Black. White. is a reality television show on FX. The series premiered on March 8, 2006 and followed two families of three, one white, and the other black. Through studio-quality make-up, the two families—the Wurgels and the Sparks—traded races and experienced what life is like in the other family's shoes. The show was produced and created by Ice Cube and R. J. Cutler. The series' theme song was "Race Card", performed by Ice Cube and produced by Warren G. The series ran for five weeks ending with a double episode finale.
Reception
The show received mixed responses. Melanie McFarland of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer stated, "No matter what conclusion you come to after watching FX's six-episode reality series 'Black. White.' you should be grateful for the care producers RJ Cutler and Ice Cube took in executing it." Matt Roush of TV Guide wrote, "Far from a cheap reality stunt, FX's provocative documentary seriesBlack.White. is an endlessly curious and unexpectedly intelligent social experiment...." Charles Page of the Chicago Tribune said, "Compared to its obvious inspiration, 'Black Like Me,' it is easy to knock 'Black.White.,' the new reality TV experiment on race relations on FX—and many people do....Maybe it is. Or maybe it's a rare injection of substance into TV's usual nonsense."
Criticism
The show also received criticism from major media outlets. Robert Bianco of USA Today wrote:
"The show is being sold on the race-switch trick, but tonight's premiere is built around a far more mundane stunt: putting people you know won't get along into close-quarter situations designed to exacerbate the inevitable conflicts. If you think there's any chance that the two men, Brian and Bruno, weren't cast specifically to clash, or that the producers aren't playing up every conflict, you've never seen a reality show."
"Black. White. is based on two false premises, one more pernicious than the other: that you can understand someone of a different race simply by putting on makeup, and that you need that kind of understanding in order to treat people as the law and morality require."
"'Black. White.' is not a provocative study in secret prejudice, followed by growth and awakening. It's a reinforcement of the stereotypes the show claims it wants to examine and expose."
The series won an Emmy award for 'Outstanding Makeup for a Series ' in 2006, and was nominated for an Image Award for 'Outstanding Reality Series' in 2007.
