Saturday, January 3, 2009
TV Tokenism
For the past couple of weeks we have been studying TV Tokenism. I feel that TV Tokenism is definitely a problem, but I feel like it is not a problem for most of America. If America truly cared about the problem, it would not exist. If people saw a cast and thought that it was not diverse enough they wouldn't watch the show, simple as that. If America did not watch shows without diverse casts, the ratings would go down and changes would be made. I feel that America is simply happy the way things are, that's why the casts are not diverse. However there are a few shows with diverse casts. One of my favorite shows, Dexter, has a very diverse cast. While the main role, of course, is played by a white male the supporting characters are very diverse. The lieutenant is a Latina and she is a pretty complex character, while in most shows the minority character is not complex. Also, the main detective is African American and is a very interesting character who gets even more complex in the episodes preceding his death. There are two more main roles with minority characters and that is one of the main reasons the show is so succesfull.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Matt -- I'm also a big fan of Dexter, but I can't fool myself into thinking that it's not an example of tokenism.
I would agree with you to an extent: the minority characters are certainly better drawn than on network TV, but I wonder if that is because the show appears on SHOWTIME, a *premium* channel, not on a free network chanel?
Ultimately, just think of the woman who plays the IAD character: is that a role you'd want to play as an actor? And why is Dexter's girlfriend a white woman? Couldn't she just as easily been Cuban or Chinese?
I see your point that Dexter is on a premium channel, I forgot to consider that. However, in a way I think that Dexter's girlfriend is a minority character. She plays a single mother raising two kids and is dating a serial killer and has an ex-convict of a husband. Also, if she had been a minority character of a different race than Dexter, a caucasian character, would have been a minority in the show. Also, I am not sure who is the IAD character?
Post a Comment