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Swirling with Christelyn Karazin

The art of attraction isn't just about colour or creed, it's about chemistry and a whole bunch of other things. Swirling author Christelyn Karazon discusses.

New 'Bewitched' Reboot Has an Interracial Component and... I HATE It

Posted by Christelyn, 28 Aug

Coming from ‘the girl who swirls,’ and the co-author of Swirling: How to Date, Match & Relate, Mixing Race, Culture, and Creed, you would think any media representations of interracial couples would get the green light from me. You would be wrong.

I am not a beggar. Some interracial narratives should be aborted before they take their first breath. That’s how I felt when I heard that ABC’s Black-ish creator, Kenya Barris got the go-ahead to reboot Bewitched, the 1960’s sitcom featuring a pretty blond woman “Samatha,” married to an advertising guy “Darren” as they navigate the fact that she is a witch. She is a pampered stay-at-home mom who eventually has two children; one with powers and one without. Samatha is your typical pretty mid-century white American housewife who lives a struggle-free life – except for the hapless situations her magic get her and her family into.

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In the new version, the main female character is a black single mother married to a white guy who is a bit of a slacker. “They struggle to navigate their differences as she discovers that even when a black girl is literally magic, she’s still not as powerful as a decently tall white man with a full head of hair in America,” says the article published in Deadline. Wait. She has magical powers and she STILL can’t overthrow white supremacy? What gives??!

Hmmm…a single black mother breadwinner with a man who doesn’t pull his weight? The only thing new in this scenario is that the guy is white instead of black. Would it have been so hard for once to portray a black woman being carefree and cared for while having babies within wedlock by a loving husband who brings home the bacon?

Now some of you may say, hey! look at the numbers. Seventy-seven percent of black children are born to single mothers, and in real life, black women are very familiar with the “struggle relationship” narrative. You might say it matches up more with reality. But…this is a show about a character who can wiggle her nose and make things float, change people into frogs, and zap her and other people from one place to another. If we can suspend our reality for that, why can’t we extend it to a black female ideal that isn’t so stereotypical?

Are interracial couples featuring black women and white men more comfortable to Joe Public if he’s a white woman’s castoff because they have higher standards that we do? Will this make the black audience more comfortable with a black woman “selling out” on television if it gives a cautionary warning that “the grass isn’t greener when you jump the fence?”

Why are there so many external forces invested in keeping black women at the absolute bottom? Black women are the ONLY collective that is not allowed to be pampered and protected women worthy of love, protection, and provision. These notions are so ingrained in us that black girls grow up believing that marriage is for white people–white women specifically. They could never deign to hope for having that position. The media will do its part to reinforce what depictions make them feel the least threatened and leaves us with the stick with the short end. It’s particularly disappointing that a black man, Kenya Barris, would use his power, position, and influence to push that narrative to further keep black women scraping for the recognition of their femininity.

I hope to the heavens I’m wrong about this and it’s not the stereotypical tripe that it sounds. But right now, only an act of sorcery would change my mind about this potential trainwreck of a show.

Christelyn Karazin is the co-author of Swirling: How to Date, Mate and Relate, Mixing Race, Culture and Creed. She also operates the popular blog, Beyond Black & White, and operate the first forum dedicated to black women interested and/or involved in interracial relationships.

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8 responses to "New 'Bewitched' Reboot Has an Interracial Component and... I HATE It "

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  1.   Jvkswm says:
    Posted: 02 Mar 19

    I’m jealous, I would love it if my wife wanted to have children from a black father. I might get a daughter that looks like Zendaya.

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  2.   Pleezu2 says:
    Posted: 04 Sep 18

    Hi Chris. Well, if this one DIDN'T get under your skin, then it would deserve no more than a totally dismissive "ho -hum". The sheer proliferation of junk masquerading as "entertainment" on our screen - waves, is more indicative of how far down we have sunk in our acceptance level. That's if we if we even bother to watch it. Screen writers of all persuasions abound these days, just trying to hustle a living. Anyways, Chris, thanks for holding up the shield for bw. Now THAT'S a worthy cause thank you ML, Calvin.

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  3.   Prismatic says:
    Posted: 02 Sep 18

    "the main female character is a black single mother married to a white guy who is a bit of a slacker" I hope the back story to her being a single mother is because the father passed away and not because he ran away. Also how is she still a single mother if she is now married? It says the husband is a slacker but this also makes it sound like the husband hasn't taken on the father figure roll. Sounds like she has a hard time picking good guys.

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    • blackbelle01 says:
      Posted: 03 Sep 18

      This sounds like it is going to be stupid and boring. I agree with Mona67 there is no way a BW with powers is going to marry a slacker. I doubt this show will ever get started and if it does it will not last.

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      • Prismatic says:
        Posted: 07 Sep 18

        I agree. They could've taken another route with this but it seems like lazy writing. I would've even accepted a concept similar to the movie The Associate that starred Whoopi.

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  4.   Mona67 says:
    Posted: 30 Aug 18

    A friend told me about this remake, I said "That's BS ain't no Black Woman with powers gonna marry a slacker. The show won't last " smh and a lol

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  5.   Paganinifan says:
    Posted: 30 Aug 18

    Ok, so I watched your video review of the storyline to this interracial reboot. My first thought is this: Is the creator of this reboot a Democrat liberal? Because it sure sounds like he is. Typical of the liberals to make it very obvious that they truly believe black women (black people in general) NEED the “white man” to rescue them. Why does this black female witch HAVE to be a single mother? Hmmmmmm. What are liberals saying about black people? Read BETWEEN the lines, dear. #walkaway

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  6.   Paganinifan says:
    Posted: 30 Aug 18

    I haven’t read the article before leaving this comment but I will. I just wanted to say that Hollyweird and even many of the “independent” movie companies (still controlled by Hollyweird) need to stop with the reboots and remakes. They’re simply showing the world how much they lack originality. Amazing how you need all kinds of college educations to prove you have what it takes to make a movie. But what you DON’T need is to prove that you have CREATIVITY and ORIGINALITY. I’m no longer spending my money on reboots. If today’s generation can’t be bothered with watching and enjoying something that was made before they were born, they don’t deserve a reboot of it. Let them have their “reality” shows that they all seem to love and even try to imitate in their real life situations.

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