Home #Hwoodtimes Starz’s Blindspotting: A Fresh Take on the Series

Starz’s Blindspotting: A Fresh Take on the Series

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By Valerie Milano

Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 6/14/21 – Starz just released Blindspotting, an adaptation of the 2018 film. Set in Oakland, California, the series focuses on Ashley (portrayed by Jasmine Cephas Jones) as she tries to negotiate life with her son, Sean (Atticus Woodward ), boyfriend’s mother, Rainy (Helen Hunt), boyfriend’s sister, Trish (Jayln Baron), and other family members because her boyfriend, Miles, (Rafael Casal) was incarcerated. Daveed Diggs, who co-starred in the 2018 film as Collins, is now serving as a co-producer. As a departure from its movie counterpart, Blindspotting centers on Ashley’s life as opposed to centering on Collins’ life. In the movie, Ashley’s character made several appearances but the television series centers on Ashley’s life. The television series follows its movie counterpart in breaking into rap, spoken word, and breaking the fourth wall.

Jasmine Cephas Jones as Ashley in “Blindspotting” (Photo: Gizelle Hernandez / Starz)

At a time where the nation is concerned about human rights, the series offers a take on questions around sexuality, feminism, class, and, indeed race. A substory within Blindspotting, for example, revolves around the tension between Trish and Ashley. In this subplot, the writers focus on a subplot that highlights how Trish navigates stigma because of her career as a sex worker. Additionally, while Blindspotting also centers Oakland in the midst of gentrification, it also navigates Ashley’s marginalization of working at a hotel with a song and dance number, but, also, she also smashes objects in a hotel room with a tennis racket.

Ultimately, Casal and Diggs see Blindspotting as a way to explore the “human experience” and to examine social issues in a format that welcomes audiences.

Here is the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCtdIC666Ec

 

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Valerie Milano is the well-connected Senior Editor and TV Critic at The Hollywood Times, a showbiz/promotions aggregate mainly for insiders. She has written for Communications Daily in DC, Discover Hollywood, Hollywood Today, Television International, and Video Age International in NYC. Valerie works closely with GLSEN, GLAAD, Human Rights Campaign (Fed Club Council Member), LAMBDA Legal, NCLR, and Outfest. She is also a member of the LA Press Club. She is a lay minister and parishioner of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Hollywood. Milano loves meeting people and does so in her getaway home in Palm Springs as a member of the Palm Springs Museum, Palm Springs Center and DAP Health (Partners for Life member). For years Valerie Milano had volunteered as a board member and one of the chief organizers for the Television Critics Association’s press tours. The tours take place twice a year in Beverly Hills/Pasadena.