Picture this: it’s the final month of 2023 and I’m as snug as a bug in my bed enjoying my winter break. As I skim through the endless options through Netflix, I come across a brand new show that has landed on the platform: My Life and the Walter Boys.
Hesitant by simply just the font and the name, I take a leap of faith and begin the first episode. Perhaps it was the warm oatmeal cookies I snacked on prior to watching or the fact that Cole (Noah LaLonde) surprisingly caught my attention and stole my heart (temporarily), but this show caused me to have a revelation.
Hollywood is currently lacking representation of POC couples.
Besides the fact that the main character, Jackie (Nikki Rodriguez), a Latina teenager from New York, is wooed by two Walter brothers, Cole and Alex, the show barely included or rooted for POC couples. It made me notice a pattern used in Hollywood’s TV shows: the POC female lead ends up with a white man or in some cases, a white woman, that ends up saving the day. The main character is simply swept off of their feet — or, in some cases, saved from their problems — by a man who isn’t a man of color.
Perhaps my theory sounds a bit far too fetched. Let’s take a look at some similar patterns in some of my favorite TV shows.
- Ugly Betty: Spoiler alert, Betty Suarez, a bright and talented Latina woman ends up with her boss, Daniel, in the series finale after moving to Paris to finally follow her dreams to become a writer.
- The Summer I Turned Pretty: Belly, a Korean American, has to decide between which Fisher brother she wants to be with while enjoying her summers at Cousins Beach. Jeremiah or Conrad. In my opinion, Cam Cameron was the perfect choice.
- Ginny and Georgia: Throughout the two seasons in the small town of Welsbury, Ginny experiences a situationship turned into a relationship with Marcus Baker, also known as the boy next door.
- Euphoria: Rue, played by Zendaya, is struggling with loss and addiction until she meets Jules (Hunter Schaefer).
- Wednesday: Wednesday (Jenna Oretega), is finding her way as a young teenager until she meets two potential love interests: Tyler and Xavier.
- High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: Nini and Ricky. We all know what really went down with them IRL.
- Jane the Virgin: One of my favorite shows, it has the audience wondering through six whole seasons if she’s destined to be with Micheal Cordeo, the kind police officer or with Rafael Solano, the once playboy turned hotel owner. And yes, I am team Raf.
Are couples of the same race not allowed to be displayed in younger TV shows anymore? Why is the straight white male always being the one to sweep the girl off of her feet and make all her problems go away? What happened to diverse couples being displayed on TV? And if they are, why aren’t we rooting for them?