TV viewpoints are not always Black/White

Today,Issac Hayes announced that he would be no longer be the voice of Chef on South Park,saying that the show's "inappropriate ridicule" of religion is the reason. Matt Stone and Trey Parker have no probelm with his leaving(the network is letting him out of his contract)but find it "feel that it's a bit disingenuous (for Hayes) to cite religious intolerance as a reason for him pulling out of the show" and I for one,agree.

Complaining about South Park making fun of religion is like complaining that America's Next Top Model focues too much on phyiscal beauty-it's an ingrained part of the show! Hayes didn't seem to have any qualms about The Passion of the Jew episode last year...this wouldn't have anything to do with that Tom Cruise/Scientology epsiode now,would it? Naah,couldn't be that! Hey, Hayes is still cool but I guess that his departure from the show will give him more time to write the perfect wedding march for Katie and Tom.

Last week,I watched the premiere of the F/X series"Black.White" but didn't write about it until now due to needing time to reflect on my feelings about it. My take on the whole deal is that white family,The Wurgels,are so damn embarassing that it's not even funny. Particularly the parents(Rose,the daughter,just seems to be very naive to me)-Bruno keeps going aroung,looking for Archie Bunker confrontations and dropping the N word like there's no tomorrow and his wife,Carmen,just kills me with her dumbass comments like"What if we're in a room with black people and they just start jiving". I would understand their behavior more if they came from somewhere in Midwest or a very isolated area,but they live in L.A!

I'm not claiming sainthood here-I've lived in a racially diverse city all my life and my parents taught me to treat others with respect and be open to differences of lifestyles. It just blows my mind that it never seems to have occured to the Wurgels to just act like regular people but with some adjustments. Tomorrow's episode has them buying African dashikis to wear to church and Carmen getting into a fight with Renee Sparks over calling Renee a bitch. This sounds like a comedy skit,doesn't it?
I wish it was some kind of "Punk'd" thing-I could put up with Ashton Kutcher's dopey antics here.

People are already arguing that F/X has limited the scope of the show and it's all a stunt but I will say this-it certainly makes for interesting TV. I'll probaly keep watching B/W and cringing at every word the Wurgels say. It's like gawking at a horrible roadside accident-you feel bad for looking but can't help staring all the same. Then again,I could follow Hayes' example and only act offended when my special interest group is put on the hot seat,instead of admitting that there's flaws in the system and that a little laughter can bring people together.