Nickelodeon's sitcom about 15-year-old True Jackson (Keke Palmer), who's plucked from obscurity to be vice president of youth apparel for a major fashion line, is pure wish-fulfillment fantasy for girls. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but
True Jackson, VP doesn't dig far beyond the surface of its premise, saddling True with goofy best friends (played by Ashley Argota and Matt Shively), a quirky boss (Greg Proops), and an ice-queen colleague (Danielle Bisutti) who eventually thaws and treats True as an equal. Nothing new here, and it's hard to shake the feeling that since True is black, the producers saw no need to create other black characters to inhabit her world (Lulu and Ryan, her best friends, are Asian-American and white, respectively; True's parents appear in one episode each).
That being said,
True Jackson, VP features a lead character who doesn't abandon her friends once she lands a great job (how or even if she fits school into her schedule is another matter altogether) and doesn't let jealous, condescending coworkers bring her down, both of which are good examples for tweens to live by. A question teachers could ask students after a viewing of
True Jackson is "How would you react if one of your best friends suddenly became rich and famous? Would you treat him or her differently than you had before?" (To see a clip from
True Jackson, VP,
click here.)
—Robert Cass
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