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Not too long ago, I took part in a Nielsen TV rating survey. Being a part of that study helped me see how I spend my days and nights and what I view as important consumption for my brain! What I deduced from keeping the required TV diary is that I enjoy watching comedies for the most part with some news thrown in to keep connected with local and world events.
I perceive television as being
a visual text, as a live, ever-changing cultural artifact, and as a mirror
showcasing the good, the bad and the ugly of our culture. While it has had its great moments of
novelty, nuance and creativity, TV, to me, has really deteriorated over the
years. I am not saying that we should
only watch comedies to escape and ignore what is going on in the world, but the way
things stand now, there are too many negative shows on TV. Take for instance, reality shows--in my opinion, there are just too many reality shows which constantly pitch one person or group against
another in an environment of artificial situations, compromised values, and all the while spewing evil, ugly and downright mean verbiage! And we wonder why we have so much bullying at
our local schools? Unfortunately, for
some reason, many people tend to imitate the bad behavior of others rather than the
good behavior. I believe that reality
shows are the bane of our existence, and bullying, rudeness and stress can all
be attributed in large part to the inordinate amount of reality shows on
television! Since it is highly
unlikely that we will ever be rid of this type of programming, how about having
more shows which depict adults, teens and children doing good things for
others, like visiting the poor, the elderly, the shut-in, sick children or pets,
etc., while making a difference for all parties involved?!
Also,I think television commercials reflect poorly on the culture of our country-- stereotypes still dictate how people are portrayed
and how products are sold: The men are
portrayed as silly buffoons or sex-crazed adolescents; the kids are portrayed
as smart-mouthed, spoiled brats; the women are portrayed as materialistic,
shoe-shopping, weight-obsessed stick people.
Men make the messes; women clean up the messes (with Bounty, Clorox
wipes, Pledge, toilet cleaners, etc.), and the kids of course get away with everything in
between.
Furthermore, you rarely ever
see blacks, Hispanics or Asians as couples, and you hardly ever see any
interracial couples in commercials (good for you Cheerios!), sitcoms or dramas (we do
have Scandal though, right?). Lifetime and Lifetime Movie Network, for instance, usually reserve February, i.e., Black History Month as the time of year when they trot out movies portraying black women in leading roles. The other 11 months of the year, the female lead is most likely played by a white
female, and if a black woman happens
to be in that film, she is cast as the sidekick giving advice relating to the white
woman’s angst about her relationship problems.
Where are the women of color in romantic comedies who are in angst about
their relationships? I recently saw Letters from Juliet, and I could not see
any reason why a woman of color couldn’t have played the lead role. How about having a black or Hispanic or Asian
woman as a lead and let a white woman be the sidekick for a change?
Other than a few comedies
like Reed between the Lines, black
men are primarily depicted as rough, undesirable, and funny as long as they are
putting down women, but rarely if ever are they portrayed as intelligent AND
funny at the same time like the men in the comedy show Frasier? You rarely, if
ever, see black men in romantic comedies either.
