Fans Got a Big Problem With How New Amsterdam Handled Interracial Dating
Viewers ask if the show is trying to say that interracial relationships are somehow wrong.
Last week, New Amsterdam came to an end with the series finale, wrapping up the stories of Max Goodwin and other characters. Now, looking back on five seasons and 89 episodes of the medical drama, fans feel it was pretty anti-interracial dating and marriage.
Redditor u/CLEf11 raised the issue in the r/NewAmsterdamTV subreddit, illustrating their point with several examples.
Longtime New Amsterdam fans know that one of the most compelling couples of Season 1 was Lauren Bloom and Floyd Reynolds. And if things went Bloom's way, they would probably be married by the finale. But Reynolds had a different plan. He decided to end the relationship explaining that he wanted to start a family with a Black woman.
He was very focused on this idea, which led him into several relationships that clearly weren't right for him. These included trying to be someone's third wheel and getting caught up in a "who's the father" conundrum and losing out on being a father.
"He and Bloom could have been happy together but he let the color of her skin hinder it," The Redditor wrote.
Another striking example used by the Redditor is the main protagonist Max Goodwin himself and his love interest Helen Sharpe, who had an increasingly difficult and complex relationship throughout the series. The most emotional moment came after Helen's mother made a comment about her marrying a white man, and she walked out of the wedding, breaking Max's heart.
"Is the show trying to say that interracial relationships are somehow a bad thing?" the Redditor asked other fans.
And the commenters couldn't help but agree with the author of the thread.
"You're absolutely bang on here! NA failed to depict even one successful interracial relationship," one of the comments read.
Fans even came up with other examples that illustrated the author's point.
"Also Layla and Lauren.... an Indian woman and a white woman, totally massacred and for what?" one of the fans commented.
Of course, fans agreed that there was nothing wrong with someone wanting to date or marry someone of their own race. The main issue was how writers used this trope for multiple relationship arcs.
"I wouldn't of had a problem if it happened in one relationship but it was like the reason several couples broke up," one of the fans stressed.