#jmattspeaks: ABCâs âWhen We Riseâ Is Our âRootsâ, So Why Donât We Treat It As Such?
Dustin Lance Blackâs adaption on Cleve Jonesâs breathtaking memoir is a milestone in television, but for some reason its low ratings (so far) paint a painful reality
For the last five years, ABC and ABC Family has been home base for LGBT-friendly programming with sitcoms like The Real O'Neals, Modern Family, ShondaLand's How to Get Away With Murder, Grey's Anatomy and Scandal, all featuring a trove of memorable gay characters. This week, the network rolled out the new Dustin Lance Black-directed mini-series When We Rise, a first of its kind for prime time programming focusing on LGBT history. And after watching the first portion of this episodic film on Monday night, with a storyline introducing activists and prolific persons to the gay and women's liberation movement such as Cleve Jones, Roma Guy, Harvey Milk, a relatively unknown Ken Jones along with a small introduction to gay icon/dance diva Sylvester. It follows important timeline moments in 20th century dating back to the aftermath of the Stonewall riots and the migration of LGBT youth towards an Utopian San Francisco only to experience troublesome barricades towards equality and justice. As it paces forward this week, Jones's profile will rise as he becomes the voice behind the NAME Project's AIDS Memorial Quilt. It's abundantly clear, with all of these historical excavations, that this is the 'Roots' for the LGBT community. Unfortunately, the ratings so far have failed to reach the levels of the Alex Haley-penned '70's juggernaut.
On night one, When We Rise failed to surpass the big networks of CBS, FOX and NBC. Despite earning positive reviews (now earning an 83% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes) and going into the night with major buzz for all its glowing starpower (Rosie O'Donnell, Whoopi Goldberg, Guy Pearce), the show pulled in 2.95 million viewers. It's a nice number, but was far less than CBS's Superior Donuts and Two Broke Girls and even the police drama show APB on Fox. It did surpass CW's Jane the Virgin, which brought in less than a million viewers. But following The Bachelor, a ratings king for ABC, it seemed like When We Rise was destined to be a winner. Instead it fell short.
Today, Advocate magazine's Daniel Reynolds published his analysis on the ratings blunder for the mini-series in an epic rant stressing the importance of the LGBT community backing the show with its viewership. "If you were watching Two Broke Girls instead of a groundbreaking depiction of our history then, well, you're part of the problem," the magazine editor wrote. âIn an era when LGBT folks, people of color, and their rights are under attack, positive representations of us and our movement are more essential than ever to preserving progress."
While mentioning the Oscar big win for Moonlight, the first in LGBT cinema to win Best Picture, Reynolds brings up the perfect timing for the series and our need to support film that's made by us and for us. "#OscarsSoWhite was a wonderful wake-up call to the entertainment industry that they must create and honor diverse productions; but if no one sees these productions â and if we, as queer consumers, do not accept some responsibility for the content that is created, and match our outrage for erasure with a movie ticket â then there is no financial reward for Hollywood to make more," he adds.
At the same time, the op-ed failed to address two major points of the ratings failure thus far. In a Trump America, as more conservatives become more aligned with President Trump's policy-making and divisive rhetoric, the consistent stories on LGBT life or anything minority-focused may now have reached a limit. As our stories become part of everyday conversation and is normalized, it give weight to their argument that they are being inundated with our culture. When We Rise then becomes just another talking point for the angry far-right and the Steve Bannon-charged alt-right movement who want to resurrect "gay agenda" conspiracies and theories. Heck, LGBT people simply want equal rights, not a tyrannical takeover or some nonsensical societal brainwashing. The story of When We Rise easily portrays that, chronicling the lives of people who have been oppressed and only want a better life in a country that promises that. And these fights are continuing even now.
The uneven tone of our divided politics today might also explain why the critically-acclaimed Moonlight, a relatively low-budget indie feature, racked up the fewest box office figures of all of the Oscar-Best Picture nominees. And why the crime-drama show Doubt, which starred trans activist and 'Orange Is the New Black' star Laverne Cox playing a transgender character in a prime time sitcom, also failed to gain viewers and was ultimately yanked off the air after posting a dismal 0.8 and 0.6 for its the two episodes it ran.
Also, an important point to stress is that people just aren't watching much television these days. Gone are the days when American Idol was a common worship practice in our living rooms. Deadline noted how networks are simply struggling to land the big numbers they want. This week, The Voice was down 9%, Emerald City, also a highly-anticipated NBC show, is tanking. Taken, a made-for-TV spin-off of the Liam Neeson-starring blockbuster franchise, is also reporting âso-soâ numbers. Factor in the fact that we are still in midseason, a time when networks drop lower-budget sitcoms and limited-run shows into their programming as a build-up for summer and fall, and things doesn't seem as terrifying. Hopefully after When We Rise finishes airing, it will find life on streaming services like Hulu or Netflix and will gain a significantly larger audience through ABC's in-demand online option.
It still has three more nights to redeem itself and flex its muscles. The series, directed by Milk director Gus Van Sant, continues on Wednesday, Thursday and will culminate on Friday at 9/8 CST.
WATCH TRAILER FORÂ âWHEN WE RISEâ
