Finally, A Racially-Conscious 'Royals' Parody

Zooey Deschanel may have two African American friends now, but that doesn't make New Girl particularly race-conscious. As many have pointed out, the white, straight manic pixie dream girl has grown stale, while TV is rapidly moving in a more inclusive direction. Or at least the shows about vampires have finally championed some diversity on the small screen. Regardless, it's always great to see white pixie leading ladies taken down a peg, and Tess Paras has made the perfect parody for the job. It's called "Typecast," and as the title suggests, it's all about the struggle for non-white actors to land leading roles.

Tess's cover of "Royals" mocks the prevalence of typecasting in shows like New Girl, while reminding us all that television racial stereotypes are alive, and actresses of color rarely have a shot at the title role. There are probably more "Royals" covers than curls on Lorde's head by now, but this one is still worth watching. The pixie-mocking is pitch-perfect, with references to leading ladies being "tiny pouty pixies" "hipsters," and "precious." And unlike most other "Royals" parodies, this one has both a mocking version of Zooey's frame sign from the New Girl opening credits, and a shocking twist ending.

Image: TessTubeBaby/Youtube

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