http://www.suntimes.com/news/cepeda/2556194,CST-EDT-esther02.article
The 'View' angle Obama ignored
August 2, 2010
ESTHER J. CEPEDA, Sun-Times columnist
President Obama has made history yet again, this time for the dubious distinction of being the first sitting president to appear on the daytime television chatfest ''The View.''
Millions of people watched to see if he'd reveal some juicy personal tidbit or say something controversial. To the contrary, his well-scripted topics were designed to boost his all-time low approval ratings by gabbing with The Ladies about the benefits of the economic stimulus, Wall Street reform and a strong presence in Afghanistan.
But I wasn't interested in any of that. I spent my morning before air time fantasizing that Obama -- who chose the popular program to connect to everyday American women because it's a show "Michelle actually watched" -- would pitch this important question at The Ladies: "Why don't you have any Hispanic women on your show?"
I know, I know -- a pipe dream. Obama, in fact, went out of his way, when asked about the Shirley Sherrod race debate, to say he's "less interested in how we label ourselves" and "more interested in how we treat each other."
But because I live in a world where labels often determine how we treat each other, the question was at the top of my list.
A few weeks ago, CBS announced that when the long-running soap opera "As the World Turns" ends in September, it'll introduce its own estrogen-infused daytime talk show. It is a massive understatement to say I was disappointed when I read the proposed lineup of the new mom-centric show.
Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Holly Robinson-Peete, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Leah Remini and Julie Chen are without a doubt all gorgeous, talented, dynamic and interesting women. They are younger, older, Asian, African-American, Caucasian and gay (Sara Gilbert has a partner, compared with the other hosts' heterosexual spouses) moms. This is wonderful.
But ... where's me?!
No, I don't literally mean me. I mean a Hispanic woman. Any Hispanic woman. There are plenty of U.S.-born Latina stage, TV and screen actors --old ones, young ones, gay ones -- and even a few broadcast journalists who could chitchat with the likes of a Sharon Osbourne.
The omission bugs me. It bugged me back in 2007 when ''The View'' was looking for a smart, sassy, fun new face to replace Rosie O'Donnell and they even considered a man -- but not a Latina -- and it bugs me today.
Latinos are already the nation's largest minority group. We'll account for most of the population growth from 2005 through 2050, when census data predict our numbers will have tripled. Of the 50 million or so Hispanic adults counted in this year's census, about half are . . . drum roll, please ... women.
And I don't mean just poor, Spanish-speaking immigrant women who don't watch ''The View'' -- or ''As the World Turns,'' for that matter -- because they're too busy working in apple orchards or in factories cleaning toilets. I'm talking about educated, 61.9 percent U.S.-born, English-fluent, dollar-spending Latino women who know how to TiVo a daytime talk show if their mommy duties or professional day jobs make it impossible to watch the gabfest live.
If the people who create these programs ever read ''The View'' website's message board, they'd find impassioned requests for Latino representation. It would be plain old good business: Consider that many of the top 100 consumer brands either have an English-language Latino marketing campaign or one in the works to reach out to what is the nation's second-largest consumer market.
Those products underwrite TV shows.
This is a win-win situation, folks!
No, I fear Latinas are simply in a blind spot. For years, their roles on TV and film have been limited to that of nanny, maid or super sexy fill-in-the-blank.
Just imagine the ratings a network would enjoy if it were brave enough to add an intelligent, all-American, professional Latina to its stable of coffee talkers!
Too bad the president didn't think to bring it up to The Ladies on ''The View.''
I love this, and agree 100%. Where are Latinas in tv?
I can't wait to see a Latina in one of these talk shows.
Although I admire Oprah for all that she has done, I have also noticed that her audience members on tv are very rarely Latinas, this is also true for her guests...just something else to think about.
Posted by: Marcela | August 09, 2010 at 03:29 PM