Episode 1: Black Girl Disposability in Hollywood
This episode explores how Black female actors are often treated as disposable in Hollywood, using the careers and public treatment of Maia Campbell (In the House) and Lark Voorhies (Saved by the Bell) to reveal how fame, visibility, and care are unevenly extended to Black women in the industry.
Keywords: oppositional gaze, plastic representation, racial disposability, Saved by the Bell, Lark Voorhies, In the House, Maia Campbell, The Wonder Years (2021)
Recommended Reading
Giroux, Henry A. “Reading Hurricane Katrina: Race, Class, and the Biopolitics of Disposability.” College Literature 33, no. 3 (2006), 171-196.
hooks, bell. “The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators.” In Black Looks: Race and Representation, 115-131. Boston: South End Press, 1992.
Warner, Kristen. “In the Time of Plastic Representation.” Film Quarterly 71, no. 2 (2017).
Discussion Questions
How did 1990s multiculturalism shape the way Black girl characters, such as Saved By the Bell’s Lisa Turtle, showed up on the small screen?
How do shows which feature Black characters in predominantly white casts approach race differently than shows with predominantly Black casts? What are the implications of these distinct treatments of race?
What are the possibilities and limitations of reboots that reimagine white shows using Black characters?
Lost Credits 