Representation.
This course was the explorative journey into expanding our media mindset to seeing just how culture is represented in media. It’s a brutal world out there. This world exploits race and ethnicity for the entertainment of the nation. This world allows stereotypes to take the spotlight and uses culture as a prop of comedy. This is television today.
Not to be egocentric, but let’s begin with who I am in regards to how media defines me.
Intro to media and me
The Role of Race in Reality Television
Based on Katrina Bell-Jordan’s article “Black. White. and a Survivor of The Real World: Constructions of Race on Reality TV”. See my critique on the topic at hand and how the article itself was constructed.
Race and the Production of News
Yes, race does have a very real and very important role in the production of news. These very real stereotypes that define race and ethnicity in media are not just prevalent in reality shows or sitcoms, it’s in the news too. If anything, the most condemning portrayals occur in the news. Worth the read.
Diversity in Disney
Based upon a project conducted of my own research, read on to decide if Disney’s representation of race/ethnicity/culture is deserving of applause or scrutiny.
The second half of this project involved choosing a topic I was passionate about regarding race and media. Like most, I have watched Disney films since I was a kid and never really considered the stereotypical representation that seeped into my subconscious. These inaccurate portrayals of race/ethnicity are dangerous and allow people to proceed in their lives with long-term prejudices. I wondered how many of the animated characters were misrepresented onscreen and how many of the voice actors/actresses were culturally accurate to their role. It would seem silly to grow up thinking all cultures sound 100% American, wouldn’t it?
The Final Video: Media Literacy
Just how culturally aware of representation in media? Specifically when it comes to determining elongated, exaggerated stereotype from real cultural representation, how do we know the difference? Our final project lead with the intention on creating a more culturally aware audience when it comes to recognizing the error in media, how to weed out the misrepresentations. I chose to focus my final project on something I feel passionate about: educating teenagers on the inaccurate portrayals of African American culture in comedy.
