Afro Fairy

This is a reminder:

Ayo Edebiri’s red carpet and personal style choice below reflect someone who loves to play with both masculine and feminine silhouettes often on the red carpet and off duty:

Here’s a quote from Courtney Wheeler, who was mentioned as not putting very much thought into Sydney’s wardrobe for some reason:

In the culinary world, they have great style and they do wear these brands. I find that a lot of chefs do because they're so detail oriented. I think that's really important to show—that they do have this sense of style. We didn't pull it out of nowhere. We know so many people in our lives that are like that. They don't spend it on trips. They don’t spend it on food. They spend their money on the clothes they love.

Sydney’s professional or personal events style included skirts, heels, crop tops, and heavy accessories. So what about Sydney is not soft and femme? A Black woman in trousers and big jackets does not automatically make them less feminine. This isn’t the Victorian age and you probably need to unpack some internalized misogynoir.

More information on how costumes were conceived for The Bear:

Kitchen culture was a really big part of it, looking at what chefs wear from my own research in kitchens, on Instagram, my friends who are personal chefs. Courtney [Storer], who's our culinary producer, is also a big influence.

No. The Tv show The Bear and it's creators didn't solve racism. It occassionally treated diverse experiences as background aesthetics within a predominantly white centered chicago family.

certain culturally coded episodes did not integrate black lived or other diverse experiences, simply borrowed cool, curated, and diverse vibes of chicago food and fashion scene. it was mostly aesthetic.

Yes. The show did reflect a modern urban kitchen by simply having other diverse characters there, you pretty much had to with it being chicago,but systemic racial dynamics in the high-end restaurant world was not really explored like that. Not beneath the surface.

Yes Syd and Marcus did have some emotional arcs and did not exist merely as background noise, but did the show really go there? did it push the envelope the way it could have? did it truly explore the charactes the way it could have? No. I don't think it did.

I know more about Mikey's emotional beats on a deep level in relation to nearly every aspect of who he is than I do Sydney. (controversial i know) but sometimes i think when white writers write for black characters they aren't very skilled because they can't get it. They don't get it or sometimes don't want to.

As a black woman with two eyes, two ears, and a brain, I did not walk away from the bear going wow, they really said that. they really tackled the systemic issues of race and diversity in the kitchen, and also hollywood. No. it was as diverse as much as a diverse show can be with white showrunners and producers. On the surface.

Listen, it's a criticism that I think is valid, but the show is still watchable. I can appreciate the diversity of the bear, however as a black woman, with the lived experience, I did not see the depth it could have when it comes to "exposing" systemic racial and diversity issues.

Also, I did not expect that from this show. I did not walk away from the frist season going...wow I really hope they explore the systemic issues of race and diversity in this show. I walked away going wow it's a diverse show also i hope these two characters fuck.

and if they happened to sprinkle in some messages about race and diversity then that would've been great too, but it didn't.

I think a show that does this really well in terms of exploring diverse characters Is the Gilded Age. Yes, I know it's a completely different show, but the show is overall about White families and yet it still manages to explore race and diversity with such depth. One of the main characters is a black woman who initially came on the show as an assistant to one of the white women.

The showrunners and producers  have expanded this character, her world, and explored her life completely. Fully.  They show the full black experience. They explore the issues she and her family face. The issues within her own culture and community while still managing to give her, not struggle, but advancement and happiness.

They give breath and space to her story. She is a fully realized character and not just a plot device used to progress other white characters, or save them, or solve their problems etc<<no I’m not saying that’s what Sydney’s roll was but you get my drift.