Black. White.

The Wurgel Family - Rose, Bruno, and Carmen

File:Blackwhite cast.jpg

The Sparks Family - Renee, Brian, and Nick

Black. White. is a scripted reality television show on FX. It premiered on March 8, 2006 at 10 PM Eastern. The series follows two families of three, one white, and the other black. Through make-up, the two families, which are portrayed by actors, -- the Wurgels and the Sparks -- trade races and experience what life is like in the other family's shoes. The show is produced and created by RJ Cutler, Matt Alvarez, and Ice Cube. The show's theme song is "Race Card" performed by Cube from his upcoming album "Laugh Now, Cry Later."

The Episodes

Episode 01

Two families - one white and one black - come together under one roof in Los Angeles as they prepare to go out in the world as the other race. The Wurgels (Bruno, Carmen, and daughter Rose) are a white liberal family from California, and the Sparks (Brian, Renee, and son Nick) are a middle class black family from Georgia. Brian gains access to white culture when he lands a job as a bartender while in white make-up.

Episode 02

A bitter argument erupts between Renee and Carmen over the use of racially charged language. Rose is torn over revealing her true "color" to her new friends in the poetry group or maintaining her cover for the sake of the project.

Episode 03

The Wurgels and Sparks lock horns over language and behavior. As the friction builds between Carmen and Renee, Carmen turns to an outsider for insight into the black experience. Bruno and Carmen encounter hostility in an all-black neighborhood, and Nick's fascination with the gangster lifestyle raises concerns for Brian and Renee.

Criticism

Criticism from major media outlets is also starting to surface. Robert Bianco of USA Today has stated:

• "The show is being sold on the race-switch trick, but tonight's premiere is built around a far more mundane stunt: putting people you know won't get along into close-quarter situations designed to exacerbate the inevitable conflicts. If you think there's any chance that the two men, Brian and Bruno, weren't cast specifically to clash, or that the producers aren't playing up every conflict, you've never seen a reality show."

• "Tonight, for example, Brian buys a pair of shoes while in his white makeup and insists he was treated better because of his TV-created 'race.' The different treatment accorded black and white shoppers is a serious issue, one that has been the subject of excellent undercover work by journalists. But you can't learn anything of import from one man's single experience, particularly when we have no idea how he behaved before or if he's even being honest about his history. Isn't it possible he was treated differently because he acted differently — something he himself acknowledges?"

• "Black. White. is based on two false premises, one more pernicious than the other: that you can understand someone of a different race simply by putting on makeup, and that you need that kind of understanding in order to treat people as the law and morality require."

Lee Siegel of The New Republic has stated:

• "'Black. White.' is not a provocative study in secret prejudice, followed by growth and awakening. It's a reinforcement of the stereotypes the show claims it wants to examine and expose."

• "You'll learn, for instance, that whites are more curious than black people. Black people 'roll' back and forth when they walk. Slightly. Also, blacks don't have such great posture. They 'slouch' when they sit. Since nearly all these quaint, unflattering notions of racial habits come from the very member of the race that comes off unflaterringly--i.e., a black person--there is no subtle revelation of prejudice at these dinner-table conversations. Rather, you get tired, old racial stereotypes, which are given a new twist and made authoritative by being validated by that member of the stereotyped race itself."

See Also

• Blackface
• Black Like Me

External links

• Official site
• Black. White. at IMDb
• imdb actor page for Bruno Marcotulli
• Disney Moviesurfers page starring Rose Bloomfield