Saturday, December 7, 2013

Distorting Reality or Portraying Reality: The Media


Distorting Reality or Portraying Reality: The Media

The media is powerful outlets were people get their information. They can access the news, health trends, visit other countries, watch sitcoms, movies ect. More and more children and parents are spending time being glued in front of the television. In a report from the American Time Use Survey for 2012, the results showed that Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time (2.8 hours per day), accounting for about half of leisure time, on average, for those age 15 and over. It may not seem like a lot but if you consider that watching television takes up about three hours of your leisure time that is a lot of time spent watching television.

            Unfortunately the programs that are ran through the television networks are not the most educational or the most culturally relevant. Most of the programs on television often portray stereotypical views of minorities and poke fun at those stereotypes lightening their crude meaning behind them. On the other hand, are the programs and shows that are on television just a distortion of reality made to humor the public?
            I believe that the way minorities are portrayed in the media is very close to reality. Unfortunately, they feed and play into racist and stereotypical views that “Americans” have on minorities. Therefore I do not believe that the media distorts reality of American life, it is actually a mirror image of the racism and stereotypes that are deeply embedded in our culture.

            America is a huge melting pot that is rich in diversity. Unfortunately the media does not adequately represent all these groups of minorities. In examining the current shows on television that have leading characters which are minorities the selection was very limited. For example, when looking for Latino leading characters on current television shows there are limited options, which include: Modern Family, Castle, Chicago Fire, Law & Order SVU ect. It seems like Latinos have come a long way in the media world but how exactly are they being portrayed in these television shows? In Modern Family for example, the lead character Sofia Vergara is portrayed as a loud, outspoken character, which has an attitude, and speaks English with a heavy accent.

            Not only are Latinos portrayed through stereotypes in television series but also African Americans. African American actors that have leading character roles on current television shows are very limited as well. There are a few networks, outside of BET, were you see African American protagonist, these shows include: Scandal, House, Walking Dead, Greys Anatomy. According to Rhonesha Byngm, Scandal is the first television show were an African American female actually has a starting role.  The way the African American family is portrayed in the media is very stereotypical as well. Most black family shows are comedy sitcoms that are shown on BET. These shows do not often make it into mainstream networks. Other than the Coby’s, Bernie Mack Show, and Martin, there have not been current shows that are supposed to represent the black family in the mainstream media. As I mentioned before, all these shows are comedy shows.

           How can one get an accurate depiction or see themselves on television when there is a lack of representation of minorities on television. All you see are the negative and silly images which represent minorities. It skews your rational in regards to how those minorities are supposed to act. Therefore the media helps reinforce stereotypes. If someone has never encountered or had an interaction with someone from another race and all they do is watch television they automatically think they have an idea/insight of how people from different races act and behave. They form these ideas about them before they meet someone of that race. 

Recently, there has been an influx and wave of reality shows that are supposed to depict these real life situations/scenarios which in the end are all scripted. They are not really reality shows because they have some sense of manipulation and have situations that are created by the director themselves. Unfortunately, children and naive people think that they represent actual reality. The way the world really works and the way people act. Shows like Mob Wives, Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, the Real House Wives all claim they portray reality and how things actually occur. In reality, the creators of these shows take little dramatic scenes are often over-dramatized and blow them up because people are entertain by watching others make fools of themselves. In Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta the main protagonists are rappers: who are black, smoke weed, the males are players, they have drama with the mother of their children. There is always fights and drama constantly on that show. I do not think that people live their life everyday fighting and getting into these altercations. But little problems and issues are made larger than life on those kinds of shows. 

      I just worry about the messages this is sending the children and younger generation about how people behave and act in society. Also, how the media is feeding into the negative stereotypes and racism that is embedded in American culture. There need to be a change in regards to what is shown in the media, some kind of filtering. I think most of these reality shows are trashy.
  
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