Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Cupertino. Right in the heart of Silicon Valley, Cupertino, California is a sunny suburban city home to boba shops, competitive schools and the Apple headquarters. When I heard that CBS would be releasing a new legal drama in October named after my hometown, I was ecstatic. Upon watching the trailer, this joy dissipated instantly.
It felt wrong. The Cupertino they showed was not the same Cupertino I grew up in. But, after looking it up, the facts didn’t change; this new CBS drama was indeed set in Silicon Valley, telling the story of two lawyers who decide to fight against, rather than for, tech giants.
The first thought that crossed my mind throughout the trailer was this: Where are the Asians? The cast, as released on IMDb so far, features six main actors: Mike Colter (15 episodes), Busy Philipps (12 episodes), Rachel Keller (12 episodes), Renée Elise Goldsberry (12 episodes), Ella Stiller (12 episodes) and Nik Dodani (8 episodes). Colter and Goldsberry are African American, Dodani is Indian American, and the rest are white. Out of the remaining 12 released cast members, 11 are white.
According to the most recent census data on Cupertino, over 70% of the city is Asian, 20% is white and 0.5% is African American. Cupertino (the show) does not reflect this at all. I can’t even claim that the show’s cast is diverse, barring the fact that it doesn’t properly represent Cupertino; it is overwhelmingly white, with little to no effort at inclusion. Even in the trailer, nearly all of the extras were white. There is only one Asian American cast member, not to mention the fact that he also seems to have the smallest role of the six recurring characters. In fact, though Dodani appears in the official trailer for the show, his character was not in the teaser trailer, and I suspect the sudden appearance in the official trailer may have come from public commentary on the show’s seeming lack of research into Cupertino.
Cupertino may claim to be set in the Bay Area, telling a different tale than many other popular legal dramas (like Suits or Law & Order, both of which are set in New York City), but in every aspect but name, it is no different.
Beyond just the demographic makeup of the cast, Cupertino makes no effort to emulate the culture of the city which it supposedly centers on. Asian history and culture is rich in the Bay Area, with traditional restaurants of varying cuisines on every street and boba shops outnumbering the coffee shops in the area. Nevertheless, Cupertino shows no hint of the deep cultural ties in Silicon Valley.
Watching the trailer, it seemed to be just another legal drama, set somewhere in the Northeast, the only distinguishing feature being its supposed focus on tech law rather than general corporate law. Unsurprisingly, the show was primarily filmed in New Jersey and New York, contributing to its stark lack of any California feeling. There were no distinguishing features about the setting of the show. None of the landmarks from Silicon Valley appeared; the only remotely close one was a bird’s eye shot of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, which is still dozens of miles outside the show’s supposed location.
There has long been uproar over the lack of diversity in casting for shows and movies. Cupertino tried to fight against that by placing an African American at the forefront of the show’s characters. It would be one thing if the show was set in some unnamed town in America, but it is another for the show’s writers to have chosen a specific setting, yet fail to appreciate and emulate the rich cultural background of that setting. Cupertino uses its namesake as no more than a backdrop for a plot point. Perhaps the actual show will shape up to be better than the trailers make it appear, but as of right now, my hopes for Cupertino remain low.
Katherine Winton is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a staff writer for the Arts & Culture department and can be reached at kwinton@cornellsun.com.
