Last Sunday, September 22, 2013 marked the 65th Annual Primetime Emmy awards, one of the biggest award shows on television, honoring the best TV shows and series of the year. When all the glitz and glamour eventually quelled, the main question about the award show arose: Was it diverse enough? According to Ellen Pompeo it was not. Pompeo prides on the fact that she is a part of a very diverse cast of Grey's Anatomy and was therefore "really disappointed" in the show. She felt that she "didn't see any diversity in the Emmys at all" and they show "felt dated." She even added that "the dance number was embarrassing" adding that she didn't "see one person of color." Although I did not take notice of this when I watched, I did realize once she pointed this out. I was very surprised to see that after 65 shows, the Emmys did not include more diversity on the stage by including people other than white caucasians. Upon reading this, I soon stumbled upon this Huffington Post article applauding the Emmys for making history in its nominees of women. For the first time in its history 50% of the best directors for a television series were women, despite the fact that women made up only 15% of all women directors of a television series. This was an accomplishment for women and society as a whole because it signified great progress in closing the gender gap. These two instances, one showing lack of diversity and the other displaying a great step in the right direction really made me think of the irony of this award show. I couldn't help but wonder if leaving people of color out of the number was on purpose or on accident, and what this tells us about our society. I do applaud the Emmys for their nomination of women this year but I am also disappointed in their dance number and hope next year diversity will be the norm.
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