Given the way the world is going, IMO it's not practical or fair to keep trying to figure out an actors ethnic makeup. Nobody should have to submit their heritage for approval. The problem is that the industry still employs a version of the paper bag test and that leaves a lot of good actors out in the cold while one or two get one role after another thrown at them.

As for soaps...sigh...I feel like this conversation has been had so many times that I'm just done having it. One of the many reasons soaps are dead is because they refused to evolve. Or more accurately they chose to devolve. I remember watching GL back in the 90s. The Grants and the Speakses were just as much a part of the canvas as everyone else. David and Kat had a front burner story. Both were complicated, layered characters from different worlds and yet both completely believable. Hampton Speaks (one of my favorite characters on any soap ever) and Billy Lewis had a friendship that feel absolutely real. And last I checked they all "talked white."

If you look at the current environment, does anyone think we would see a Monte Sharp, Nia Long or Vince Williams cast? Hell we wouldn't even get a Debbi Morgan or Darnell Williams and if by some miracle we did, you know what comes next, "Why do we have to look at these newbies? They need to concentrate on the CORE!!"

Soaps did this to themselves. They alienated minorities, they alienated women and they alienated anybody who interested in a story more complicated than triangles and pregnancy. How does anyone expect a halfway decent depiction of minorities when we can't even get a portrayal of a woman who takes the pill?

Plus when we do get a black character, he/she has to be everything. Good enough to be a role model but bad enough to get frontburner status; authentic (which is one hell of a moving target) but not a stereotype and whatever story that character is in has to be perfect because again, there's only ONE so no cheating, no lying, no committing a crime IOW, no doing anything that soap characters do. Look at Frankie Hubbard. He was the "perfect" black male character so he got to wander the halls of Pine Valley Hospital like the [!@#$%^&*] Phantom of the Opera and remain shackled to a poorly conceived character played by one of the most cardboard actresses ever seen.

I truly feel that there's just no hope for the genre anymore. The people who were willing to write diversity all left the genre. The people still in charge are just doubling down on the homogeneous ocean of skinny, white, rich characters we see now in the hope of not alienating the last few viewers left behind. The viewers and TPTB are now just a closed circle of bias and narrow-mindedness feeding each other as one show after another dies.

ETA: And let's not even get on the subject of interracial relationships because that opens a whole other bag of crazy.

I've occasionally 'lurked' on this site, being entertained and enlightened by all of the comments but I actually had to chime in and applaud your comments because they echoed my own. Succinctly put. You put the effort into summarizing what I've been too exasperated to put into detail myself.

I don't think it's just daytime however. I have been inundated with articles on how Network Primetime shows are being shutout critically by their Cable rivals. Simply put, I think this is due to the fact that Cable (nudity issues aside) takes more risks in general in terms of content. Then when you go down a notch to Daytime, it's mired in a weird time warp. Sadly, if there was ever a genre that is reflective of its lack of diversity in the writing room, its Daytime (you get none) Drama.

Okay that was my 2 cents.

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By 2000 the only decent Latino characters were on OLTL & GL.

OLTL always had problems with it's minority characters but at least Latino actors got to play Latino characters.

When Lindsey Morgan got the role of Kristina I could not believe how many times I read that she the wrong complexion for the role or Kristina was supposed to be white, or Italian etc. Nevermine that LM herself has one white parent but Sonny is half Cuban and the kids who played the role of his bio kids prior to soras were both Latino so it made me wonder if half those people only started watching in about 2010. There were just so many who instantly decided she was wrong for the role not based on her acting but her skintone.

Edited September 24, 201213 yr by frequentsoapfan

But not before making Carlo Hesser her father.

*sigh*

see I like that and preferred it to the other portrayals of Latinas. They didn't ignore the fact that she was a Latina and just start writing as if she was white with a tan. This was utilized in story and part of her backstory. She felt she needed to deny her heritage in order to get ahead in white corporate America (which unfortunatrly is a real issue that rings true for today) and she did run from it but ultimately realize she couldn't bc Latina is who and what she was. I liked the contrast they used to emphasize this between her and the Vegas and her interactions with the real Carlota were gold. By the time she had returned as a full character a few years ago she had changed and embraced her upbringing to the point where it was no longer an issue

I credit Tea's not being 'white with a tan' solely to Florencia Lozano (in spite of her Eurocentric looks), who - in spite of the cliched and downright terrible way that they'd written her character - managed to slip in hints that she was authentically Latina instead of just being Latino by name (looking dead @ Ted King as Lorenzo/Luis Alcazar and Nomas Delgado). That said, by the time she'd came on to OLTL in the 90s, I'd had my fill of seeing successful non-white TV characters that were ashamed of their background (and still do, as a matter of fact) so I just found her to be another cliche.

it made me wonder if half those people only started watching in about 2010.

Stevie Wonder can see that it wasn't about certain viewers being new to the show, but more about wanting to keep GH's core family (as much as it pains me to type that) lily-white. After all, it was the same reason why said viewers had a problem with the existence of Maya Ward.

Stevie Wonder can see that it wasn't about certain viewers being new to the show, but more about wanting to keep GH's core family (as much as it pains me to type that) lily-white. After all, it was the same reason why said viewers had a problem with the existence of Maya Ward.

No I think it was fury over firing academy award winner Lexi Ainsworth for another more mature looking actress they had an issue with.You'd think Lexi was Meryl streep the way some acted. AI who played Maya was paired with the most unappealing actor on the show who by virtue of being a Tony Geary pet was already protected she wasn't

No I think it was fury over firing academy award winner Lexi Ainsworth for another more mature looking actress they had an issue with.You'd think Lexi was Meryl streep the way some acted. AI who played Maya was paired with the most unappealing actor on the show who by virtue of being a Tony Geary pet was already protected she wasn't

You have to know by now Maya being shackled to that piece of filth is a very sore topic with me. There were so many Daytime Don'ts with Ethan/Nathan, and I was happy AI got out. Maya would have been fighting a child stalker for his affections eventually. In bed with random black guy at the end of her tenure was for the best. I damn near weep just thinking about it.

Isn't Denise Vasi another "Black For Pay" actress performer?

Yes. I called that chick out on Twitter (this was about 2 years ago). She tweeted that she's Greek, Puerto Rican and Dominican. So I asked her if AMC's casting was looking for Randi to be black or Hispanic? She replied to me (paraphrasing) "I'm blessed to have the opportunity AMC has given me."

So, I'm thinking she'll snatch a pay check in a heartbeat to play black, while proudly sharing her heritage is anything but that.

Yes. I called that chick out on Twitter (this was about 2 years ago). She tweeted that she's Greek, Puerto Rican and Dominican. So I asked her if AMC's casting was looking for Randi to be black or Hispanic? She replied to me (paraphrasing) "I'm blessed to have the opportunity AMC has given me."

So, I'm thinking she'll snatch a pay check in a heartbeat to play black, while proudly sharing her heritage is anything but that.

And the truly sad part is that black characters, especially on Daytime, are few and far between, so when a role is created, a blacktress (loved that word) is barely in the running. There are few roles out there and non black women are getting them.

No I think it was fury over firing academy award winner Lexi Ainsworth for another more mature looking actress they had an issue with.You'd think Lexi was Meryl streep the way some acted. AI who played Maya was paired with the most unappealing actor on the show who by virtue of being a Tony Geary pet was already protected she wasn't

AI stays winning though. She walked away from GH(and playing second fiddle to a child) for one lead role and even though it failed she landed another gig this fall as Joanna de la Vega on Arrow. I haven't heard about this generations answer to Meryl Streep being on anything.

Stevie Wonder can see that it wasn't about certain viewers being new to the show, but more about wanting to keep GH's core family (as much as it pains me to type that) lily-white. After all, it was the same reason why said viewers had a problem with the existence of Maya Ward.

Well some did say she looked half black(one of my personal favorites) or that she doesn't look enough like Sonny's mother( another favorite since I saw her though flashbacks and she was no white woman)

AI stays winning though. She walked away from GH(and playing second fiddle to a child) for one lead role and even though it failed she landed another gig this fall as Joanna de la Vega on Arrow. I haven't heard about this generations answer to Meryl Streep being on anything.

Black actresses seem to do well once they leave ABC.

Black actresses seem to do well once they leave ABC.

Yes they do and AI has good management. I beleive her managent is also Halle Berry's and Taraji P Henson's. I also saw her into two commercials this year. One was a McDonald's commercial and the other was a Superbowl Pepsi Commercial.

I definitely see Tika Sumpter doing her thing thing on the big screen.