Wisteria Lane Jailbirds
Okay, I know I said I didn't care much for Desperate Housewives anymore, but the simple fact of the matter is that by now I'm into the routine of having the TV on during that particular Sunday night time slot. So even if I roll my eyes and am not really paying much attention to the plot, it's there and I catch bits and pieces of it.
Here's my latest observation on the show: I am crazy (and there's the distinct possibility that I am), or do they only ever actually arrest non-white people on this show?
Consider Carlos Solis. For a time, he was behind bars serving time either for assault or for some white-collar crime, I'm no longer sure which. (Somehow he's been out of jail for two episodes now.) Suffice it to say that he's seen in an orange jumper rather frequently lately.
Then there's Random Chained-Up-In-The-Basement-Until-Just-Recently Guy... who happens to be black. He escapes from this prison he's been put in (by his family) and, guess what?, he gets arrested and taken away in cuffs (by the police this time).
But consider all the other characters and the stuff they've done:
- Susan Mayer, who (accidentally) burned down Edie's house, having gained entry into it by breaking and entering.
- Paul Young, who killed that nosy next door neighbor chick (with the frying pan or whatever heavy thing was lying around when she admitted that she was blackmailing his wife).
- Zack Young, who killed the sister of that nosy next door neighbor chick (with the hockey stick).
- Zack Young (again), who also held Susan hostage at gunpoint while lying in wait (after breaking and entering) for the purpose of killing Mike Delfino.
- George Williams (creepy pharmacist guy), who forged prescriptions and deliberately mis-filled prescriptions, resulting in Rex Van de Camp's death.
- Andrew Van de Kamp, who killed Mama Solis in a drunk driving incident.
- Bree and Rex Van de Kamp, who covered up for Andrew.
- Mike Delfino, who kidnapped Paul Young.
None of these (non-ethnic) characters has ever been led away in cuffs. Is there a reason only the Mexican guy and the black guy end up in prison couture?
4 comments:
Hmmm...well, not to defend Crazy Zach, but he didn't actually kill Felicia. He just assaulted her with the hockey stick.
As awful as it sounds, I actually think DH is doing a fairly accurate portrayal of an upper-middle class suburb - I've worked in a few of them and lived in a few of them (most of them outside Boston), and it rings fairly true that the only people going to jail are (a) white-collar criminals (which Carlos is, regardless of his race), and (b) young men of color. I can't tell you how many times during my commute I've witnessed young Black or Latino men driving not-so-nice cars pulled over by the local cops while white guys in their BMWs and Benzes speed on by.
Returning to the world of make-believe: I will say, though, that it seems like everyone on DH seems to be a candidate for jail for SOME crime...which makes it the perfect soap opera.
It's a little disturbing to think that our solace for the DH arrest/incarceration rate is that it actually adequately mimics real life. That ain't right.
But yeah, the folks on that show are evil. And immature. That's a truly delicate balance.
It models the Harold and Kumar incarceration rates. It just like in the West Wing where only women are given the privilege of being assistants.
I'm the only one who's out of the loop on this show. Everyone is talking about it. It sounds like there are lots of characters and possibly the reason why all these white-collar criminals don't get caught is because that's typical: petty criminals get caught and those who cheat the system often don't. It's disheartening but true. I'll have to find some way of getting myself in front of a tv at the perfect time.
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