‘Riverdale’ Star Speaks Out About Black Peoples Portrayal In Media

[Vanessa] Morgan, who plays Toni Topaz in the CW’s Archie Comics incarnation [‘Riverdale’], is the only black series regular … and she did not hesitate to note that fact, as well as the fact that she is the least paid out of the whole main cast…

Ashley Holady –
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In the midst of the BLM protesting that surround the death of George Floyd, Riverdale star Vanessa Morgan, in her own form of protest, recently took to social media to speak about her character’s treatment in the series, but mainly about how black people are portrayed in the media, including television…

 

 

Morgan, who plays Toni Topaz in the CW’s Archie Comics incarnation, is the only black series regular – since the departure of Ashleigh Murray (Josie McCoy, the former lead of her band Josie and the Pussycats) at the end of season three – and she did not hesitate to note that fact, as well as the fact that she is the least paid out of the whole main cast…

 

 

…while also adding onto that what she thinks she is mainly used for on the show up to this point…

 

 

And she isn’t wrong: at this point in the show, her character is supposed to be representative of both the black community and the LGBTQ community, yet she doesn’t get nearly enough screen time or space to tell her own story, apart from the other characters.

While it is worth noting that the writers had confirmed that there will be a Toni-centric episode that explores her backstory and we will get to see her family – it was actually an episode we were supposed to get in season four had it not been for the Coronavirus lockdown cutting the season’s production short – but again, at this point in the show, it should’ve come a lot sooner.

 

 

 

 

Now, however her comments about her role in the show and its cast may sound in regards to the rest of the cast, she urged her fans not to attack any of the other Riverdale stars, arguing that this isn’t their doing, that they don’t have control over any of this, so they shouldn’t have to take the heat for it…

 

 

And in response to this tweet, other Riverdale star Lili Reinhart (Betty Cooper) says, on behalf of the cast, that they all love and support Morgan for speaking out…

 

 

B&V power at its finest! (Yes, I know this wasn’t intended as a callback to Betty and Veronica’s “B&V” dynamic within the show itself, but still, the V, while mainly meant for Vanessa, still stuck out to me as such…)

 

 

 

 

While the possibly most notable example of how black people are portrayed in the media would pertain to Toni in particular – mainly in how she was introduced both as a sort-of companion to Jughead while he was at Southside High in season two and as an “obstacle” for Bughead’s relationship, then later as Cheryl’s love interest and ultimately her sidekick, among other minor grievances – Morgan’s observation isn’t limited to her character in the show, as other characters of color have also been used up, sidelined, then written off, like the Pussycats…

 

 

…as spoken by a former Pussycat on the show. Personally – and I don’t mean to offend Ashe Bromfield (Melody Jones, no relation to Jughead Jones) – but I honestly forgot what her name was on the show, and that I only knew her to have played the drums in the band, mainly because of how very little screen time she got, even less than had either Josie or Valerie, and because Mel along with Valerie disappeared without a mere mention as to why or otherwise.

And come to think of it, do you remember if Josie had a proper send-off before she left for New York to be with Katy Keene and her friends? I don’t either. And that’s the problem – for not just Toni or Josie and her former Pussycats, but every black character introduced and then later brushed off without a second thought.

 

 

 

To end this piece on a positive note though, just so the takeaway isn’t one with frustration or disappointment, here’s a hopeful message that Morgan tweeted out to all her fans of color…

 

 

 

Featured Image via Cosmopolitan