The unbearable whiteness of the Emmys

As the first presenter of the Emmy Awards on Sunday night, a bare-faced Seth Rogen walked onto the stage and launched a series of almost daring jokes about the participants gathered in a tent, wearing designer clothes and celebrating their professional achievements. in the face of the pandemic: “Let me start by telling you that there are far too many of us in this small room. What are we doing? “Rogen gave the impression that he preferred to be home, as if nothing on the night that unfolded was going to be particularly important. After some more discussions about the safety of the event, Rogen did what he was there to do: kick off Hollywood’s grand attempt to get back to normal by handing over to Hannah Waddingham Ted lasso an Emmy. It was the first prize for Lasso, which dominated its categories and served as the setting for a night that felt sadly normal – for its lack of diversity.

With so many serious candidates nominated this year and an increase in diversity among last year’s winnersAfter years of controversy over the whiteness of the awards show, it seemed reasonable to hope for a more diverse list of winners. I will destroy you, a powerful and finely crafted portrayal of sexual assault and its aftermath, was nominated five times but only won once, when Michaela Coel made history as the first black woman to win for exceptional writing.

In his speech, Coel dedicated his award to survivors of sexual assault, but also succinctly described what it must be like not to be white in Hollywood: “In a world that prompts us to walk the lives of others to help ourselves. to better determine how we think about ourselves and, in turn, feel the need to be constantly visible, because visibility these days somehow seems to be synonymous with success, ”she said. As a commentary on the Emmys’ attempt at visibility – where many nominees weren’t white, but the winners themselves were – it’s cutting, but only if you’re careful.

Of the two shows that won the most awards on Sunday, Ted lasso feels emotionally similar to Modern family, a longtime network sitcom that has won 22 Emmy Awards in its 11 years of existence. It’s easy to watch and the viewer feels good. A little like The wonderful Mrs. Maisel, which came away with some big prizes in 2019, the shows are very white and not at all difficult, easy to consume. The crown, which easily swept away most of its nominations, is cut from the same fabric as the awards show favorite Game Of Thrones: a high-profile melodrama with a huge budget, lavishly specific costumes and a plot that requires a long-term vision. Although Game Of Thrones takes place in a land where dragons are real and witchcraft exists, both shows are rooted in reverent worship of ancient relics, and this kind of drama is irresistible to awards season voters. Specifically, The crown is a close examination of the problems of a group of anointed whites at the top of a very white social hierarchy because of their lineage.

Frankly, it’s exhausting to keep thinking about the lack of diversity in awards season winners, because it’s exhausting to be disappointed year after year. Shows like the critically acclaimed ones Lovecraft Country, which merged the Lovecraft-ian horrors with the real terror of racism in southern Jim Crow, are being ignored in favor of the same old stories that now look like they were made in a factory designed to create winners. Easttown mare, another limited series that swept through the categories she’s been nominated for, is refreshing in that it focused on a blue-collar community and allowed Kate Winslet to talk about hoagies and Wawa, but still centers the fodder of the dead girls show’s age-old accolades, as seen in other critical darlings like the first season of Real detective.

I can destroy you is similar to the sweetheart of the 2019 awards show, Flea bag. Both are UK TV shows saved by streaming platforms and both focus on the inner lives of women in various states of personal and professional disarray. The difference is that Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character is an asshole, and the resulting show is biting and funny in equal measure, while Michaela Coel’s I can destroy you is the equivalent of a 12-episode gut punch that explores all possible angles of the consequences of sexual assault. In 2019, Waller-Bridge won three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Lead Actress and Outstanding Comedy Series. In contrast, Coel won only one award, and the other two similar awards this year went to Kate Winslet and The Queen’s Gambit, a Netflix show about chess, feminism and wallpaper. Expect more than one win for a show like I can destroy you, which centers a black woman’s experience and deals with issues of race, class, and sexual assault, shouldn’t sound like mistaken optimism, but sadly, the Emmys turned out to be almost irrelevant in awarding a easy-to-watch mediocrity instead of tough stuff.

Determining what is and what is not “good” when it comes to rewards is largely meaningless, as rewards are decided by a group of paid industry professionals, each with their own agendas, tastes and motivations. individual. But while it may seem futile to cry out for diversity once more at an awards ceremony, it is still very necessary. Diversifying Hollywood and the stories people are allowed to tell, the way they want to tell them, is not an overnight process, and dismantling the structures that privilege one over the other takes more time. time that anyone is willing to admit it. But being nominated and then winning an award for good hard work is always recognition in a sense – it’s the idea that others get what you’re trying to say and that something has resonated. Coel’s win is always a win, but it deserved more than the Emmys are capable of giving right now. Maybe this time they will start to learn their lesson.