in the story, how she married a white man and felt like a mammy.
Even the Mindy project who never ever ended up with an Indian man! Only white men!
@@AndSoWeLaughed actually annalise didn't end up with eve, she ended up with tegan. you see two black hands walking on the beach in annalise's final scene
Hmmm I never thought about it that way. I assumed Olivia was drawn to white men because that’s who she primarily worked with and went to school with. In terms of Annalise, I thought Sam was just a coping mechanism for her internalized colorism and daddy issues.
Wes and Laurel 🤢🤮
@@madelinekouassi9884 You think? Wes was Laurel’s rebound. I felt the writers were running out of storyline for those characters in season 3.
Same thing in Danny Phantom where they break up Danny and Valerie when they had a lot more development and chemistry but they completely ignore that and still make Danny eventually end up with Sam at the end of the series. They basically act like Danny and Valerie were never a thing in the final season.
I really liked Danny and Valerie. I found the pairing interesting and though they'd work well as a couple.
@@tamerafarly7666 Same here. Valerie was easily one of my favorite characters on the show.
Every day I am reminded why I no longer watch Western TV or movies, or why I don't get into new fandoms, or reinforcing my aversion to certain shows or fandoms. Majority White fandoms suck and American media is so white, it makes the white house look colourful. I am EXHAUSTED. Why do fandoms always turn to racism when things don't go their way?
Fandoms in general are toxic and "protective" groups. Especially when you have members who makes being a part of one a part of their identity as a person.
Reelblack does a great job assessing these tropes and goes deeper into the ‘why’. I no longer watch TV or movies that don’t have POC as major leads and sometimes even behind the camera. This ish is intentional and refuse to give my money or time, or any longer be under the spell.
Same. Unless there are people that look like me. I'm not wasting my time, money or energy.
SAME!!! Outside of a period piece (and I don't mean a fantasy genre story because in fantasy you can do whatever you want), if a TV show, movie, or even video game doesn't have a (unambiguously) black female character who's at least of some substance, I'm not interested. I'm even less interested in something that seems like a setup for a future bait-and-switch (I'm still mad about Sleepy Hollow). In the case of video games, I'm to the point that if it doesn't have a diverse cast (if the protag is white) or if the character creator doesn't have black hair options, they clearly didn't mean it for me and I'm not interested.
@@tapiwam9476 love that. My time energy snd money are precious. I’m precious so I choose where I spend all of them.
@@LadyAstarionAncunin Welp! Wasn’t meant for me anyway. I love that attitude about it.
@@LadyAstarionAncunin I’m reading how many of the indigenous (Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, etc) were described as black/swarthy/dark people. They were kicked out of their homelands and sent to the West Indies/Americas 1500-1800s. So for me even with period pieces, ‘they’ are aware that it’s not the whole truth.
I think its less obvious when you aren't a person of color watching this fold out on tv, but I always had the distinct feeling that they were adding the Black love interest in to "make" the audience feel like they were being diverse with never any true intention of incorporating them into the long term love lives of the main White characters. They also seem to be used more to make the White characters seem more kind and inclusive, when in reality they just serve as narrative vehicles for the White character's stories. As a Black person myself, I always more felt that and could see it playing out on screen. Overtime you just sort of ignore it, but I am always pleasantly surprised if a Black person is given the same longterm commitment and power in a story as a love interest because the process of diversification usually just means that they are lucky to be seen on screen as equals rather than invisible. This has been good progress since the 1920s and 30s when they were servants on film.
Exactly! As a Black girl there are a lot of OBVIOUS tropes I've had to ignore/pretend they don't exist just to be able to enjoy a show.
@@Des_. yup same, so many of these tropes, like this one i would always notice at the back of my mind. just to have to shrug it off because what can you really do about it :(
start your own shows
It's a bait and switch I really don't appreciate. There are few examples of them making a choice and sticking to it with conviction and not at all in a "see, look at what we're doing" kind of way. Final Space was like this. It NEVER mentions the black female love interest's race. The hero just walks into a bar one day, sees her, is instantly attracted to her, falls in love with her, and is willing to die for her. And it's sci-fi. But, of course, it was cancelled. We need more Final Space and less Vampire Diaries.
@@MsDesiree39 Oh please. Multiple Black who actually start making their own shows about Black people are judged and asked "Why are there no White people?", and I'm sure your racist self would probably say the same thing if there was a non stereotypical all Black movie or show.
Martha in Doctor Who was awesome. I know her story arc was a little thin, but that's because she was more together than Rose or Donna, she was always going to save lives, after meeting the Doctor she was able to save the world. And they brought her back, and she's still amazing, and she gets along well with Donna.
17:40 Rest in peace, Chadwick Boseman. Rest in peace.
Most of these Black characters dodged a bullet, especially on ‘You’. Dude is literally a serial killer.
This is Amber from Invincible we can see that Eve is the actual love interest.She(amber) is purposefully made unlikable so that the viewers could easily root for eve
They could have easily fixed this by making Eve black instead but that was obviously a boat too far for them
Honestly, I wonder if they did that on purpose, so they can quickly put Mark with Eve.
No Amber is unlikeble even in the comics BUT I find it interesting that they made Amber Black in the show despite knowing the vitriol that Black characters receive. Felt like a set-up to me.
@@Utada379 agreed
I was thinking the same exact thing. It sucks cuz everyone hates amber now, and what’s interesting is that in the comic, correct me if I’m wrong, she was more tolerable, but in the the show they made her unbearable (I admit I was biased because I liked seeing a bw as the love interest and that drew me away from how problematic she can be). It can’t be any more clearer that the show is definitely setting itself up to make eve the “better” love interest.
90% of these examples aren't even fully black they are mixed.
most black americans arent completely black
Even so, almost all the people mentioned don’t have 2 black parents…wonder why that is.
@@karmicobsession1636 No most black Americans are completely black, they aren't 100% African.
@@karmicobsession1636 Even so, there is such a thing as being unambiguously Black. The type where no matter where you go or what day it is you are undeniably Black and NO ONE can confuse you as being anything otherwise.
@@karmicobsession1636 but we’re not biracial either and please stop trying to speak on our identity. We are black, nothing more, nothing less.
Yeah this is pretty damaging. I myself still don't know if my attraction to white guys is my own or something popular culture forced on me. I'm a black lady btw
chile.... I ask myself that every day.
Girrrl tell me about this. I was thinking about this last week. All they guys I dated in high school was white guys. I wonder if I'm broken. They also seem to be the only one who match on me
I ask myself that quite often
@@missauroraroseblairsays I've never dated but anyone I developed feels it was for a white guy. Even the celebrity crushes. And I try to yiu know, force myself to be attracted to others and...nothing
I thought i was the only one who asked myself this lol. But I came to terms with the fact that, yeah, it was forced on me😎
It's great that there seems to be some progress but the black characters that are main characters and love interests are still mostly men. If there is a rare black female main love interest she is light skinned. There is still a long way to go.
Very long way to go.
Remember in riverdale when fans actually sent dead treaths to Vanessa Morgan because she was teased as a third wheel for Betty/Jughead , then when her character did not actually interfered in the relationship , the fandom went "oh whoops, that was a mistake , sorry!" instead of you know...owning up their behaviour. Edit: OH great you DID talk about it!
Wait, they did? What the heck, I was actually enjoying Riverdale and Toni showing up.
This always happen to any poc specifically black female character when it comes to fandoms. And guess what? the fandoms are almost always white. The death threats and racial threats are horrifying.
And then add the fact that Jughead is originally ace. I'm black and ace, so it's a double whammy surrounding that character.
Something I have to give Crazy Ex-Girlfriend credit for is the way that Heather calls Greg out for treating her like a disposable love interest. He also doesn’t end up with the woman he dumped her for, so his treatment of a black love interest yields no reward.
I think The Office tried to half-assedly do the same thing by having Karen mention how hurt she was by Jim, but he still was rewarded for his treatment of her, Karen just up and left so Jim never had to face what he’d done, and the story was still told from his perspective. That was a pretty lame attempt to have it both ways.
I also really like that after they break up Heather is still a significant character and she doesn’t lose screen time. She becomes one of the core characters and best friends with Valencia and Rebecca, as well as her romantic happy ending with Hector. It’s by no means perfect, but it feels more like their relationship was just a part of the story.
Exactly, the black love interest ended up being more important than the guy who used her
@@candidesque6470 Heather was a significant character before she started dating Greg. She wasn't written just for him.
Crazy Ex Girlfriend was awful with this trope, though. They took Josh, who was a friendly, kind, and desirable love interest in the first season, and dumbed him down so much every season to the point where it seems ridiculous that Rebecca ever obsessed over him. CEG gets praised for highlighting diversity, but the series is really like every other story about all white main characters (Rebecca, Josh, Nathanial, Paula) with a bunch of minority sidekicks.
One example I remember: Martha Jones in Doctor Who. They wrote her in situations where she's portrayed as a maid, and made the Doctor disdain her. Really did her dirty, Martha seems like a likable character. Liked her more than Rose.
There are people that wanted Lavender Brown in Harry Potter to be black, but then she would have been a black disposable love interest
Goodness no that girl is white in the book and she is annoying
Yep
u mean the pple who didnt write the books? write your own shit
It’s not that people wanted her to be black, it’s that she was black in earlier movies, but replaced with a white actress when it was time for her to be a romantic interest lol.
@@afroaesthete3701 So you want her to have been a have been a black disposable love interest?
Brigerton is not progress, it's nostalgia. Just saying.
People are just too lazy to do work while screenwriting/writing and write people that aren't like them. That's why ownvoices is so important, POCs need to write their own stories.
Like the people who are mad at Bridgerton for being “too diverse” are clearly not seeing that it isn’t as diverse as it claims to be. And it’s definitely made it even worse by having its male lead of color being sexually assaulted by a white woman and her having no repercussions for doing that.
@@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343 yup. This.
@@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343 That still infuriates me to this day. I can't watch the show and I will not. That storyline calls back to very tortured history and I do not want to be triggered by that.
@@sseraphim2818 Good for you in taking care of yourself. Much love.
@@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343 It's worse in the book, because he was also intoxicated while it happened.
I remember how messed people were acting towards Tika Sumpter character “Raina” in gossip girl when she was dating Chuck & Nate
And Chuck and Raina worked well as much as I remember. Blair and Chuck were so toxic but so many people were crazy for their relationship.
They were? Did Tika get backlash?
@@BellesView on the fan pages and blogs on tumblr
15:06 That reminds me of Nabu from Winx Club who fell into a sleeping coma and just left my poor girl Alysha, Fairy of Waves, alone. Like seriously, Winx Club. My girl Alysha deserved better.
They are both white, so it doesn't really fit in the trope.
@@monicacreator3168 no, Nabu is I'm assuming Indian maybe black and Aisha is black, what show are you talking about?
it's particularly insidious because they left her single and depressed. I hate how this industry treats Black Women.
@@kimberleywilliams7802 if Nabu isn't black he fits even less in the disposable black love interest trope then
@@monicacreator3168 Aisha from Winx is Black..
That's what irked me the most about the Star Wars sequels. They sidelined Fin. They started really strong with him and then he felt very tossed aside in The Last Jedi. I wish he'd continued to be more of a central focus with Rei. In the first movie I thought they were on equal main character status and then it later felt very uneven.
I'll really never forgive Sleepy Hollow. Especially because they had such AMAZING chemistry that people to this day still think they were sleeping together in real life. How do you have two main characters with such palpable & organic chemistry and fumble the bag like that?
I’ll be honest majority of the time I actually end up liking the “runner up” character parring more than the “cannon” parring
Happy Women’s Day! Thank you to the creators of this channel who have fostered such a lovely community 👏🏽
Sleepy Hollow - to this day, I’m sick of that scam. I don’t know if it’s because the writers just didn’t believe in that romantic story line or whether they miscalculated how long people would continue watching before they finally give the fans the ship they were waiting for. In both cases, a fail!
They did a bait and switch with Sleepy Hollow so hard that the majority of the minority characters were gone by the next season! Even though the diversity was something the fans liked about the show. Even white women were talking about "Ichabbie" this and that! Then they left only the obviously biracial sister in the end (played by an actress who threw shade at Nicole Beharie after she was gone, despite Nicole having been treated abysmally).
This is not just a trope used in shows and movies but books too. The Harry Potter series in fact have Ginny Weasley date two boys - Michael Corner and Dean Thomas before she somehow ends up with Harry. Her relationship with Michael Corner isn’t given screen time in the movies but the books described him as ‘the dark one’ and not the ‘dark haired one’ while Dean Thomas is black in both movies and books. And Ginny uses these boys to move on from Harry, while still being hung up on him as she states in the book version of HBP that she never gave up on the hope of being with him and she dumps her exes for insignificant and dumb reasons. Their sole importance in the verse is reduced to just having dates this girl.
Rowling has pretty much whitewashed all her important characters and all her characters of colour right from Patils to Cho to Lee Jordan and Dean are just glorified extras.
Also, one of the twins was supporsed to go to the dance with a black girl in the books, right? I have to check again, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't in the movie too
@@monicacreator3168 Yeah and then we never saw her again, especially after he asked 💀
I think the girl who Ron got with in the latter movies before Hermione was supposed to be black, Lavender I think it was, but then they changed her for the movie when they got together.
@@monicacreator3168 yes, Fred dates Angelina Johnson, one of the chasers on the Gryffindor Quidditch team who ends up being married to George and has a son called Fred Jr later.
Until Harry’s generation the Weasleys pretty much remain a very white, very pure blood family but suddenly the canon generation happens and Bill marries a part creature (Fleur), George marries a black girl whose blood status and any other details are unknown to us but we do know she’s black. Then there are Ron and Ginny who end up with Hermione and Harry weirdly, a Muggleborn and a half blood.
The Weasleys suddenly go all out to show how progressive they can be all in the span of a single generation.
If Rowling could’ve gotten away with it back then in a series meant for children it wouldn’t have surprised me if she had made either Percy or Charlie gay as well and maybe rounded off the progressive attitude of the family by having the other one, who isn’t gay marry a muggle.
@@kimberleywilliams7802 Yup, I mistook her with Angela who married one of the twins, but yeah, Lavender was supposed to be black
90's Friends fans were the worst.
RIP Kathy.
I nominate tone deaf racially aloof"Cheers","Frasier"and the king of "There ae not even POC in the background , crowds or street scenes in New York City. . . "Seinfeld"
Don't forget Daniel's love interest in Ugly Betty, although that was a forced "perfect girlfriend goes psycho and is summarily dumped" plot.
You mean Gabrielle Union's character Rhonda? Omgsh I was so disappointed they made her character psychotic 😭
@@rahbeeuh That's the one! She was so sweet, pleasant, and smart, and then they did her dirty for absolutely no good reason 😠
It would have been more interesting imo if Daniel was the one to get overboard clingy and she dumped his butt. He does set something on fire 🔥 because of out of control feels later on, so wouldn't be out of character 😂
I was thinking about this and other scenarios. The moment when the black/biracial or other minority character becomes difficult, crazy, doesn't want kids and the lead does, or the main character has unexpectedly seen their real true love. A reason for breaking up. How anyone watching should have predicted the outcome.
It's funny that when talking about The Good Place, they mentioned Chidi, but didn't mention that he himself had a Disposable Black Love Interest - Simone Garnett
Cynthia Nixon and Blair Underwood had such lovely chemistry. Just like Miranda, ‘Jules and Mimi’ was short lived lol
as if her character didnt temp date wm too
Finally this. Not only is it insulting to the black love interest (or any other underrepresented minority for that matter). It is meant to serve as making the main protagonist's character appear more "cultured" and "layered" than they really are. Otherwise they would be viewed as predictable and boring by the audience. Ironically, it ended up having the opposite intended effect. The main white-centric characters become in fact that, predictable.
I remember that it was sad what happened to her character
*cough*Emily in Paris*cough*
start your own shows
@@MsDesiree39 Easier said than done. But sure!
@@MsDesiree39 start getting bitches lol
Oh snap -- The Take is taking no prisoners today. (When are you guys gonna give us a vid about 'Oscar Bait' formula movies??)
I hated this in friends. The only issue with Charlie was that she was too great so she had to do a 180 to get back with her ex
But I don’t see that having anything to do with being white or black. It was clear since the beginning that the series had to end with Ros and Rachel together. The thing in Friends is that they are white (& straight) from the beginning, the loving interests they had during the series seem more like a bad try to fix this issue.
She was too good for him in every possible way, I'm actually glad she got away. I think maybe Julie would have worked for Ross because at that point he was not a toxic mess and still a reasonable, thoughtful human being.
start yoru own shows
I've been the black guy love interest to check off a box. To be someone's black ex they can tell their next boyfriend
damn..
Sorry to hear that man. I hope you meet someone who likes you for who you are. People are sick but I’m rooting for ya.
Thats disgusting. I'm sorry you had to go through that...
I stopped watching The Good Doctor which I thought was an interesting show because of this. They used her as a stepping stool to make him more comfortable with relationships so can be more palatable when he goes after a woman who initially said their relationship wouldn’t work because he is autistic. Now he and that woman are together. Oh and the Black actor received racist hate and real life
Couldn't have said it better myself. See at the end of season 2, I actually really liked the direction they were going. That they were finally going to leave the Lea and Sean storyline away and that we were finally going to have a show where the lead moves on in a realistic manner to someone else.
And then season 3 came and I immediately just turned my back on the show with not only how they treated Carly, but as you said, making Sean be with someone who actively told him to his face that she can't be with him because he has autism. Which as an autistic person myself is the absolute WORST fear we have.
and why would she even get abuse- UGH! I hate white fandoms, they always turn to racism ALWAYS, they don't see a problem with that? no because they always justify it.
I predicted that when I saw the first episode of the show and I didn’t even get to episode 5 of the first season. I don’t support shows that do this.
I find it really jarring that the Disney Company messed up so bad with John Boyega in Star Wars. They lied about the role being written specifically as black, when we know Tom Holland auditioned for it. So instead of toting Boyega as the best actor for the part, they turned him into a token to fill a quota. Such a shame as he was part of what I did like about episode 7, and his sidelining in episode 8 was part of why I never watched episode 9. Framing casting choices in the status quo productions as an active move for diversity and inclusion, instead of letting minorities telling their own stories, is putting a real dent in enjoyable storytelling from the Hollywood industry.
It’s Disney - it took them decades to create a black story involving a princess who has to literally kiss frogs. It’s like they give you in one hand but take with the other. The psychology and resilience of white supremacy is undefeated. The narrative that you come 2nd, 3rd or last as a minority is Bible.
Some of these black love interest you posted in this video are not actually black, they're biracial. Biracial and black people are not interchangeable. If a half black/ half non blk person can portray a black person why can't he or she also portray or represent their non blk half? This needs to be addressed because it is extremely problematic
This was so good. I don’t mean this rudely but I was surprised when I saw the title and surprised again that it was so accurate and complete down to the colorism. I love Zendaya but she isn’t the only talented Black actress.
What sucks is realizing how these tropes really do have an affect on us... when Chidi was introduced as Eleanor's soulmate, I was mentally readying myself for someone else to come in and be the true love interest... what in the actual fuck?! I wondered about my thought process after that, and asked myself why I thought he couldn't be her actual soul mate, and I remember thinking "well, that's just not how it works in tv." Like, WHATTT?! I'm so glad that he ended up being Eleanor's true one, and was such a well thought out character; someone who wasn't some unattainable idea of perfection, but had flaws and morals. I love how Eleanor wasn't portrayed as some snowy white, blonde haired blue eyed angel, either. She was an Arizona trash bag, made better by Chidi. Thinking about it, I find more reasons to love the show all the time, this breaking of tropes is probably my favorite.