The NAACP is well-known for announcing boycotts and gaining much attention in the attempt to gain accurate representation for African Americans in network TV shows. I pretty much agree with them, but what I’ve recently begun to think about is the lack of other ethnic minorities on TV. I would guess that the percentage of African Americans I see on TV is pretty close to those I see every day, just walking down the street. But where are the Latinos and Asians on TV? I see maybe two or three on TV of either group per couple hours of watching - far, far lower than I see every day. Do you think I’m correct? And moreover, do you think that the networks have an obligation to make their shows more representative of the American population?
Interesting discussion here, I’ll be following this one.
I can only add one thing, and while my first reaction was “This is MPSIMS” its not…
The only place I see regular numbers of “representative” minorities is on :eek: WWF wrestling when whichever “sports entertainment superstar” is pile-drived, atomic dropped, DDT’d and otherwise thrown through the Spanish/Mexican announcers table.
Consequently, did anyone see the Wrestlemania last night? They exploited some poor guy last night by dressing him in a cheese outfit and having lost the match the wrestlers took it out of Chester McCheese’s hide.
Oh the humanity.
:rolleyes:
Other than that: I see your point, I’m thinking desperately to identify latino or asian leads and supportings in sitcoms, in particular. Drama’s, thats different… look at NYPD Blue or ER, you’ve got your representation. Sitcom’s, no dice.
Regards,
Jai Pey
As I have mentioned before, Mrs. Kunilou is Asian-American, so we may look a little harder for ethnic representation than some others. The other perceptions were correct – it’s pretty “ghettoized” whites have white sitcoms, African-Americans have black sitcoms, and Hispanics and Asians get to be best friends or neighbors.
Workplace comedies tend to be somewhat more heterogenous than family sitcoms, but it’s still difficult to find a minority supporting cast member who isn’t either the dgnified boss (like on Sports Night) or the wise-cracking buddy in the next cubicle.
Viewing habits also appeared to have "ghetto"ized too. Except for football blacks and whites are watching different. (They haven’t done studies for other minorities yet.) The no. 1 show for blacks is “The Parkers”.
Haven’t heard of it? Thought not. It’s the spin-off of “Moesha”, both of which air on UPN. Doubly ghettoized… the shows air on specific ‘black’ nights (Mon. & Tues. on UPN, Fri. on WB)
However, I suspect things’ll change as the minority groups percentages continue to rise in relation to the white population.
well if you remember back in the mid 90s…
there was this show called “house of buggin” which was similar to “in living color”, but instead of a predominantly black cast, the cast was hispanic. and the humor centered around hispanic stereotypes and stigmas.
the show only lasted a handful of episodes however, and needless to say, it was cancelled by fox.
then there was “all americal girl” which was a sitcom centered around an asian family with margaret cho and clyde tanaka. this show did not last long either.
there was a lot of turmoil among the cast (particularly margaret’s weight issue in the beginning), and an outcry from the korean community saying that koreans are wrongly portrayed and that some cast members are not even korean so they should not be on the show, and this and that… and eventually, it was cancelled after about a year, give or take.
so, the networks have tried minority based shows, it’s just that they have not succeeded with them, which is why i think they are reluctant to start another one.
That may be true but I think the failure has less to do with it being about ethnic people and more about shitty scripts. How many white sitcoms have failed (anyone remember Hello, Larry, but that hasnt stopped them from producing more white sitcoms.
Bitch by Birth
At least one Latino/a group has called attention to, if not called for boycotts over, the lack of Latino/a characters. It was at about the same time the NAACP started their campaign. I want to say it was La Raza but I’m not sure. I can go dig if anyone wants. I’m unaware of any nationally known Asian advocacy groups, much less any actions they may be contemplating regarding Asian representation on television. I have to confess I don’t much look specifically for ratios of ethnic minorities on TV. I’m too busy counting the number of recurring gay characters on the fingers of one hand.
Despite complaints by many black activists, the truth is, there is NO shortage of black stars on television… except in one crucial area, which I’ll discuss in a moment.
On EVERY popular DRAMATIC series of the past 10-15 years, there has been substantial minority representation. Have “E.R.” and “Chicago Hope” had black doctors? Yep. Have “LA Law” and “The PRactice” had black lawyers? Yep. Have “Law and Order,” “NYPD Blue,” and “Homicide” had black detectives? Sure have.
SO, where ARE black people absent? From SITCOMS!!! The popular sitcoms of the past 10-15 years (“Seinfeld,” “Cheers,” “Friends,” “Frasier,” “Third Rock From the Sun,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Home Improvement”) have been lily-white.
Why is this? Well, two reasons. First, MOST drama series take place in the workplace (hospital, police station, law firm), where there’s plenty of racial diversity. But most sitcoms take place in the home. There’s RARELY racial diversity in a family!
But beyond that, political correctness has made it all but impossible to give a comic role to a black actor. The NAACP claims to be outraged that there were no black stars on “Seinfeld,” but can you imagine the outrage there’d have been if the role of KRamer had gone to a black comedian??? (“KRamer is a stereotypical Stepin Fetchit,” I can hear Kweisi Mfume roaring).
COmedy requires people to say and do stupid things, to make fools of themselves. Political correctness forbids making black people the butt of a joke on a “white” show. Thus, when a black character appears on a “white” sitcom, he’s ALWAYS the voice of sanity and reason… like Lionel Jefferson on “All in the Family” or Robert Guillaume on EVERY show he’s ever done!
Quick- did Lionel Jefferson EVER make you laugh?
to refer back to the OP, no. (and before anyone attacks me, i took a media and minorities class a few semesters back)
why you ask? well, the networks only put on shows that they think are funny (tho sometimes they are wrong). and they don’t have an infinate amount of shows to go through…and most of the writers out there are white…and most writers write about what they know…so in order to get more minorities in the media, there must be more minority sitcom writers. at least that’s what i say.
Actually, as the NAACP notes, there are a number of black-cast sitcoms, but they are for the most part on minor networks (WB and UPN) and they are segregated in the schedule. The NAACP criticises Fox, for example, for having a number of black shows to build audience share when it launched then becoming more white.
Ah, that great meaningless catch-phrase, “political correctness”! The last, and unfortunately all-to-often first line of defense for those who can’t actually defend their positions. Political correctness? What a crock!
“Ah, that great meaningless catch-phrase, ‘political correctness’! The last, and
unfortunately all-to-often first line of defense for those who can’t actually defend their positions. Political correctness? What a crock!”
It’s true that “political correctness” is by itself an absolutely meaningless phrase, demonstrating only that the person using it condemns whatever he’s applying the term to.
But astorian didn’t just throw the word out there as a shibboleth, as if it answered all questions and precluded any debate. He explained what he meant with further statements and examples. It seems to me that you’re having a knee-jerk reaction to the phrase “political correctness” without examing the content on which astorian was basing that assertion.
“Comedy requires people to say and do stupid things, to make fools of themselves.”
What is false about that? Comedy shows often, though not always, involve the “low humor” of people who are fools and people acting foolishly. “Three’s Company” anyone? Now imagine if klutzy Jack, ditzy Chrissie, clueless Mr. Roper, or randy Larry had been black.
“The NAACP claims to be outraged that there were no black stars on “Seinfeld,” but can you imagine the outrage there’d have been if the role of Kramer had gone to a black comedian??? (‘Kramer is a stereotypical Stepin Fetchit,’ I can hear Kweisi Mfume roaring).”
You don’t think that’s true? Picture in your mind Kramer behaving like eccentric Kramer or George Costanza being hopeless loser George, only being played by a black actor in an otherwise white cast. You don’t think that some people wouldn’t react negatively to that?
How about the reaction to the Jar Jar Binks character in “Star Wars”? No, he’s not a stereotypical black man. He’s not a man at all, he’s an ALIEN, for pete’s sake! The man who played him and provided the character’s voice, who is black, has stated in several interviews why he gave Jar Jar Binks the mannerisms and speech that he did, and it wasn’t to create a “Stepin’ Fechit” figure. But that didn’t put a crimp in the protests in the least.
I heard on NPR that the percentage of people on network TV who are black is about twice as large as the percentage of Americans who are black.
I know this sounds pretty dubious without a cite, but I’m afraid I don’t have one.
Your Quadell
Here are the assertions regarding "political correctness:
How is “political correctness” explained by either of these statements? How does he know how the NAACP wouold have reacted had Kramer been black? And speaking of Seinfeld, what about the recurring lawyer character modeled on Johnny Cochrane? He was certainly a buffoon, and no one that I’m aware of complained because of his race. It’s way too easy to dismiss something as “politically correct” as if just saying the phrase means anything.
Otto:
Volumes have been written about political correctness. Entire books. A new University of Maine course will deal exclusively with the topic. It is not some figment of right-wing imagination. I would agree that the term can be nebulous and bantered about out too easily.
But just because there are differing opinions as to what it is exactly, and there is no set definition, does not mean it does not exist. (If that were the case, there would be no such thing as pornography.) As such, I may not be able to come to an agreement with someone over an exact definition of PC, but “I know it when I see it.”
IMO, the term “political correctness” is valid for the discussion at hand. I also think astorian presented some insight into the question of why there are not enough minorities on TV to suit the NAACP. The reasons brought up were of a political nature.
I don’t watch too much regular TV programming, but whenever I flip through the channels, I see lots of black faces. Lots. Even on sitcoms.
Have you seen a local newscast in the past 10 years without a black person? I haven’t, and I’ve moved around quite a bit. Seeing that a newscast is made up of 4-5 regulars, we’re talking at least 20% representation.
And what about commercials? I defy anyone to name more than 5 commercials out of 100 that don’t try for the “Rainbow Coalition” award (at least 4 actors needed to qualify). Just try. There will be at least one black, usually an Hispanic, throw in an Asian woman to boot (double points for that one!), and don’t forget the kid in the wheelchair.
I’m certainly not saying this is wrong or bad; but to ignore it while at the same time saying that there are not enough minorities on TV does a disservice to the entire discussion of race.
I’d be willing to bet that if there were a quota system tied to exact racial proportion; there would be significantly fewer blacks on TV in order to bring representation down to 14% (which is what I think the latest U.S. figure is). Somehow, I don’t think the NAACP would be for this either.
Otto and I have butted heads on numerous issues. Frankly, we don’t like each other much (to put it politely), and both of us are tempted, on a regular basis, to insult and rebut the other (even when it isn’t called for), just on general principle.
In this case, as in many others, Otto can’t refute me, but just out of sheer spite, he felt like posting a “you don’t know what you’re talking about” reply. And in truth, I’ve done the same to him.
But back to the specific issue at hand, if you don’t like the vague term “politcal correctness,” then I’ll just say… a combination of Hollywod’s liberalism and Hollywood’s cowardice has led to a situation in which producers and casting directors are afraid to give a comic role on a predominantly white show to a black actor.
As I said, comedy requires people to make fools of themselves. Black comedians obviously don’t mind making fools of themselves on all-black or mostly-black shows (the WB network shows that!). But when a black character appears on a “white” show, producers are TERRIFIED of getting angry letters from JEsse Jackson… so they make him the voice of reason and sanity. They NEVER allow him to be a target of ridicule. At most, he gets to comment sarcastically and sardonically about the stupidity of the white male characters.
This is nothing new! It goes back at least as far as the 70s. On “Maude,” EVERY character behaved like an idiot at one point or another- except black maid Florida, who just made wisecracks about those dopey white folks. On “Soap” and “Benson,” EVERY character was a moron… except Benson, who just made wisecracks about those dopey white people. On “Spin City,” the white mayor (Barry Bostwick) and the white deputy mayor (Michael J. Fox) make fools of themselves constantly. The one character on “Spin City” who NEVER makes a fool of himself is the gay black deputy… who just mocks those dopey white people.
Would any black actor take a sitcom role that required him to be as dumb as Barney Fife, Tim Taylor, Archie Bunker, Fred Flintstone, Ralph Kramden, Cliff Klavin, et al? And if he did, would the NAACP be happy, or would they raise hell?
You know the answer.