Growing up, I constantly watched the Disney show Liv and Maddie. I wanted to be a part of the Rooney family so badly. I had the biggest crush on Parker Rooney. He was the youngest yet smartest member of the Rooney family. Parker was an inventor and accepted just about any challenge thrown at him. However, Parker stood out from the rest of his family for traits other than his intelligence. His appearance left the Disney audience questioning whether or not he was adopted.
All of the Rooney family is white except for Parker, so he sticks out like a sore thumb. When I was younger, I did not pay this much attention; however, I recently conducted a Google Search to find out why his unique skin tone was never mentioned in the show. I was curious if I had simply missed a comment they made or forgotten his origin story. Unfortunately, my search results demonstrated that no explanation canon to the show’s plot explained why Parker was a different race other than colorblind casting directors. Colorblind ideology is based on “solving” racism by ignoring race, as a whole, and this is what occurred in Parker Rooney’s case. Directors of Liv and Maddie ignored Tenzing Norgay Trainor’s race as he was being cast and continued to ignore it as he acted in the show.
Now, I obviously believe that there should be representations of other races on TV, but colorblind casting actually does the opposite of this. It allows casting directors to reach their unofficial diversity quotas much easier and faster. Instead of making a show about a family that is not white, they will simply add one character that is not white and never acknowledge it. Representation goes beyond just visually witnessing your traits in characters. It also entails seeing characters of your race use similar language to you and your family, enjoy music that you like, and experience the hardships that you face because of this identity. People seek catharsis through media, and colorblind casting prevents people of color from getting this.
Why might colorblind casting be harmful to the identities of people of color? If it is harmful, why does it continue to happen?
Photo from Teen Vogue article.
I, too, watched this show and thinking about it now I completely agree. I also see different representations of this within other shows or films and it’s disappointing. A good point you brought up was how writers use this tactic to create more diversity within casting, however it seems to be for the wrong reasons. It was not right for the writers to ignore the fact that Parker clearly is of a different race, as it glosses over Parker’s identity – which, is, like you said, more than just visual traits.
You know, I never once thought about this as a kid, and I too had a small crush on Parker. I often see him and his brothers post on social media now and it’s clear as day they are POC, looking back at the picture of the Rooney family I always thought their parents were mixed race but the picture provided has me in awe, I think because the mom was darker I assumed she was some kind of POC and the father too but I could be completely wrong, in all honesty I find it interesting how kid shows back then avoided the topic of race so blatantly but the shows my younger siblings watch now tend to do a fine job at addressing it.