KPLU Local News
(2010-09-23)
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Promotional logo for the NBC television series Outsourced (TV series)
(KPLU) -
A network TV sit-com that was spawned in Seattle is generating controversy even before its broadcast debut. NBC has made a series based on the movie, "Outsourced." The first episode airs tonight (Thursday.) But people are already complaining that it's in poor taste.
A trailer previewing the series has been circulating on the Internet since June. In it, a middle manager returns from a business trip to find an empty office and his biggest nightmare. The trailer shows a pastiche of scenes from the call center, where Indian accents and mores clash with American ones.
Almost as soon as NBC announced the series, people took offense, calling the show racist and insensitive to the thousands of Americans who've lost their jobs to outsourcing. Hundreds posted angry comments. Someone launched a Facebook campaign to boycott NBC for making light of the unemployed. But the movie's makers say they're missing the point.
"The comedy's not about people who are losing their jobs. It's about people from different cultures coming together and overcoming differences."
Seattle director John Jeffcoat co-wrote the TV pilot based on the film. He says there was controversy about their movie before people saw it too. But he insists their idea is not taking a stance for or against outsourcing it's just reflecting the reality of globalization.
"You know, this is the way the world is moving, whether we like it or not. And this is the way people are reacting to it, this is what's going on. And here's our little story about one guy who's been affected by it."
Jeffcoat says he's excited to be part of a series that's breaking ground by putting a cast of mostly Indian actors into America's prime-time line-up. And he suspects the anger will dissipate once people actually see the show. That's what happened with the movie, which was more endearing toward Indian culture than anything else and was ultimately warmly received.
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