Schitt's Creek Creators and Rizwan Manji Share Their Thoughts on Diversity

Johnny Rose, the owner of a chain of video stores across America, Johnny Rose suddenly finds himself broke. His family has to tag along with him to Schitt's Creek.

New Delhi (Anish Yande):

Schitt's Creek is a show which follows the life of an ultra-rich family gone astray. The hilarious premise of the show is based on how Johnny Rose buys the town of Schitt's Creek as a joke but ironically ends up there along with his whole family. 

The show which began in 2015, had a slow but steady start. The show was picked up by Netflix after its third season. All six seasons are currently available for streaming on the platform.

Schitt's Creek Earns Praise and Accolades:

Created by Dan Levy along with his father Eugene Levy, the show has ended its six-season run this year. The show has garnered several awards, including 19 Primetime Emmy Awards with two Screen Actors Guild Awards. The show has been bestowed with GLAAD awards as well for its representation of LGBTQ characters.

In an interview before the release of Season 5, Dan Levy explained his thought process while depicting queer characters. He said that the feedback that had resonated the most with him had come from ' right-wing, religious-based people.' These people never understood the queer culture, however, through Schitt's Creek, they fell in love with these characters, according to Levy.

He said, 'If we can continue to open people’s eyes to realize that everyone’s deserving of love, that’s a wonderful thing.'

Rizwan Manji Talks About Change:

Rizwan Manji's portrayal of a lovable

Indian- 

American has captured the hearts of several viewers. Manji essays the role of Ray Bhutani, 

Rizwan Manji echoes the sentiment of representation of diversity in media. He shares in an interview that it had become 'very hard' for a person of color to receive opportunities.  He stated that even as people went for a portrayal of stereotypes, he didn't want to give in. Manji shared that opportunities became scarce for him after he decided against essaying stereotypical roles in any other future project. 

He attributes a change due to the prevalence of OTT platforms. Manji had said that in 2019, he was doing three shows simultaneously. He says, "There’s a lot of demand for content, and therefore there’s going to be a lot more work for us now."

Interview Credit: Hindustan Times

Image Credit: Google and POP Tv