Stereotypes In The Film Black-Ish By Kenya Barris

Ethel Payne was an African American journalist from Chicago, Illinois. Who worked for The Chicago Defender until around the 1970's. The article written by Ethel L. Payne for the Tri-State Defender in Memphis, Tennessee July 6,1973 " Are Black Women on TV in D.C Special Targets?". The reason I choose this particular article was because it fit the topic I was going for, being an African American female host.

The television show Saturday Night Live performed a skit titled, “Black Jeopardy” in order to suggest that people, no matter their race or background, are more similar than society portrays. The writers of SNL support their suggestion by creating a fake game show, “Black Jeopardy,” for which the object is to answer the black cultured questions correctly. On the game show, the host, as well as two of the three contestants, are African American; the third contestant, Doug, is a white Trump supporter. During the start of the game, it is assumed for Doug to lose due to his race and assumed lack of knowledge of black culture with remarks such as “Sorry Doug!”

Minorities in sitcoms were less portrayed in contrast to an accurate representation of the time period. Ironically, minorities in sitcoms were not always represented by minority actors and actresses. Sometimes makeup was used on a white actor so he could portray an African man. It was not until the 1950’s when African Americans were shown on television. African Americans were often portrayed as crooked people with poor English and less education.

The 1970s Is known to Be the golden era of British sitcom, There were sitcom That attempted to find humour in racial or ethnic misunderstandings, but in later years the content was criticised. In the 1980s alternative comedy started to emerge onto British sitcoms, alternative comedy Is a style of comedy which rejected established stereotypes and sometimes they also had a political component. alternative comedy was also found in cartoons, one of the first alternative comedy sitcoms to come on the British television was The Young ones and then carried on with BlackAdder.

Mass media has played and will continue to play a crucial role in the way white Americans perceive African-Americans. As a result of the overwhelming media focus on crime, drug use, gang violence and other forms of anti-social behavior among African-Americans, the media has fostered a distorted and pernicious public perception of African-Americans (Balkaran). In this paper I will look at some concerns about how African-American and people of color are portrayed and stereotyped in the media according to Balkaran and Orelus. Also, this paper will draw attention to the impact social media has reshaped religion and how we worship.

During the White Hollywood Cinema era, the Black African-American actors played the role of black stereotypes, and they also performed small parts in those films. D.W Griffith produced a racist film that had black stereotypes in it; the name of the film is Birth of a Nation. However, Oscar Micheaux made a film that responded back to D.W Griffith movie, which was Within Our Gates. He paved the way for other black African-Americans, which empowered them to speak out through their own films and movies. There are two men, influenced by Oscar Micheaux and they are Spike Lee and Charles Burnett.

In Marlon Riggs’ 1992 documentary film titled Color Adjustment, Riggs, the Emmy winning producer of Ethnic Notions, continues his studies of prejudice in television. The documentary film looks at the years between 1948 and 1988 to analyze how over a 40 year period, race relations are viewed through the lens of prime time entertainment. The film examined many of television’s stereotypes and mythes and how they changed over the years. The one hour and twenty-two minute documentary is narrated by Ruby Dee, the American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and civil rights activist.

There once was a sensation called black television. There was a time when the roar of black TV was staggering. When African-American actors were marginalized into largely one-dimensional roles, always playing servants or providing comedic relief (Breaking Barriers). However, now there are entire networks dedicated to black programming. Black sitcoms were largely undeveloped until the '70s, then finally hitting a stride in the '80s.

From the very beginning African-Americans have been displayed negatively in the media. African-Americans were depicted as ignorant and inferior to their white counterparts. Although the image of African Americans has changed over the years there is still a long way to go to improve and display a more positive image. Media portrayals give the depiction that African Americans are either threatening, ignorant, or they endorse stereotypes. Different forms of media include television, newspapers, social media, etc.

The year is 2016 and American society is open-minded to so many issues, except televised stereotypes. Racial and gender stereotypes are continually reinforced by social media and television, it has played a major role in the way society views one another. Enabling stereotypes that have been associated with a person of specific race or gender in the media promotes prejudice. Meaning society expects that person to act a certain way based on what they have witnessed on television or social media. . A perfect example of how television shows incorporate stereotypes based on ethnicity is the tv show “Everybody Hates Chris “which is about a working class African-American family that lives in a poor urban neighborhood in New York.

The Uncle Tom archetype was very prominent in television shows in the Jim Crow Era. Since then the stereotype has transformed into the Token Black Friend. This stereotype is most commonly seen in predominately white television shows. In Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Corey Gamble represents the token Black person; in the show, he is currently dating executive producer and matriarch to the family, Kris Jenner. In many episodes, he exhibits traits of the Uncle Tom archetype, he is "submissive, stoic, generous, and selfless" (Bogle 6) because he puts Kris's needs before his, and is always willing and ready to help.

Although many people doubted the success of ‘The Cosby Show’ when it was first broadcasted in 1984, it turned out to be the number one rated show in the next five consecutive seasons. The show depicted a life of a black family, influencing young people positively by getting rid of the prejudice towards African American family and by emphasizing the importance of good family and friend relationships. As it was one of the most popular shows during the time, a lot of people were impacted. Before this show was broadcasted, people had bias against black people being rude and uneducated.

What does it mean to be black? This a question that many black children seem to ask themselves as they are growing up. There is a popularization of black culture in America. From the music that people listen to, to television shows, movies, dances and various other things, the black culture is entertaining for all. African American children who grow up in a predominantly suburban area with many different races are always searching for their racial identity.

All humans are equal, but their mindsets are different. All humans have red color blood. All humans have the same way of reproducing. Then how come, in reality shows, one race has an advantage over others. Usually in the American reality shows black and brown race has always been representing as negative and white race as positive.

Racial stereotypes in films has occurred among people of color through characters, especially black. This has made challenges in opportunities, leading to a prevalence of stereotypes and lack of diversity on-screen, and they have also come a long way with many perspectives in the movie industry. The motion industry have had long history and criticism for its racially casting options since it has a significant role in a mass dissemination across the globe to audiences in every generation and have affected people’s belief systems. However, since a development in technologies and people’s perception, several modern filmmakers have already started to change the old stereotypes to be diverse and more positive. Furthermore,x black actors