Week 1
- mollyduf
- Jan 24, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 22, 2022
Ethics of the show “Kim’s Convenience”: An Important Call for Diverse Writers in TV
When watching a television show, we may ask ourselves what sorts of planning and work goes into it. We may imagine the behind the scenes, and blooper reels, but it’s not always quite like that and acting is a major part of the roles the actors play on screen. The CBC Canadian show “Kim’s Convenience” (2016-2021) ran for 5 seasons and focused on the family and community of the Kim’s in Toronto, Canada. Successful at first, actors have come forward to shed light on the production of the show for how they were treated on the show, and the lack of diversity in the writer’s room.
“’It’s been difficult for me. I love and am proud of Nicole, and I want the show to succeed for her … but I remain resentful of all of the circumstances that led to the one non-Asian character getting her own show,’ Liu wrote, mentioning he would ‘adamantly refuse’ to reprise his role of Jung Kim… ‘Our producers were overwhelmingly white and we were a cast of Asian Canadians who had a plethora of lived experiences to draw from and offer to writers. But we were often told of the next seasons’ plans mere days before we were set to start shooting… there was deliberately not a lot of leeway given to us,’ he wrote” (New York Post).
Other stars have responded in agreement with Liu, citing lack of diversity in the writer’s room, including Jean Yoon who plays Mrs. Yong-mi Kim, the mother of the Kim family. Several explicitly racist storylines can be observed which stand out and use harmful stereotypes. I myself could see these points in the show which would bother me and question what exactly was going on and how clearly unethical it was. These major issues within production are not the first of their kind, overwhelmingly we can see that these issues appear again and again in TV and film, as seen in Orange is the New Black, with non-diverse writer’s rooms exploiting actors of color. It’s painful for many people both in and out of the industry to witness these oppressive acts by production companies and deters huge audiences from enjoying works of cinema. Without a doubt, shows like these prove a dire need for systemic changes in diversifying the writer’s rooms and production in general. There’s not much that can be hidden from a camera and I am glad these actors have come forward to address these issues and call for accountability and change.
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It seems simple to want a show about the lived asian experience in Canda to be written by the most qualified people: Asian people who've lived in Canda, so it's bizarre to me this was their approach. It seems either the demographic is not as represented in the industrys writing field or these particular writers had it in with the showrunners and were strangely confident in their ability to write about things they knew little about.
Ethics is important to consider, especially as television series and films place a greater emphasis on diverse casts. Despite the outward impression that the film is diverse, its inner workings, including its producers, writers, and crew, may still be predominantly white. It is problematic that many writers have not experienced any of the joys, hardships, and everyday struggles that their characters are going through. When production companies are diversified, studios will be able to claim inclusivity and diversity.
It for sure is a sad issue that the diversity is enforced only on the surface level with a diverse cast, and not a diverse storyline. Though I am unsure as to what goes on exactly behind the scenes, but I think one factor that may contribute to the problem of not having a diverse writing room may likely be the sponsor/company wanting to maximize profits. With a 'authentic' canadian asian storyline, the ratings may not be gauranteed, but having a 'steretyped' and a bit racially motivated storyline is more 'entertaining' and likely results with better profits. This is quite sad to see, but hopefully there will be a change in screen writing ethics!
I had not thought about this in a while. It is sad to see a room full of white individuals, writing for a show about POC. How are they supposed to fully fufill the goals, if they do not even know the goals. I watched an interview with an actress recently discussing the issue of POC in media, and she really spoke on this issue. i will try to find it and link below.
It is quite sad that diversity still remains an issue in the media especially in TV shows and movies. Just as the actors said in "Kims Convenience," the writers are overwhelmingly white." This is a problem because if all the writes, producers, etc. are white then they cannot offer any diverse opinions. I do agree with Liu and other actors that they should be able to put some personal input into the movie in order to add diversity.