Introduction
The portrayal of minorities in the media has evolved over the years. In the early twentieth century, media sources contained barely, if any, minority involvement. Until the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, to have minorities in the media was an unspoken taboo that everyone seemed to avoid. The later half of the twentieth century opened many doors for different minorities, and different media sources started to introduce different types of characters to appeal to different races and ethnicities. TV shows, movies, news casts, etc have since been progressively introducing minorities into the main stream media and showing them the equality that they have always deserved. In a research conducted by the Manyard Institute in 2008, it was shown that the number of minorities in the work force of news broadcasts has risen from making up 3.95 percent of the work force in 1978 to 13.52 percent in 2008, and the positions that they hold have grown as well (ASNE Census). While great advancements have been made on the part of minorities in the media, it seems that stereotypical portrayals do remain in existence in the modern American media in several different ways, which can be positive or negative. In our blog, we will discuss several aspects of the media in which the media are portrayed. Erica will discuss the portrayal of minorities in everyday life as shown by comedic shows and media. Rachel will discuss the portrayal of minority families in the media. Dedra will discuss the portrayal of eastern cultures in the media. Lindsay will discuss the portrayal of minorities in superhero franchises as usually being evil or deformed.
Portrayal of Minorities in Comedies.
Racism, segregation, and stereotyping of minorities is a problem that has always been evident in American life in some way since its creation. Throughout the years, Americans as a whole have become much more tolerant and accepting of one another’s different races and ethnicities, along with the individual rights that come along with each of those. In recent generations, many racial barriers have been broken down and all different races are able to coexist peacefully among one another. There does, however, remain varying degree’s of racism against minorities in the mainstream media, especially in television and movies. These racist stereotypes, while they may be funny, play on actual beliefs that many individuals still hold today against minorities. Many of these entertaining productions show either subtle or blatant references to stereotypes against minorities and how they affect the everyday minorities. Many of the racial stereotypes that still exist in everyday life are played up on and used in TV comedies such as Family Guy and The Office. While these media sources are undoubtedly funny, one must wonder whether or not they are really harmless, or if they play and build up on the subconscious opinions and beliefs about those minorities that many still believe today.
The question of whether or not comedic portrayals of racism are appropriate or acceptable in the media is important to consider because of its relevance in today’s modern media. While many more options are available to a vaster majority of people, stereotypes and racism still exist, especially in the media. What is shown in the media of a society is very important to discuss because it reflects the society as a whole. Especially in modern day America, the media is the basis of many aspects of life. Many of the comedic TV shows today use racism as a joke to get laughs, but it definitely works and can be some of the funniest stuff on TV. However, one must wonder whether these shows, because they play on actual stereotypes and at least a hint of truth, can actually give a bad message and impact viewers in a negative way by reinforcing their negative views of minorities. For example, when children watch comedies with these types of jokes, they could not possibly comprehend all of the hidden meanings and messages, so what do they get out of it? Perhaps they just do not realize that the show is being racist at all, but for a certain age group they must understand some of the shows’ content at least on a subconscious level and realize the image of minorities that are being portrayed. At the same time, however, these shows can also have the exact opposite effect by making those who are racist seem completely absurd, as is implied in The Office and Family Guy. Just watching short clips of these two humorous shows can give a pretty good example of the racism that is evident in some degree in each episode.
Family Guy is a hilarious example of a TV show about a simple dysfunctional family from Rhode Island with a violent world dominating baby, an overweight idiotic son, a daughter who tries too hard, a mother who seems oblivious to the families flaws, a father who is a racist, nonsensical moron, and a dog who seems smarter than the rest of them. Basically, it is a recipe for hilarity. Throughout each episode, short sidebars appear that sometimes do not even relate to the rest of the episode, but show snippets of racist and stereotypical behavior of minorities.
The above clips give a pretty good review of the type of humor that is on the show, and how it seems to portray minorities. While many, including myself, find Family Guy a very laughable and enjoyable show to watch, one must think about the messages being portrayed in the show. Obviously most of the jokes made towards minorities are meant to be funny, not insulting, and try to make those who hold those racist beliefs seem like the odd ones out as opposed to being in the majority. There are undoubtedly people who must be opposed to the show because of its content containing innumerable sexual and racist references, and who would rather shield their family members and children from seeing such abrasive behavior on a TV show. The racist remarks made range from small one liners that could be easily missed, to having the entire focus of an episode being based on a minority’s image. In one such episode, Peter, the father, learns that his ancestors were actually black, making him of African American heritage. Throughout the rest of the episode, he takes on the behaviors of what he considers “typical black people”, ranging from how he speaks to suddenly being insulted by the treatment of “his people” through the years since slavery, and reenacts a Martin Luther King Jr. speech to demand equality. When looking at the show as a whole, taking out the jabs against minorities, one notices that the main characters are mainly white. The only minority characters appearing somewhat regularly are the Asian news anchor with squinty eyes speaking broken English, and a typical black couple consisting of an indifferent droning husband and his occasionally appearing eccentric and loud wife. Besides that, the rest of the main characters are white. Perhaps because the show takes place in what could be considered a majority white town in Rhode Island, but none the less, minorities fail to make regular appearances without being drastically stereotyped, while many of the white characters appear normally.
NBC’s The Office is an Emmy award winning TV show that captures the lives and experiences of what would seem to be a boring and listless work experience at a paper manufacturing office in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The main character and manager of the office is Michael, a man completely oblivious to common decency and sense. In the episodes, he “regularly makes insensitive remarks about employees' race and gender, and that he's treated like a buffoon as a result” (……….). The writers seem to make him the focus of what any normal person should NOT be.
In the clip shown, Michael talks to the Indian character, Kellie, in what is his version of an Indian accent, thereby insulting her and getting slapped. He commonly makes stereotypical remarks towards his minority employees pertaining to their races, especially the black employees. Whenever he has a one on one discussion with Stanley from inside the office or Darryl from the warehouse, he assumes that because they are black they must have been raised on the streets, in the “hood”, or in the ghetto. He tries to speak their “street talk”, and they usually ignore him or go along with it to humor themselves. In one episode he even tries to avoid Darryl from getting into the office because he feels that since Darryl is black, he must be a robber. The Office, more obviously than in Family Guy, shows how ridiculous the racist behaviors are because of the reactions of the other workers throughout the office. At the exact time that Michael or Dwight make a wrong and stereotypical comment, the camera will zoom over to Pam, Jim, or one of the other employees to show their disgust and shock. This allows the viewer to understand that the beliefs held by a select few in the office are definitely not those held by the writers or producers themselves. In fact, the racist comments are usually so obviously off color and simply wrong that the viewer laughs in spite of it. For children who watch The Office, many of the jokes, even the ones not dealing with racism towards minorities, seem to be way above their level of comprehension, and one online site even stated that fifteen should be the lowest age for a person to watch the office regularly (……). One must wonder whether children under their mid-teen years who watch The Office can understand that it uses humor to dissuade racism, rather than enforce it. If they can not understand the complexity of many of the jokes, do they only understand and comprehend that, for example, all black people come from the ghetto? Or that all people of Indian descent talk with an accent?
When it comes down to it, TV shows such as Family Guy and The Office, that use racism towards minorities as the plot of many of their episodes, seem to use humor in a positive way to dissuade racist beliefs, although if viewed by those too young to comprehend the humor and jokes, can give them the wrong idea. While these shows may be right before crossing the line into insulting and unacceptable, they typically remain in that safe zone and get their points across. Youngsters who watch these shows and do not even know that there is such a line to be crossed, may confuse the racist jokes as reality, so all that can be done is either regulating their views of these shows or attempting to discuss the deeper meanings. While only several years ago, being as blatant and harsh about racism in such large parts of the media would be considered taboo, it seems today to be a recipe for success, and proves that despite all objections, everyone is a little bit racist, which is not necessarily a bad thing because it allows us to be accepting of these shows and their jabs at typical stereotypical minority behavior.
Works Cited
“Diversity Day” and others. The Office. NBC, L.A. March 29, 2005.
Family Guy. Twentieth Century Fox. Cartoon Network. 2008.
“The Office-TV 14”. Common Sense Media. 2008. Accessed December 19, 2008. http://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/Office.html#
Unknown. “Media Portrayals of Ethnic and Visible Minorities: Introduction”. Media Awareness Network. 2008. Accessed December 18, 2008. http://www.mediaawareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/ethnics_ and_minorities/index.cfm
Unknown. “2008 ASNE Census: Newsrooms Shrink; Minority Percentage Increases Slightly”. Manyard Institute. April 2008. Accessed December 18, 2008. http://www.asne.org/files/08srvtab.pdf
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