We start today with a bit of mental time-traveling. I’m thinking back to the 1950s and 1960s. Like most kids of that time, the then-Tony Isabella watched a lot of television. But it wasn’t even remotely like watching TV today.
We had a small black-and-white TV set sitting in furniture much larger than the set. There were only three channels available in Cleveland. They were the local outlets for ABC, CBS and NBC. My parents subscribed to TV Guide and, when each issue arrived, I would go through it scientifically (LOL) and plan what shows I wanted to watch. There was no recording of shows back then and the only second chance of watching something I’d missed was the summer reruns of those shows.
It should be said that I was not the lord of the Isabella family TV set. My choices could and sometimes were rendered moot by my father, my mother and, if she whined and pouted enough, my older sister. There was a decided pecking order. Fortuneteller, when my two younger brothers came along, they had pretty much the same tastes as me so we were seldom in conflict.
I watched commercials. I really didn’t have a choice. I had no remote control so I couldn’t mute the commercials or even switch to another channel without getting up, walking over to the set and manually changing the channel or lowering the volume. Which I didn’t do because I couldn’t risk missing a moment of my shows. I went heavy on cops and cowboys.
In my youth, when I watched commercials, it didn’t register that everyone in those commercials, with the exception of super-baker and syrup-maker Aunt Jemima, was Caucasian. It was a subtle form of white supremacy. I was just too young to recognize it. It didn’t help that our school history books were not forthcoming about America’s sins.
Things changed over the years. I started seeing Black people in commercials. This was about the same time I started seeing Black actors in supporting and even lead roles in both comedy and drama series. As I got older, the two developments were linked in my mind. The greater exposure for Blacks in commercials and shows led to an improved standing for them in our still largely white-dominated society. It took a little longer for doctors and nurses to stop smoking in commercials and turn to pushing boner bills to anxious men.
Blacks in commercials and in TV shows eventually led the way to interracial and even gay couple and characters. And, again, as I saw it, the greater exposure made Americans at large much more accepting of such folks. Not entirely, of course. Our society is still assaulted by an endless swarm of right-wing bigots and faux-Christian white supremacists.
For several days, I have been writing physical letters to Wheel of Fortune, The Daily Show, Late Show with Stephen Colbert and the HGTV network. I’m writing to encourage them to include more positive trans material in their shows. When the talk shows talk truth to power through comedy, it always brings me joy. Even in the most troubling times. When I see trans contestants on game shows or doing something as normal as buying a house, I’m filled with the hope that other viewers might see us as just people and not dangerous or demented.
Trans people are really up against it. Every morning, I wake up to at least one news story about Republicans trying to strip us of our rights and end our gender-affirming health care. We face people, including those we love, who don’t understand what it’s like to look in the mirror and not see ourselves. Who don’t know what it’s like to live with the daily fears of being disappeared and never reaching our happy endings.
I also want to see more trans representation in commercials. I’m painfully aware that, not so long ago, the right-wing lost its collective mind when a trans woman enjoyed a beer. The brewing company lost millions in dollars in revenue and stock value and watched crazed Republicans shoot at their product with machine guns. Talk about derangement.
Yet, despite the ongoing risk, I beg advertisers to use trans people in their commercials. Because it’s the right thing to do. Because, we do buy their products. Because, as with the other marginalized groups discussed above, trans familiarity might well bring welcome acceptance.
Be brave. Be kind. Be yourselves.
© 2026 Tony Isabella
No comments:
Post a Comment