Comments on: Mediating the Past: History and Ancestry in NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?

By: Eleanor Patterson

Eleanor Patterson — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 16:55:44 +0000

Good point, however, I guess my question is why this is more appealing? Or rather, not why, but what does that do, ideologically? Let us not forget that pleasure and appeal are not innocent, there are values there, and even if Rashida Jones plays herself as white, (although I suspect this is more of complex negotiation between her agent, producers, and more), what does it do to value her whiteness? Just because she is familiar with her father’s side of the family, doesn’t mean audiences are, and so I guess I just want to trouble our analysis of her episode, and consider the producers discretion in deciding what aspects of Jones’ heritage to pursue, and why that may have seemed more appealing. I love this post, I think it brings up some great questions about race and television, and I think Rashida Jones’ and Vanessa Williams mixed race ethnicity is certainly significant to how WDYTYA is portraying non-white females, although I am not sure if there is just one fixed significance. One reading could be that lighter skinned, pan ethnic non-white female guests are more familiar, more ambiguously white and yet non-white, and producers think this ambiguity will cast a larger audience net.

Great post, looking forward to seeing where WDYTYA’s ends up.

By: Melissa Click

Melissa Click — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 03:30:24 +0000

Hi folks, thanks for your comments–I’m sorry to be late to the party, I’ve been traveling. Kelli, thank you for answering Myles’ question–that’s just what I would’ve said.

What’s interesting about the show is that it reveals how “mixed” many people’s ancestries are–so certainly Rashida Jones’ non-Black ancestry is just as interesting as I’m sure her Black ancestry is, and what I like about her episode is that it really complicates how we think about folks with “mixed race.” I’m looking forward to spending some more time with Mary Beltran’s work, for example, when we look at episodes like Jones’ when we get deeper into our larger project. So Alfred and Myles: Rashida Jones may be half black, but the episode encourages us to think a bit more carefully about that–maybe she’s cast in “white” roles because SHE sees herself that way? And does having a Black father mean you’re Black??

From talking with an executive producer and the head of research for the show, we learned that when a celebrity comes to them, they do preliminary research on many lines of the ancestry (not just the ones they’re most interested in exploring) to see what might be the most interesting for TV. The appeal of the story, of course, impacts the ancestry lines that the show explores.

And Kelli: the production team is working to find a new home for the show. I have all of my fingers and toes crossed that season 4 will find a new home–NBC’s loss! 🙂

By: Alfred Martin

Alfred Martin — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 16:19:57 +0000

I also wonder if Rashida Jones becomes problematic because she is not mediated as black. If we historically look at the romantic roles in which she has been cast, she is always paired with a white man, thus making her not black, but at the very least, racially ambiguous.

By: Kelli Marshall

Kelli Marshall — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:34:24 +0000

I’ve seen it, and from what I recall, Quincy Jones had already spent a great deal of time digging through his family tree; as such, Rashida was already familiar with that side of her family. On the other hand, her mother’s (Jewish) heritage — and especially that of Rashida’s grandmother (who had some mysterious and “unaccounted for” years) — was less clear. So she (the show?) decided to focus on that.

There’s more in the recap here: http://www.nbc.com/who-do-you-think-you-are/episode-guide/season-3/460306/rashida-jones/episode-310/499266/

By: Myles McNutt

Myles McNutt — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 15:07:05 +0000

When I read this great post, I had a moment of confusion: while Rashida Jones (who is, of course, the daughter of Quincy Jones) was mentioned in the list of celebrities featured on the show, she is not among those mentioned in the discussion of African Americans exploring their history.

Accordingly, I did some digging on Google, and discovered the reason: in the ultimate case of mediating the past, Rashida Jones’ episode focused exclusively on her maternal lineage. I found that an interesting decision within the context of this post, and would be curious to know if anyone has seen the episode and has any perspective on how that narrowing was framed.

By: Kelli Marshall

Kelli Marshall — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 14:49:44 +0000

The show’s been CANCELLED?! Nooooooooooooo! (Enjoyed your post, btw.) =)