Talking about Race and Ethnicity on television has always been a sticky subject - for good reason.
It's a very serious topic that deserve plenty of time, respect and consideration from the writers/actors/directors/producers/everyone involved with making the piece.
Dismantling Racial and Ethnicity discrimination, prejudices and oppression cannot just be glossed over.
When this happens, no one really benefits and we're all left feeling kind of like this...
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| http://giphy.com/gifs/racism-aKAO3vVu4jRDi |
In recent years, there has been a large push for more representation of marginalized identities on TV, thus creating more space for discussions of racism to infiltrate the mainstream. When handled respectfully, it is seemingly easy to create content that is both entertaining and educational. By engaging the audience in the discussion, this kind of identity-conscious content encourages viewers to think about national issues/debates and their own
relative position as
citizen with a self-reflexive lens.
BTW - This is good. This is what we are striving for.
Media Documentation of social issues demonstrate how you can make drama or comedy from real life, and use this medium as a vehicle for social commentary.
Media Documentation of social issues demonstrate how you can make drama or comedy from real life, and use this medium as a vehicle for social commentary.
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| https://media2.giphy.com/media/11lbipplIWvyDu/200.gif |
Unfortunately, when this doesn't happen and writers get lazy (I'm looking at you "The Mindy Project"), they end up painting an image of an entire community as one kind of
archetype, which stifles progressive and constructive character development. The dynamic development of characters who hold marginalized identities are vital towards furthering realistic representations which audience desperately need in order to form their own opinions and influence the way they interact with reality.
When racism is used to progress conversations or plots, it can be used as a tool for necessary social commentary. Take for instance the show Key & Peele, named after comedians Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. The duo often center a lot of their sketches on social issues, often using their own identities as Black men to poke fun at the institutionalized oppression they have experienced or have heard stories about.
The comedy pair have a sketch called "Hoodie" that illustrates the stigma surrounding police brutality and the often perceived, intentional racist actions carried out by police authorities to further oppressed or subordinate People of Color. This sketch is described as a sketch about "A young man uses the resources at his disposal to fend off trouble in a dangerous neighborhood," which is true, but the humor and imagery allows for the audience to make their own assumptions about the social injustices at play.
Key and Peele do a good job of poking fun at a institutional oppressive stigma that People Of Color have to deal with every day. This short clip allows audience to reflect on their own prejudices and privileges, while also finding the humor in a messed up situation.
If you ask me, we need more of this and less mindless, emotionless television (I am STILL looking at you "The Mindy Project").
- K
I really like your post and I find it very entertaining to read through with your gifs and witty comments. I think you are spot on with your accusations and claims. However, I wonder where this all stands on the spectrum of respectable racism and the idea that racism is both wrong and necessary. Overall, I think you made some really good points and offer a new perspective to a very controversial topic. Good job!
ReplyDeletei love the tie that you did to police brutality. I have been doing all my blog post on police brutality and you pointed out some stuff that I had also pointed out and seen. People think we live in a post racial society but we still have these things going on which is frustrating. you did a great job in this blog post! Very interesting and informative!
ReplyDelete