Stereotypes In The Cosby Show

The Cosby Show, was developed by actor Bill Cosby as a means to address the issues of negative black stereotyping in American media. Cosby set out to change how the media characterizes “typical black family in America. To undo what the misconceptions and misrepresentation of African Americans in earlier television shows. To change our society's perceived notions of African Americans

Caucasians tend to watch programs with primarily Caucasian casts, and African Americans tend to watch programs with primarily African American casts. Television has the power to influence American culture in many ways. For example, the images, which are presented on television, become what individuals expect in the real world. As negative images, or images misrepresenting African Americans are projected; the mass culture has a greater tendency to accept the false images as the truth. It is important for Americans to examine the basis of the expectations they have from television sitcoms and be careful in accepting its relation to the real world. The conclusions Americans of all races draw from this are important in lowering

Moreover, Cosby was a beloved comedian. As aforementioned, African-Americans loved him because he surmounted racial confinements and became, “the first African-American to star in prime-time, with the 1960s hit I Spy, and then as ‘America’s Dad,’ Dr. Cliff Huxtable, on the top-rated Cosby Show,” (Seal 3). Furthermore, America adored him because he was an extraordinary comedian filled with charisma. Not only was Cosby charming on screen, but he was also captivating in person. Cosby used his immaculate reputation and charm to seduce women, or more accurately: befriend them before drugging and raping them. For example, Victoria Valentino, one of his innumerable victims, wrote, “I was sickened by what was happening to me and shocked that this man

The Cosby show created a deliberately positive image of blacks thus the decision for Claire Huxtable to be shown as a lawyer and Cliff Huxtable being portrayed as a doctor. When The Cosby show made its debut in 1984 it was the first television show to show a successful upper-middle class black family. Until that point blacks in television were only portrayed as maids, servants, and janitors. The Cosby Show introduced Americans to a more realistic image of black Americans that dispelled old stereotypes that plagued America. The Cosby Show empowered black Americans and instilled a sense of pride throughout the community.

Asians always have perfect scores on the test and aspire to be doctors. African Americans have serious attitudes, are thugs and live in poverty. While all Hispanics are illegal immigrants, who can not speak English and commit vicious crimes. If you watch much television, all of these previous statements may seem true. Television is a powerful source of knowledge that in some ways help us understand others in humanity and ourselves.

Racial stigmas exist everywhere we look including commercials, shows, and movies. There are many influences that come from media outlets that lead society to critizes races and ethnicities by portraying them in having stereotypes as well as discriminating against a specific group, and lastly advertising biased thoughts. For example, the show Fresh Prince of Bel-Air displays African American stereotypes. At the same time, the film American History X which represents the effects of discrimination African Americans and Mexicans. And, the Volkswagen Polo commercials that displays prejudice thoughts against Middle eastern.

During the process of producing a television series, the demand for the producers to introduce their characters with only their highlighted traits make it impossible for viewers to gain a deep understanding of the community that the characters represent. One of the stereotypic traits that is usually seen on movies and television shows is societal difference that each race is placed into. Michael Omi in his article In Living Color: Race and American Culture stated that “in contemporary television and film, there is a tendency to present and equate racial minority groups and individuals with specific social problems” (546). There are many films and television shows found today that ground racial minorities into a specific social problems that are related to the color of their skin. It can be inferred from the current popular culture that this stereotype still persists.

Stereotypes are part of our everyday life and are used not only by the media but by everyday citizens as well. A very large percentage of the media is feeding off by stereotypes of many types of people and their cultures. No matter if this label is negative or positive towards a certain group of people the media still uses stereotyping to attack, label, or simply make fun of others in the community. While it may seeming harmless essentially this subconsciously teaches the viewers that being unkind or straight out uncivil is

The Magical Negro stereotype had been great development and hope for the people of colors in the era of the discrimination and the slavery, but, as the nation of colors grew up in the America, the population figured out that the Magical Negro stereotype were still going on. For an example, right after slavery or discrimination against the colors were broken, as the movies with main white character and the Magical Negro character came out, it was great hope for the African Americans and other Americans that they could help the hero to success and, in the reality, they also can work their way up in the film industry. Now the Magical Negro stereotype should have changed, but, as the world can see, it was not changed, yet, still the same. There

Another problem is these television shows may be the only interaction an audience may have with a particular race or ethnic group. This primarily affects children. Young children are extremely easy to influence and spend hours in front of the television. When children are exposed to only one race, they develop prejudices and bias towards other ethnicities. This misrepresentation of races of television shows may cause children to become close minded and prejudiced.

“The role of television as a reinforcer and crystallizer of existing attitudes is significant, even if few people actually form their opinions of cultures or races based on what they see on TV. If the audience views certain ethnic and racial groups in a negative manner and television portrayals confirm those images, then TV entertainment may be reassuring those people that their images of certain ethnic and racial groups as foolish, lower class, inarticulate, or criminal are correct.”

Or have you even thought about how race is portrayed in the media? What is racism? According to our text Think Race and Ethnicity by Mona Scott, racism “is systematic, oppressive treatment based on racial group membership and the belief, behaviors, institutional organization, or attitudes that favor one group over another” in today’s world racism is a major issue and impacts every race on various levels but in particular minorities. A great article written by Robert Anthony A Challenge to Critical Understanding of Race says that “in order to move sociological understanding of race forward is for people to refine their knowledge of the mechanisms responsible for generating the illusion of “race,” so if the media was to redefine the social understanding of racism such tool could be power for achieving equality within American society for minorities. The media has a major influence on racism and affects us on many levels. The way races are viewed and portrayed in today’s society simply can’t be brushed to the side. This paper will examine how various races are represented within the media while taking a deeper look at whether stereotypes of other races are exploited in the name of

The media is arguably the most powerful influence we have in terms of shaping our perception of the world. People will define themselves and others based on images seen in the media. “Stereotypes are used because they are simple vivid, memorable, easily grasped and widely recognized characterization in which a few traits are foregrounded and change or development is kept to a minimum.” (Dyer, 1999) These stereotypes distort people’s perceptions of the behavior of different races, sexual orientations and gender. Related to the concept stereotyping is the concept of tokenism. Tokenism can be found wherever a majority group is under pressure to share advantages with a minority group. While it may seem that tokenism is a way to diversify media, the minorities do not ever become completely assimilated into the majority group and are perpetually marginalized. In the television, film, books and videogames, this occurs when minorities play only supporting roles, have limited screen time are have characters that are underdeveloped. Many times they are used so networks can claim they are inclusive and diverse. This is highly profitable for networks and production companies. Tokenism allows for a broader appeal of film and television, giving viewers more people they can identify with.

Mass media, reality tv shows , cartoons, music ,and commercials influence race and racism because it puts in place a clear division between the white race and minority races. Reality tv shows only portray the negative side of certain races,cartoons portray racism but not directly , rap music is seen as a violent thing because of the type of artist, and commercials don't really portray other races when they are trying to sell products. In today's society, tv portrays African Americans as lower standard when compared to White Americans. This becomes apparent in the struggle to make peace with family as well as in finding their true loves.

Films and media have been a source of entertainment since the 1800s. Exposure of media through news and entertainment is a given to people all over the world, and we observe how people perceive others around us. Some concepts, a prominent one, coined “whitewashing”, is heavily in films which develops heavy prejudice towards other races aside from the more dominant white population. Whitewashing began during the early development of films across the United States, the castings of white actors and actresses gaining controversy and were heavily criticized. Whitewashing was considered offensive to others, due to the amount of it that was done during those times. These Hollywood films and social media place a stance on the role of other races