I never put too much thought into how characters act and are portrayed on television other than to enjoy it. However, after attending the lecture on race, I started to use critical thinking to dig deeper on what they were actually trying to illustrate. Many television shows and movies use hegemony to show dominance over another social group. They negatively stereotype many minorities by generalizing them as a whole based exaggeration. For instance, Sofia Vergara plays a role of a Latina woman who can hardly speak English, always has an attitude and needs saving by a white man. Generalizations such as these are very harmful to society because it influences the audience that these stereotypes are true and we should accept it.
However, May the Circle Stay Unbroken: Friends, the Presence of Absence, and the Rhetorical Reinforcement of Whiteness by Phil Chidester explains that majority of television shows perpetuate the critical whiteness theory by having white people be at a higher power and exclude other races(pg. 157). For example, the television show Friends only have white people as the major characters and minorities as a minor role. When they do introduce a minority, they are always questioned about their ethnicity but never the other way around. In addition, the minorities are usually an exotic foreign person who can’ speak English well and always fits their race’s stereotype. Phil Chidester further explains that the sitcom Friends incorporates a group of white friends who exclude other races and refuse to acknowledge the differences of other races (pg. 160).
Many people do not realize this but critical whiteness theory is everywhere because it remains central and invisible. We are so use to it that it is very hard to detect and became widely accepted into our culture. Many of our favorite television show’s protagonist are white while the antagonists are represented as a minority or someone with darker skin even though the actor playing the antagonists is white. For example, Robert Downing Jr. who is white plays the hero iron man while Mickey Rourke who is also white plays the antagonist named whiplashed. Whiplash is depicted as a villain with tan skin, tattoos and looks either Hispanic or Asian. As a result, you never see many white villains compared to minorities because they are scarier.
In conclusion, Televisions shows and movies create negative stereotypes that influence society as socially acceptable. Hegemony and the critical whiteness theory leaks everywhere even though is it invisible that gives unearned racial privileges and dominance over other races as seen in the TV sitcom “Friends”.
Chidester, Phil. “May the Circle Stay Unbroken: Friends, the Presence of Absence, and the Rhetorical Reinforcement of Whiteness.” Critical Studies in Media Communication 25.2 (2008): 157-74. Penn State. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. <https://cms.psu.edu/section/default.asp?id=201415SPUP___RCOMM_411_001&goto=>.
Sofia Vergara believes she can speak well English but it is very poor because of her thick Spanish accent.
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