Take a second and think a few years back to the movie White Chicks. Two black men dress up as white women to protect two famous sisters from being kidnapped. Although critics did not acclaim this movie, audiences worldwide gave it favorable reviews. But what if the plot had been reversed? Two white men dress up as black women in a movie called Black Chicks? Would the reaction have been the same? From critics, most likely yes. But from audiences, no. My opinion is that people would have been outraged that a minority was being "discriminated" against.
So, in a country that is overly-obsessed with being culturally diverse, how do we portray this diversity in movies and on TV without being discriminatory? A lot of networks seem to just subtly throw in a best friend who is a minority and never acknowledge that they did so. Others, however, choose to point it out blatantly. Do people appreciate this effort, or do they even care whether the main character is white, black, Asian, or what have you?
I guess my other question is, are people offended by this blatant attempt to make sure everyone is included? Do you yourself find it offensive to those of minority races when seemingly harmless jokes are made about them on programs such as The Office or Glee?
Let us not forget what Brigham Young once said, "He who takes offense when no offense is intended is a fool, and he who takes offense when offense is intended is a greater fool."
23 comments:
I think the problem with the way diversification is presented in many TV shows is that they are dealing with a set cast of characters, so they tend to take "one of each." This gives a false and somewhat forced sense of multiculturalism among the characters. It is difficult to balance between being offensive and overcompensating, and I think many TV shows lean towards overcompensation as the lesser of the two problems.
I agree, its pretty obvious in shows when the cast seems forced and unnatural to real life...buy whats a better alternative?
I also think that the media gives an inaccurate representation of the world. Shows like the Office make sure to have a black, Indian, Hispanic in the regular line up. Though do they include them to show diversity or so that they can use the other races as a punch line
I don't feel offended, or put off by attempts to include multi-culturism.
If anyone has read the book Black Like Me, you have heard the store of a white man dressing up as a black, homeless man, to see how people treated him. I do believe that people treat cultures differently, but see no problem using different races as main characters, etc.
P.s. Love your quote about offenses.
I think people go overboard trying to include everyone, but it’s good that they do. I don’t get offended by jokes that are made about other races either, but there is a line. I think the average person can tell when that line has been crossed. It’s kind of like “Mormon jokes". When they come from the right people, who do not intend to hurt or ridicule you, they could be funny. When they come from people who obviously hate that culture, religion or race, it’s not funny at all.
I think for some reason we are often more likely to accept multiculturalism on television than we are in real life. Maybe because we see it in a controlled environment where the situation is either extremely politically correct or it is offensive to the point where we feel a bit uncomfortable. In real life, most of us would never make racial comments like we see on shows like "The Office", but we might also not feel as comfortable with being around people of different cultures as we see on other television programs. In my opinion, TV portrays the extremes of multiculturalism without showing the area in the middle, which seems to be more realistic of real life.
I think that we make it so difficult to be politically correct and non-discriminatory. On the one side, you don't want to misrepresent the truth. However, in an effort to NOT offend minorities they are often simply "added in" to a movie. But this doesn't necessarily work. Minorities are often portrayed in the same roles, with the same opinions, and having the same habits. This, in and of itself, is a discrimination, and may in fact be more offensive than it would be to just leave them out.
There's a lot of truth to what you say about movies and programs that throw in the "token" minority. This has become such a canard that the T.V. show "Southpark" even parodied it by naming an African American character "Token" so every time the character's name is mentioned, it lampoons this phenomenon. As to how this can be changed to some other form of representation that doesn't come off as patronizing or offensive, I think is tricky, which is why we see the stereotype continue to live on. If directors/ producers had found an easy way to do this, it probably would already have been done. That said, what is odd is that some groups go out of their way to protest programming that doesn't feature enough of this "tokenism". What I think diverse audiences want is more niche products that they feel they can identify with instead of having to compromise and then feel hurt that their group didn't get adequate representation. The diversification of programming is sure to help with this desire for more programming, but the extent to which it will be successful is yet to be seen.
Often the efforts to make sure every race is adequately represented makes television shows more racist than if they had simply done what the plot called for or what would have been the case in a real-life situation.
As an asian, I really enjoy seeing a good asian character every now and again. So for me I dont find it at all offensive to intentionally include different races. I also think that most of the jokes on television are rather harmless, although I can see how some can be rather offensive.
In terms of the Black Chicks movie. I am sure that as long as it begins with Tyler Perry presents, no one would find it at all racist. Also, no one would find it funny.
Maybe TV and movies try to hard to include minorities, but I don't care that they do. I don't mind seeing a lot of different races interact or even be best friends (disney channel anyone?).I'm also not offended for minorities when seemingly harmless jokes are made about them on TV shows. Most stereotypes are based on at least a little bit of truth. That's why the jokes are funny. Micheal on The Office is ridiculous and everyone knows it, so I don't feel like minorities should be offended by his character.
Yeah, it's pretty ridiculous how so many people with say they're getting discriminated against when no one would care if the roles were reversed. It's an odd social injustice that possibly will never be fixed.
Movies, TV shows, etc., are in the business of making money. Many of their target audience are white, middle to upper-middle class people. What do people in these target markets like? Things that are familiar and comfortable to them. (White, middle to upper middle class things) However, with much criticism from various critics, there is a sense of change to a "multiculturalism" form of shows. This concept doesn't bother me. The world we live in (perhaps not in Utah) is very diverse. I think it better represents the world we live in when there is a diverse cast. But then again, is it about being politically correct or making money?
i feel like the media is trying too hard to not be discriminatory by representing all races. i think its good but i feel like they should just get who fits the part best instead of putting the extra effort and going out of their way to get someone of every race. i don't think people would feel like some races were being discriminated against if they weren't in every T.V. show, movie, and commercial.
The media can definitely give a false impression of multiculturalism. I am not offended by these attempts, however I tend to roll my eyes at the attempts because they seem so staged and forced. I hate it when it is in order to seem holier than thou type of thing. Diversity is good, yes, however, it should not be something that people need to get wrapped around the axle about.
interesting point of view. I agree that when the media pokes fun of minorities there are all kinds of repercussions. It's annoying that they can do the opposite without getting any flack for it. I feel like the media should just leave out racial jokes entirely, or else we will never overcome prejudice and racial profiling.
It does seem that many times TV and movies work hard to create diversification and try to make it work. However, the idea isn't that foreign to me. Having grown up in Georgia, I knew plenty of people who were best friends but were white and black, or couples who were different races. It seems that TV and movies are mostly trying to make it part of our social norm to be ok with the idea of whites and blacks being thrown into such situations together.
I think that we don't see minorities as the main characters very often. Yes, the media puts in some minorities to pretend that they are fair, but there is still a double standard. Not only do they often not include African Americans or Latinos as serious characters, but just as you said, for a white person to have roles as are usually used for minorities, people begin to scream Racism.
I think there are many underlying references to race and minorities in movies and TV than we realize, but again I think these are all stereotypes and to a certain extent we dont even realize them because we are so accustomed to it. I know I am not offended when white stereotypes are portrayed. I used to watch Grey's Anatomy and I did notice the racial diversity in the show and appreciated it. I thought it was refreshing.
I think many times the media tries to poke a little fun at diversity; just like we saw in the video in class "we are all a little bit racist." I think we are almost to the point now where I don't think a TV show needs to go out of their way to cast a multi-cultural cast
I think that there is a tough line to should races in not a discriminating why. Discrimination steams from stereotypes, but those stereotypes are funny and sell movies.
I don't personally find the idea of the minority like blacks offensive, but I do think that others the mass public of America would find it offensive. It is a sad reality, but the truth
I dont think that jokes on these shows are offensive. There are stereotypical things you could pick out and make fun of for every single culture. These are just jokes. I think that people perceive discrimination when they are taking things too personally
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