The television show Breaking Bad is about a high school chemistry teacher in New Mexico named Walter White who has been diagnosed with cancer. Not knowing how he would be able to pay for it, or leave any money for his family if he ends up passing away, he starts a life of cooking and selling meth. Throughout the story he meets many diverse characters. Some of theses characters can fall into the trap of having stereotypical, but the characters are so round and multifaceted as to not be stereotypical.
An example of a deep character in the series is Gus Fring, a black man who is the very top of the drug operation in New Mexico and Walter’s boss. He is very stern and strict and even resorts to murdering one of his most trusted employees to try and scare Walter and his assistant straight. One the surface that may look like a typical brute stereotype of a black man, but if you look into his motivations for his actions you can see he is much more careful and calculated than he lets on. Ever since Walter is first deffered to Gus, he was told how careful of a man he was. His highest priority is keeping his industry running without any kinks or chances of exposure. He is very intelligent and deliberate looking deeper into his character, which is contrary to most stereotypes of black men in America. From a Mexican drug peddler who just wants to care for his disabled uncle to a white drug addict with deep morals struggles and care for children, the show Breaking Bad has many characters that may seem stereotypical at first, but turn out to be very dynamic and round, transcending the grip of racial stereotypes.
The hit tv drama Grey’s Anatomy first aired on March 27, 2005, and has since made thirteen seasons and counting. Shonda Rhimes, writer, director, producer of Grey’s and other shows such as Scandal and Private Practice, is the first African-American woman to produce a top 10 network series. Grey’s and Rhimes’ other shows are known for casting many minorities because Shonda believes that “everyone should get to see themselves reflected on TV.” Similar to real life, Grey’s Anatomy both questions many and supports some racial stereotypes through the specific characters’ personality traits.
The diversity in the show is accurate to real life in that all races are represented. From the first episode, stereotypes towards African Americans are defied. Dr. Richard Webber, Dr. Miranda Bailey, and Dr. Preston Burke are all African American and are all chiefs of surgery. These doctors play a major role in showing that African Americans are not unintelligent and not hard-working, like stereotypes play them out to be. The show starts off with four white interns and one Korean intern at the hospital, but has three African Americans playing more important roles. The fact that many African American characters are superior to white characters questions racial stereotypes by showing that white people are not superior to minorities and that they do not always have to play a leading role. While many black racial stereotypes are questioned in Grey’s Anatomy, other stereotypes for Asians are perpetuated. In the first episode, Christina Yang, who is Korean, is portrayed as very smart, hardworking, and top of her class at Stanford. The stereotype that Asians are hardworking and nerdy is reinforced. As the audience gets to know the characters, stereotypes are not as obvious, but the first episode both highlights and minimizes certain qualities of the characters. Bailey for Chief
The Proud Family is a television series that aired on Disney Channel in the early 2000s, based on teenager Penny Proud and her African-American family. Although the television series ended in 2005, it is still relevant today because, since it first aired when I was so young, it was one of my generation’s first encounters with racial stereotypes. Throughout the television series, The Proud Family perpetuates some racial stereotypes while also rejecting others because some individual characters, like Trudy Proud, do not follow common stereotypes versus black mothers while, in contrast, other characters, like the Gross Sisters, perpetuate racial stereotypes throughout the series.
The series rejects many common racial stereotypes throughout the episodes. In general, the series itself was the first Disney Channel television show to have a black lead, breaking a large racial barrier on a very popular network. In the series, one prominent character who rejects common racial stereotypes against African Americans is Trudy Proud, Penny’s mother. Black motherhood is historically denounced and constantly questioned so it is extremely rare to see a strong black motherhood role in the media. Trudy Proud is a strong woman, who is the main financial, emotional, and physical supporter of her family and works as a veterinarian. In addition to her job, she is the mother of three children and an influential mentor to her oldest daughter, Penny, helping her as she navigates her teenage years. This rejects racial stereotypes because Trudy is caring and concerned with family affairs and makes good money at a respectable job, characteristics not commonly given to African-American characters on TV shows.
While the series rejects some common stereotypes against African-Americans, it also perpetuates many more. As previously mentioned, black mothers are commonly stereotyped as absent caregivers. This stereotype is perpetuated by Penny’s best friend, Dijonay, who has many misbehaved siblings whom she has to care for herself because there is no other authority figure to do so. This also perpetuates the idea that black children are disobedient. In addition to Penny’s friend, Penny’s father takes the role of the stereotypical “coon” because he is known to be a business failure who is lazy and irresponsible. Oscar Proud preserves the stereotype of a lackadaisical black father. Finally, the criminal stereotype which states that black people are dangerous, is perpetuated by the Gross Sisters. These are girls at Penny’s school who bully and take kids’ lunch money. To make the stereotype more real, they wear ragged clothes and their skin is blue to illustrate that they are “ashy”.
In conclusion, The Proud Family is still relevant today, even though it ended over ten years ago, because it planted the seed of African-American stereotypes in young viewers of Disney Channel, like myself. Before I realized it, the television show set a standard for what I expected to see in the media. While it rejected a few stereotypes, it also accepted many more, giving me false ideas about what to expect in my life and in media. The series also connects to other works of culture because the generalizations made against certain races remains a common factor in many popular television series, movies, and many more.
The Office was a groundbreaking television show that challenges relatable and uncomfortable topics that are relatable to many Americans. The extremity of the subject and vulgar humor forces the audience to experience the awkwardness of the situation. It has received countless nominations and over 20 awards such as Emmys, Screen Actors Guild awards, Golden Globe awards, as well as the People's Choice award. The Office has incredible character development and real life situational humor. The second episode of the series, aired in 2005, “Diversity Day”, was named the nineteenth greatest episode of any television show in 2009 by TV Guide. The construction of race in the episode “Diversity Day” uses intense exaggeration, highly offensive and vulgar stereotyping as well as developing characters in order to symbolize the audience.
Michael, the boss, thinks he's trying to help and that he understands race as well as actually making the workplace a safer and more welcoming environment. However, because of his own insensitivity, the workplace is forced to do a “Diversity Day” to educate the staff on proper race relations. Ironically, Michael is the only one who really needs it. Michael tried to come from a place of understanding but his ignorance is visible, “Abraham Lincoln once said that if you're a racist, I will attack you with the North, and those are the principles that I carry with me in the workplace.” Taking matter into his own hands, Michael writes out different races on index cards such as “Asian”, “Indian”, “Jamaican”, and even “Jewish” and “Martin Luther King Jr.” Michael has the employee's tape the index cards to their heads and have others describe the race to them so they can guess what is written on the card. When Pam, a mild mannered worker is forced to play along, describes Chinese, “Fine, if I had to say something very stereotypical and bad about this card that’s on your head, if I’m being forced to do this against my will, I suppose I would say, and I don’t actually mean this, but I suppose I would say that you’re not a very good driver.” By using common and offensive stereotypes, the audience is shocked but can still relate to the resistance of the characters. Pam’s unwillingness to participate symbolizes the uncomfortableness of race, especially coming from a place of privilege. Michael Scott symbolizes the good hearted and well intentioned American who matter of factly knows next to nothing about race in America. The writers do this in such an outrageous and ballsy way that it brings shock value to the audience. The show is not afraid to cross boundaries, all races included, even the most touchiest, “You'll notice I didn't have anybody being Arab. I thought that would be too explosive. No pun intended. But I just thought, "Too soon for Arabs." Maybe next year. Um... You know, the ball's in their court." It makes the audience remember the times in life they too have experienced very cringy and similar experiences. Race is such an unspoken and silenced subject, especially in the workplace. By bringing forth this uncomfortable topic in the way they did, it shines the light on American culture and the unspoken mental stereotypes and biases we all have. They are rarely to the extreme that’s portrayed in this episode, but it does challenge our notions and and makes us stop and think about the world around us.
This episode reminds me of the uncomfortable situations of race I have encountered. In grade school, race was explained in a very clear cut manner with no grey areas allowed. As I continued to get older, I was woken up to all of the injustice and inequality in our society. There are so many grey areas when it comes to race in our society. Race has become such an important topic that should be spoken about freely and normalized. With the election and inauguration of the new president elect, race will be forced into the spotlight as a central topic heavily discussed in America today. As society progresses, and regresses, race will always be an underlying problem that demands to be heard. Television shows like The Office, although crude and outrageous, force the American consumer to question their own notions of race as well as allow them to do it in a satirical fashion. American culture needs more iconic television shows like The Office that allow the audience to be conscious of their own biases and beliefs, as well as modernize and portray a diverse cast. The Office pushes the boundaries of television in an effective and thought-provoking way, making race a central topic of discussion.
For my satire post, I chose to analyze Saturday Night Live's skit, The Day Beyoncé Turned Black. The skit is about the day when Beyoncé came out with her "unapologetically black" song "Formation," and how it was the day when white people realized Beyoncé was black. This causes them to basically lose their minds and go into chaos.
The main satirical techniques the video uses are hyperbole and situational irony. In the video, there are white people rioting in the streets the day that "Formation" came out, over the fact that Beyoncé's new song was not catered directly to white people, which is obviously an over-exaggeration of what actually happened. The video uses situational irony too, because of how little it matters that Beyoncé's song was not catering to white people, as opposed to how they make it out to be in the video, which shows it as a life altering event.
This video is not just making fun of white people, which is what it seems like at first glance, (although it is making fun of white people) but it is pointing out real problems in our society today. The main one is that white people can only like black celebrities if they can just forget that they are black. This leads into another issue; that there is a way to "act black." This is highlighted when a white woman tells her black friend that Beyoncé is black, and that they have to leave America. The black woman says that she is black too, to which the white woman replies, "What? no you're not, you're like, my girl," as well as another part in the video where a white man says, "How can Beyoncé be black? She's already a woman!" Using hyperbole is a great way to highlight actual issues in a humorous way, this video is a great example of satire.
