Ed Bark

TV:

06:52 AM CST on Wednesday, March 8, 2006

By ED BARK / The Dallas Morning News

Racism mostly is much ado about nothing, in Bruno Marcotulli's view. On the contrary, it has everything to do with everything, says Brian Sparks.

Well, then, let's see what flies in FX cable's Black. White., where the color of one's skin becomes more than a pigment of the imagination.

Mr. Marcotulli; his wife, Carmen Wurgel; and their 18-year-old daughter, Rose Wurgel, are made to look black via what FX grandly calls "the transformative power of makeup." Mr. Sparks; his wife, Renee; and their 17-year-old son, Nick, correspondingly become white. When not disguised, the two families share a Tarzana, Calif., residence for the duration of this six-episode reality-series-cum-laboratory-experiment.

The six principals received their almost daily extreme makeovers from Oscar-nominated Keith Vanderlaan (The Passion of the Christ, Big Momma's House). His artistry is crucial to the series' believability, so how well did he do?

In this view, his best work is on Rose, who looks very believably black. Not so Bruno, who resembles one of the transparently white actors playing a freed slave in Birth of a Nation.

Of the three Sparkses, teen Nick makes the most convincing transformation. But his parents tend to look more Hispanic than Caucasian.

Unfortunately, the little-seen Nick seems to be a very reluctant participant, making next to no impression in the series' first two episodes.

"I can't act white," he eventually tells Rose in tonight's premiere. His overall objective is "just to pass," he says. "I'm there for the fun." Then he pretty much vanishes from view.

With and without him, Black. White. is too padded and redundant at first. Yes, we get it. Two families are going to change colors and see how it all plays out. Or as Bruno puts it, "I just wanted to really poke into the issue of race, and see if any flames would emerge."

Maybe not flames, but in time there's certainly friction. Then again, how much of this is merely "acting out" for the cameras or the producers?

Bruno initially tosses the N word around in cavalier fashion, almost looking forward to being on the receiving end of a racial slur. But he also keeps telling Brian that racism is a nonissue if one simply behaves in a "distinguished way."

"I get joy because I put joy out," Bruno says after he shops as a black man without any apparent incident. But Brian has different sensors, perceiving slights at almost every turn. Or is it more in his imagination?

"You see what you want to see," Bruno contends.

"And you don't see what you don't want to see," Brian rejoins.

Those are the last words of tonight's opener, but Black. White. has only begun to heat up. Carmen quickly shows her ignorance at the start of next week's hour, calling Renee a five-letter word that rhymes with rich.

"I really thought that was an affectionate word between blacks," she later says lamely. Renee, far more easily angered than her husband, isn't about to forget this anytime soon.

There's also the spectacle of Bruno pronouncing, "I think I represent the black race well."

As a respite from all of this, Black. White. thankfully has Rose. She joins a black poetry group, initially feeling "like a lamb in a lion's den." But Rose stays the course and has her eyes opened in ways that seem genuine, not contrived. While the adults fight, Rose summons the guts to tell her fellow students that she's a white girl in disguise. The reactions are both mixed and visceral.

Some of the other stranger-in-a-strange-land situations aren't nearly as believable. Brian, as a white man, gets a job bartending at a white bar in an almost exclusively white neighborhood. The ease with which he does so – no references, no questions asked – makes it seem like a pre-done deal, even though it's not portrayed as such.

Renee later goes to the bar as herself. She quickly encounters a loquacious, long-haired white guy who tells her he has no problems with blacks who "fit in."

"I met the most ignorant person I've ever seen," Renee reflects before Carmen further sets her off by referring to one of Rose's fellow poetry students as "you beautiful black creature."

The episode then ends with a tearful Carmen telling the Sparkses, "You're coming here to prove that we say stupid things."

Perhaps we all can agree that the Black. White. theme song, written by co-producer Ice Cube, is more than solid enough to become a hit single. Whatever your tolerance for the series, by all means check out "Race Card" on fxnetworks.com.

E-mail ebark@dallasnews.com

Black. White.

B9 tonight, FX cable. Starring Brian, Renee and Nick Sparks; Bruno Marcotulli, Carmen and Rose Wurgel. Produced by R.J. Cutler, Ice Cube and Matt Alvarez.

1 hr.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER