TSN already have a Black reporter, they don’t want to have two

June 16, 2020 2:48 PM

[Canadians] “think that BodyBreak was started because of fitness; well it wasn’t [SLYT]. It was started to combat racism,” Hal Johnson. Toronto Star article.

BodyBreak is famous in Canada for PSAs commissioned by the government for the ParticipACTION program.

posted by Mitheral (21 comments total)

When people in Canada say "What is the government doing in the media business? The private sector can do it better and cheaper" I'll point them to this. Left to the private sector we'd not have had BodyBreak and been the lesser for it's loss.
posted by Zedcaster at 3:51 PM on June 16, 2020 [15 favorites]

And just as context, in the late 80s, BodyBreak was ubiquitous on Canadian TV.

Hal Johnson was just on As It Happens on CBC. No direct link to the segment yet -- there will probably be one up in the next few hours.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:58 PM on June 16, 2020 [5 favorites]

This definitely went right back to my teen years, and I remember them vividly. I didn't question a multi-racial partnership at the time, and just kind of internalized the absence of any issue with it. I've definitely had to dig out other bigotries from my brain, but I can't ever recall having a problem with inter-racial couples. Once Hal described it as he did, though, it all made sense.
posted by fatbird at 4:46 PM on June 16, 2020 [1 favorite]

A slight de-rail that is nevertheless relevant here:

A positive counter-trend in the middle of our current socio-political dumpster-fire is the increase in recent years in the number of multi-racial couples seen in TV advertisements (at least in Canada). It may be that the success of BodyBreak played a small part in initiating that trend. So, yay.
posted by e-man at 5:00 PM on June 16, 2020 [2 favorites]

Came out of retirement to say I love Body Break.
posted by chunking express at 5:31 PM on June 16, 2020 [8 favorites]

I'm embarrassed to say I never even realized Hal Johnson was black until... today. I don't recall ever thinking about his skin tone at all, but I must have assumed he was tanned. And meanwhile the guy is dealing with blatant institutional racism and being seriously hampered in his career because of it.

But I can certainly vouch for how well known Body Break was in Canada. About 10 years ago I was at a Halloween party to which a couple had come dressed as Hal and Joanne. Everyone got it and thought it was hilarious and that it was one of the best costume ideas there.

Until next time... keep fit, and have fun!
posted by orange swan at 5:40 PM on June 16, 2020 [14 favorites]

My big shock about bodybreak was that Hal and Joanne were married. I just thought they were two hosts of the segment, not a couple. I was in my 20s when I found out!
posted by aclevername at 6:09 PM on June 16, 2020 [8 favorites]

I loooooooved Body Break as a kid, and I am heartbroken to hear how Hal Johnson was treated. I knew that he was black, but I can't recall ever thinking anything of it at the time at all. Hal and Joanne were so positive and fun! The response from TSN is the worst kind of non-apology too. Ooh, a task force!
posted by just_ducky at 6:13 PM on June 16, 2020

In the 1980s, 90% of television in Canada was one of three things.

1. BodyBreak
2. Hinterland Who's Who (previously)
3. The Log Drivers' Waltz

Shame on TSN. Hal and Joanne made me kind of wish I was the kind of person who kind of cared about exercise. I mean I sitll don't, but they made me want to care without shaming me for not caring.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:20 PM on June 16, 2020 [7 favorites]

If only I had a penguin...you forgot Heritage Minutes.
posted by just_ducky at 6:22 PM on June 16, 2020 [3 favorites]

If only I had a penguin...you forgot Heritage Minutes .

Introduced in 1991.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 6:26 PM on June 16, 2020 [1 favorite]

I noticed the same thing, e-man. I hadn't watched TV in about 20 years and now you're actually a bit hard-pressed to find white couples in advertising (except the ads self-produced by companies in my lily-white city).

I'm tempted to be cynical about it -- what is marketing if not institutionalized cynicism? -- but might as well just appreciate it.
posted by klanawa at 6:32 PM on June 16, 2020

Where's his moustache! I know that this is the least of the takeaways from this situation but :(

Joanne and Hal should have been so antithetical to a cynical goth pessimist teen in Montreal, but I enjoyed every single BODY BREAK PARTICIPACTION spot in my cold dead heart. Like If only I had a penguin... it made me wish that I cared about exercise.
posted by mephisjo at 7:42 PM on June 16, 2020 [2 favorites]

I really enjoyed this video and learning about the history of Body Break. It's kind of mindblowing yet a perfect analogue knowing that while Hal and Joanne are an indelible part of Canadian culture that their work on Body Break comes about due to another pernicious part of Canadian culture: systemic racism; we never would have had the one without the other but Hal never should have had to fight that hard just because he is Black.
posted by urbanlenny at 8:42 PM on June 16, 2020

On a more serious note: I also do not remember remarking that they were an interracial couple on screen. But I thought that the whole black man + white lady = danger/shock! was really a thing as "recent" as the 80s (for me) was the wake-up call. Yes, I was at the younger end of the audience demographic, but the "we already have one black reporter" plus the two-in-a-row we can't have the black man next to the white lady - wow, they said this out loud (with a chuckle to boot!).

TSN should have done way better in their response. Hal has been an ambassador for health, fitness, coolness and just plain being great for decades in Canada. A PR response is disrespectful and they missed a pivotal opportunity to own up and give thanks for his work.
posted by mephisjo at 9:02 PM on June 16, 2020

I don't think they were a couple on screen; martial status wasn't really important or relevant to the PSA. I certianly didn't realise this until much later; maybe in this thread?

What is the government doing in the media business?

So much good stuff comes out of CBC even today with their massively reduced budgets. I so wish we'd prioritized public media funding more.
posted by Mitheral at 10:00 PM on June 16, 2020

I don't think they were a couple on screen; martial status wasn't really important or relevant to the PSA.

This is the funny part to me: it was always subtly apparent that they were more than co-hosts of the segment. I don't know if I'd describe them as married per se (before the fact was actually known), but their rapport made it plain that they weren't just colleagues.
posted by fatbird at 10:25 PM on June 16, 2020

Looks like the photo the Star used here was altered from how it appeared in past use.
posted by yellowbinder at 4:45 AM on June 17, 2020 [2 favorites]

I also had no idea Hal Johnson was Black... probably because I didn't know any light-skinned Black people, and few enough darker-skinned Black people?
posted by dotparker at 7:01 AM on June 17, 2020

These are my people so me missing their status isn't really surprising to me.
posted by Mitheral at 8:18 AM on June 17, 2020

I grew up with Body Break too. And I am embarrassed to admit that I too did not know Hal Johnson was black. It was wonderful to hear his story on CBC radio one yesterday.
posted by kitcat at 9:18 AM on June 17, 2020