New York Goes to Work: Premier
May 5, 2009 by Mary Jones
Filed under I Love New York, Reality Show Reviews, Reality TV
New York Goes to Work
Monday 10pm, VH1
I don’t throw out the ‘R’ word often. Growing up I lived with enough kids from enough different cultures to know that when we made fun of our differences, it wasn’t racism: it was ball-busting. Even today, I think people are too quick to label things as sexist, racist, or homophobic when really those things are just stupid or teasing. But watching the premier of New York Goes to Work last night, I have to say…I’m throwing it out there. So let me take a cue from Tracy Morgan on last week’s 30 Rock by playing my yellow Race Card: this show is racist. There, I’ve said it. Let the chips fall where they may.
There is so much about the premise of New York Goes to Work (NYGTW) that is just wrong from the start: New York (originally a Flavor of Love reject) will participate in a humiliating job for a chance to win $10,000. The audience chooses what job she will do by texting their choice. And you can bet that audience is never going to have New York do a job like “regional sales representative.” No, it’s all going to be humiliating work like pig farming or (as in the premier episode) exterminating. Now, if you look at the audience (predominately white) and if you look at the participant (a black woman), it’s pretty obvious where the racist undertones come in: a white audience chooses unpleasant tasks for a black woman to do for their amusement.
As if the format wasn’t uncomfortable enough, VH1 adds all kinds of little excruciating details which set my teeth on edge. New York rolls up to the exterminator office in an Escalade with her hair and makeup immaculately done, her clothing modest and professional, and then proceeds to get…what? Smacked off her high horse? She’s put in her uniform and joins the (all-white) exterminator staff, who have her help clean out beehives, wrangle snakes, and remove a dead animal from under a house. They badger and belittle her to get her to work, frustrated by her frequent running-away. The lesson here? White people know how to get a job done. Isn’t it funny to watch black people try and work?
As if that wasn’t nauseating enough, watching New York work is equally painful. What, there’s something about watching her climb under a house in full hair and makeup that’s supposed to be entertaining to me? Why should I be entertained? Because she was a classy African American women and it’s fun knocking rich African American women down to size?
I’m guessingVH1 is banking on New York’s reactions as being the key entertainment factor. These are usually (but not limited to) screams, hysterics, tears, and prayers. But this is another area where I’m going to call Race Shenanigans. I’m not trying to rip on New York—I like her, I think she is who she is and has a sweet personality. But at the same time I also think she plays up many traits associated with those old-school Southern plantation stereotypes, and I think VH1 exploits that.
NYGTW isn’t far from that tradition. Remember Prissy from Gone with the Wind? The dim house slave who claimed “I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ babies, Miss Scarlett” then spent half an hour running around the house screaming? Remember how horrifying it was to see the 1930’s glorify that behavior as being “how black women were”? I can’t help but feel VH1’s decision to air NYGTW in the format they did—specifically designed to elicit hysterics from New York—is similar to Gone with the Wind’s decision to have Prissy play a hysterical mess. “Oh, look at New York and that snake. Those black people, they get so crazy!”
To add insult to injury, the show’s credits and graphics give NYGTW an even seedier feel. Before each commercial break, New York’s three prospective jobs for the following week pop up, and viewers are invited to vote. Each job appears before a swirling candy-colored background next to an avatar of New York as, say, a construction worker or a school teacher. The whole thing is supposed to be playful, but it instead brings unpleasant connotations of late-night solicitations for text message horoscopes or Girls Gone Wild trials.
There’s nothing inherently racist about allowing New York to work for money—hell, even having us vote on it isn’t racist. There’s something about the combination of her reactions, what we’re being asked to laugh at, how she’s being dressed, how the show is shot…the whole thing comes across as a bit bullying. It’s the unstated interaction between New York and the audience: she plays up her fear for the audience’s benefit, the audience humiliates her for their own benefit. So any way you add it up, $10,000 seems like little more than reparations for the half-hour of suffering. If you ask me, it isn’t enough.
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Very well thought out article, although I respectfully disagree. And I had to take qualms with your “Because she was a classy African American women” comment. Um…at one point has New York EVER been classy or anything but the Flavor of Love reject she is? If anything the entertainment comes from seeing this girl who has somehow done less than Paris Hilton to become famous knocked off her high horse. It could be in front of an all-black work force or not. Either way the enjoyment is in seeing such an out-of-tune person trying to actually put something forward. If the concept only worked on a racist level, the show The Simple Life never would have existed in the first place.
i dont understand how you could possibly think that show is racist!even if a white person were the one to be doing the jobs the audience would still choose for her to do the exact same things!!!and if a white person was the one doing the show, noone would ever think the show is ”racist”, because in this world, white people arent allowed to play the racist card…but completely different story when tables are turned
I am an African American woman and I think this is the funniest show on tv right now. And yes, I am very well educated. New York is getting paid for something she agreed to. Nothing racist about that. The jobs she is being selected to do are done by people of all races. This show is no more obscene than the show done by Paris Hilton and Nichole Richie – forgot the name of it, but at the time, it was the funniest thing going. These shows exploit idiots. No harm there. Some people were possibly created for the purpose of entertainment, at least for a season. So let New York do her job. If one day she becomes someone who can be taken seriously and respected, that’s great. But if not, at least she is getting paid and we are getting a laugh.
I see your point, Leo, and I do agree to a certain extent–the premise of the show is not entirely racist. I mean, a lot of reality shows are based around putting hysterical, high-maintenance people in potentially humiliating circumstances and then watching them freak out. The issue for me is something in the way this particular show does it. New York’s over-the-top shrillness is perfectly suited for dating shows, even for her own reality show. But the combination of her unique brand of crazy + a show where she’s working + the way everybody is deciding what humiliation she will endure…it all just carries with it too much historical baggage. It feels racist, and I don’t think it had to be. I feel if the production values had been higher, if New York had had a friend with her, if some other X value had been thrown in, the show wouldn’t have tipped to offensive for me. And perhaps other episodes won’t seem as racist, but this one sure did.
Your point is well taken, though, and I appreciate your thoughtful reply. I’m willing to wait and see how the show plays out.
It’s a solidly analytical article, but I have to disagree completely. I think the writer is seeing the show from an exaggerated perspective. The reason New York was put in this show was not because she’s a classy African American woman who they want to see humiliated; it’s because she’s New York, known for her drama and hilarious comments, which are both things that this show attempts to bring out from within her. Sure, they’re going to be gunning for uncomfortable positions, but the entertainment here is seeing how New York deals with these positions, and not to see how a black woman deals with them.
The employers aren’t forcing New York to do the tasks so they can say “isn’t it funny to watch black people try and work?” They’re having her do the tasks so the audience can say “isn’t it funny to watch an over-the-top high-maintenance girl who has never worked before actually attempt to work?” The entertainment value of this show is very reminiscent, if not completely similar, to The Simple Life. Watching New York try to accomplish tasks that only people who are her complete opposite would do is as funny as watching Paris Hilton try to accomplish tasks that only people who are her completely opposite would do.
I think it’s also worth it to note that New York does not have to perform any of the tasks. She gets a choice on whether she wants to go through with them or not, with 10 grand as her reward for going through with everything. Also keep in mind her previous show, NY Goes to Hollywood. It exploited nothing but New York’s personality – not her race, but her personality. And isn’t that the job of every famous reality star? To have their personalities exploited? I see nothing wrong with that, and NY would have it no other way, as she’s stated countless times before during interviews.