Sara Ramirez’ Che Diaz, an nonbinary comic character that is new to the franchise was mercilessly ridiculed by fans during her first season. This inspired showrunner Michael Patrick King, to give the character a similar journey in Season 2.

Art can imitate life and vice versa. On the latest episode, Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez), witnessed a vicious focus group response to their new sitcom.

The comic character of Che, who was a favorite punching bag for fans during the first season, was a direct rip from the "Sex and the City fandom.

The show's nonbinary character is a clear attempt to correct the unrealistic lack of diversity in the original. In many ways, Che was an unrealistic human being.

It's not that Ramirez played the character badly, it's how the characters were written. The writing was not funny, and reminded me of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip". It was evident that Che's material had been written by not-funny people, just like in "Studio 60"; this distances the writers from their audience and reality.

This led to a massive outrage against the character, and the show has now responded directly. Michael Patrick King, the showrunner of the show, said that the reaction to fan reactions to the show was the plan.

He told Entertainment Weekly that "a lot of season 2 is an answer to my reaction to season 1 in my thinking process." "I didn't read one tweet and think, 'Oh, my God, I have to change everything.'" It's a zeitgeist feeling."

King told TheWrap they approached the character of Che in Season 2 by "starting with the reaction of what Season 1 was about, which was to judge a book based on its cover."

King explained that he had taken a step back in order to figure out the source of all the Che hatred, because Ramirez was not failing as an actress. "So, I was like 'Okay where's this coming from'?" King said. King said:

King's solution was to take Che back a few pegs, to remove him from being the confident and cocky person who had turned Miranda's world upside down, and who always appeared cool and in charge, and to... undo all of that.

Ramirez said that Michael Patrick King and he had met before Season 2 began, and both of us agreed it would be exciting to see Che face a system such as Hollywood, where "the authentic version of them is not welcome."

So, Che's journey of turning their stand-up show into a TV sitcom culminated with Season 5's brutal focus group takedown. King stated, "I have been in many focus groups and there is always some hurting that occurs in them." But what we wanted to discuss was that what you are trying to achieve isn't always reflected by those you believe you are doing it for.

Che's "moment of reckoning" wasn't being called a walking Boomer joke by another nonbinary, but having their life story dismissed and characterized as "a bulls--- version of the nonbinary experiences." Art is personal, so being told that your work was trashed must be equally personal.

Ramirez and King should not be interpreted as hating Che. He believes the character represents what "SATC" and "AJLT" are about. He describes the shows' core as "the individual against society". In the original series it was "the girl alone versus society."

Che, in a lot of ways, is now that person. Now, the society is the very real one that's willing to express their opinions in real-time on social media.

Max releases new episodes of "And Just Like That", every Thursday.

-----------------------------------

Title: And Just Like That Vicious Focus Group Was Response to Real-Life Vicious Che Diaz Jokes
Sourced From: www.toofab.com/2023/07/14/and-just-like-that-focus-group-response-real-che-diaz-jokes/
Published Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2023 11:35:31 +0000

Read More