I recently realized I am a member of a special minority
group. I don’t exactly know when it
happened, but I am apparently a member of the only ethnic group that can be
made fun of on television.
Keith Olbermann frequently mentions that the name of a
certain football franchise is the last racial slur you can say at work and not
get fired. Maybe, maybe not. CBS has a new situation comedy whose entire
premise is based on ethnic stereotypes; the show will probably get cancelled,
not because of audience outrage but because, well, it isn’t very good. The show is The McCarthys and of course I am
talking about the Irish.
Years ago there was a show called Bridget Loves Bernie about
a Catholic girl who married a Jewish boy, and it was considered edgy. Television is now much more homogenized. There are shows with inter-racial couples and
gay couples without it being a plot point.
Few TV characters actively practice any organized religion. Yes, The Sopranos
was nothing but a bunch of Italian stereotypes, but for some reason people
accepted it as realistic (there were some protests at first, but they died down
once the Emmys started piling up). The
idea of a TV show about a family of Polish origin who weren't that bright wouldn't
be considered, even by Fox. But the
Irish are still fair game.
The show The McCarthy’s is about a typical Irish family,
meaning they live in Boston, drink to excess, and are fanatical about sports (except
for the one gay son, which makes him a different stereotype). What a nuanced,
well-rounded portrayal of an ethnic group.
What next, a show about an African-American family on welfare whose
children are good at sports?
I’m not aware of any organized protests against The
McCarthys, but then I haven’t looked.
Usually you don’t have to. Last
week an organization made news by protesting Direct TV’s ads featuring an
alternate version of Rob Lowe who couldn't go to the bathroom with someone else
in the room. The shy bladder people have
a spokesman, but not the Irish?
I've a good mind to go down to me local pub, grab some
shillelaghs, get some boy-os and knock some sense into the executives at
CBS. That is, if I can get anybody off
their bar stools or not eating Lucky Charms.
