The Last One...

Well, this is my last blog for TV, Minorities and Cultural Diversity and I have to say that of all of the courses I have taken here at BSC, this one was definitely one of the most beneficial. When I signed up for this course, I thought it sounded interesting, but I never expected to learn as much as I have. This class in particular has been incredibly eye-opening and its been great talking to you all on the discussion boards and gaining a better understanding of different cultural issues in the media that I knew very little about just a few short months ago. I am generally a visual learner, so I love classes that involve screenings and such, and I think I can honestly say that every one of the screenings in this class was absolutely fascinating. The class as a whole has made me more consciously aware of stereotypes and cultural limitations in television and has caused me to pay closer attention to the cultural issues present in the media that I use regularly. Anyway... I have thoroughly enjoyed this class and hope to continue learning more about racial and ethnic matters related to media in the future. Good luck everyone!

Stereotyping in "The Office"?

I wrote my final paper for class on the cultural representations in The Office and what those portrayals project to viewers. I originally intended to include a discussion about Grey’s Anatomy as well, but to stay within the assigned page count, there was a last minute change of plans and only The Office ended up in the paper. I love this show and have always thought of it as being relatively diverse, but when I actually stepped back and watched the show from a more critical viewpoint and compared the portrayals of the minority characters to some of the stereotypes discussed in the literature review, I was a little surprised by how many stereotypes there actually were. It seemed like a lot of the minority representation came through guest roles rather than main characters, which I guess I never really paid attention to before and I honestly never really read too much into some of the personality traits associated with characters like Stanley and Oscar for example, but they make a lot more sense now. I don’t know if it is the fact that the stereotypes are a bit shielded by the comedic aspect of the show, but for some reason, I did not pick up on the level of stereotyping until I was actively seeking it out.

What do you guys think? Do stereotypes come across as being less significant when they are used in comedy or do people just not realize what they are seeing?

Tiger Woods and Celebrity Coverage in the Media...

So I know a ton of people have written about this already, but how can I not mention the whole Tiger Woods situation? I mean, its been weeks since the story surfaced and its still all over the media. It seems like every time I turn on the television I hear something about one of his many mistresses, his cancelled appearances, debates over whether his wife should stand by him, questions about the future of his endorsement deals, and about a million other topics related to Tiger Woods. I don’t really understand why so much focus is put on celebrities personal lives in the media. If it were only on shows like E! News and TMZ, that would be understandable, but it seems like entertainment news is slowly infiltrating other aspects of the media as well, to the point where celebrity based stories are made to be just as important as hard hitting journalism. Maybe it is the fact that certain people are perceived as such great role models and when they hit a rough patch, it comes across as newsworthy? I don’t know… what does everyone else think? Why do celebrity news stories, such as Tiger Woods infidelity, get made out to be so important in the media?