Breaking Bad and Orange Is the New Black (OITNB) have seemed to make breakthroughs in the entertainment world. Both shows have a vast following as they have proven how exciting and dramatic television can be. One, depicting the life of middle aged drug kingpin and the other exploring the life inside of a female penitentiary. From an entertainment perspective, both show will leave its viewers on the edge of their seats anticipating what will happen next. However, it is highly interesting to examine both TV series from a critical point of view to understand the concepts and idea’s used to convey diversity. Both Breaking Bad (BB) and OITNB address the issues of diversity in a social context. By evaluating and criticizing several forms of diversity, we can see how each show either accepts or challenges our perception of diversity in the mainstream industry. Also by critically breaking down character roles, scenes, and themes of both TV series, we can understand how influenced our social understandings and perspectives are. Lastly, by explicitly focusing on the themes of sex, masculinity and femininity, which all formulate the concept of gender as well as exploring the depiction of criminality, this paper will critique how BB and OITNB approach diversity. A contrast between the two series will also be made by evaluating secondary themes such as behavior, stereotyping as well as the characteristics of the mainstream culture in order to understand the depiction of diversity
The television shows from 1950 to the present are connected in many ways. The characters showed in the 1950s television show called Leave It To Beaver all have white coloured skin and portrayed as a happy, perfect family. As the decades increased, the nuclear families turned into blended families, and the television shows started to have coloured characters. The families started to have problems and social situations. The viewer sees the conflicts inside the family begin as the years progress. For example, in the 2000's we examined a television show called Arrested Development. The show portrays the characters as if they are troubled and have problems. The children do not listen to their parents but instead have
However, the most typical type of portrayal that can be seen in modern television is the one that includes black actors to portray black characters without prejudices or ideas about their “otherness.” As suggested in the study by Parks and Kumar (2003), it is normal for the modern television to contain images of black bodies in the same contexts as the white ones (p. 423). Instead of pointing to his blackness, the authors of the Criminal Minds have included Derek Morgan as an ordinary character into the team of behavioral profilers who do the same job. The only distinction of Derek Morgan from other members of the team is his ethnicity. Therefore, this type of stereotyping should be discussed along with the other efforts of the TV series creators to include a black role model, a “good guy” into the
Shameless is a Golden-Globe nominated show with a white dominated cast. One of the siblings on the show is black, but is identified as a White male contrary to the character’s skin tone. “When it comes to representations of Blacks on television, the 1980s can be seen as a decade of elevated inclusion both in terms of the quantity and quality of roles -- which remains the norm today. (Tukachinsky, Mastro, & Yarchi, 2015). Over the years, we will see more shows gearing their audiences to the black community. Producers add in a few social issues to reel viewers in, but the fact remains the same that a prime time heavy hitting shows, will most likely have less than 20% of their cast of African descent. In consonance with researchers, blacks currently constitute between 14-17 percent of the prime-time population. (Tukachinsky, Mastro, & Yarchi, 2015). The lack of representation in the media can lead to some interpreting that the Caucasian race is the superior race, and in retrospect, can influence the attitudes and beliefs of viewers. Prior research has shown that exposure to counter stereotypic exemplars in the media can have a positive effect on inter-group relations. (Scharrer, & Ramasubramanian, 2015) In order to reduce the misrepresentation from taking over the media, we must depict a positive image on the lives of minorities and portray them as successful, thriving human beings. By
Over the years television has been known to be one of the major educating and socializing institution in America. Television in today’s society is able to play a powerful key through which individuals can be informed, hold forums, and voice their opinion‘s. Television is also important because it offers us glimpses into minority life and minority figures. When sociologists examine minorities in television they document how minorities are portrayed and how those portrayals have changed over the years. Through time, minorities in television have been able to make moderate gains whether they are in front of or behind cameras. However, they continue to remain significantly underrepresented as leading actors in films, as writers, and as TV show creators. Even though minorities are significantly underrepresented in today’s society the TV industry has been pushing to give an opportunity to many minority groups in succeeding in the media. Several TV shows and commercials have succeeded in the TV industry to try and change how minorities are underrepresented, however, there are also shows that reinforce stereotypes and are prejudice towards minorities.
In the essay “Getting Down To What Is Really Real,” John Jeremiah Sullivan discusses the reality TV show “The Real World”. In his essay, Sullivan gives us an inside experience with the main stars of the show in order to give us a glimpse of what their real lives are like. He argues, “the single most interesting thing about reality TV, is the way it has successfully appropriated reality”(Sullivan 97). Similarly, Hispanic culture has been portrayed stereotypically in TV shows and films throughout the years. Latino characters on TV mostly take roles of maids, thugs and Latin lovers who have a heavy accent and immigration problems (Nittle). Movies like Maid In Manhattan and A Day Without A Mexican have represented these stereotypes quite clearly, and that sadly reflects how people see them. However, most recently, the TV show Jane The Virgin is applying a more complex and realistic depiction of Hispanic characters by breaking these stereotypes.
Samuels (2011) analyzes different television shows in an attempt to draw the conclusion of the portrayal and demeanor of African American women on television. Using current African American dominated shows that attract viewers such as “Love and Hip Hop”, “Real House Wives” and “The Bad Girls Club”, Samuels came to the conclusion that these shows use black women to justify the stereotype of the “angry black woman”. Although Donald Trump’s show “Celebrity Apprentice” is not an African American dominated show, Samuels uses it as an introductory and perfect example that black women are used on television as a whole to exemplify this stereotype when Star Jones and NeNe Leakes are shown arguing. Samuels analyzes simple things such as facial expression, movement and gestures on a variety of television shows that feature African American women using it as proof that it defines them as the angry black woman because Caucasian women do the complete opposite when being analyzed through the shows. When taking a look at VH1’s “Basketball Wives” and “Love and Hip Hop”, Samuels noticed that each show had a pattern and contained a confrontation between the women or the threat to do bodily harm to another person.
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.
The media is the biggest tool of circuit of culture, and yet there are very few representations of minorities in media. Fresh Off the Boat is a cultural artifact for Asian Americans. “Artifacts are charged with meaning, but many of those meanings speak for our identification with groups” (Brummett p.55). The show represents what the group is like as a whole. This is problematic as the show represents Asian Americans as chinkified, “ching-chong” caricatures. The methods used for methodological perspective are the nodal points of the Circuit of Culture. The Circuit of Culture is representation, regulation, identity, consumption, and production. Out of these five, identity relates to the show the most. The show represents Asian Americans and reminds or shows the audience the experience of immigrants. Many Asian Americans tune into Fresh Off the Boat because it is one of the few times Asian Americans are able to identify themselves and their families with the characters as they experience similar experiences. It reminds Asian Americans the struggles and difficulties of balancing two different worlds and experiencing extreme prejudice. The writer for “Saucy Dishes”, Gish Jen writes, “And all for the distancing of the
According to the article, Outsider Art, Written by Willa Paskin, Programs starring minority groups are bringing a new level of awareness to the issues facing migrants and other minorities everyday. Programs like How to Get Away With Murder and Blackish are another example of how Hollywood’s latest push for diversity is progressing the public's views on immigrants and educating the masses about what minorities have to deal with on a daily basis.
Method By pulling direct examples from Grey’s Anatomy plot points and quotes, this paper will argue that Grey’s Anatomy does in fact, portray women positively in the media. Furthermore, Grey’s Anatomy portrays women in a much more complex, realistic view through the character development, character goals, and relationships depicted. Analysis Right off the bat, the show’s pilot episode, “A Hard Day’s Night,” provides a glaring example of challenging gendered groups. In its first few minutes, interns Meredith Grey, Cristina Yang and George O’Malley learn that their resident (the more experienced surgeon under whom they will work) will be Dr. Bailey—who has earned the nickname “The Nazi”.
Most of the problem’s in todays television are the lack of representation. There is often close to no diversity. In OITNB the cast is extremely diverse and does not have just white characters with a token person of a different race. The problem of race is coming up in tv a lot because there are so few roles for people of color on television;
Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead are without a doubt two of the most popular shows on Netflix. From cooking Methamphetamine to killing off zombies, both shows provide viewers with amazing stories, and action packed episodes that will have you leaning off the edge of your seat. While many fans simply see two different worlds filled with zombies and drug dealers, there are actually small similarities that make people question if the two shows actually coexist within the same fictional world. Many of these similarities are hidden messages or items within the series that the writers have incorporated for the enjoyment of the fans. Once brought to the viewer’s attention, they will find themselves pondering over these similarities, struggling
Life is not fair for Jesse Pinkman, a 25-year-old man who is long estranged with his family. In the Breaking Bad series, Jesse is thought to be what society would call a low-life (Quin). From the moment we see Jesse in the first episode, he is on the run under the pseudonym “Cap’n Cook” (“Jesse Pinkman”). When Jesse and Walter join to make methamphetamine, their lives start to spiral. To be deprived of doing something you are passionate about, and to be rejected by your own family because of it, can make a man do unthinkable things. Because of past events in his life, Jesse is in search of approval and attention while living a life of crime.
the other was the imbalances created in the televison between black and white community. it teaches young black to accept minority status as noticebely inevietable and even deserved. television also overrepresent and glamourize the elite occupation that sets up unrealistic expectations and largely neglects portraying the occupation such as farmers, factory workers and small businessman. On television 55% of characters are involved in the violent conforontation once a week in reality figure is less than 1 % creating a fear of crime. the way the race and the racial minority groups are represented in television they contribute to the overall racial climate.The historical results have been distinct and different groups have encountered unique forms of racial opression. Native american faced genocide , blacks were subjected to slavery, mexicans were invaded and asians faced exclusions. Films and televsions have been notorious in dissementing images of racial minorities which establish for audiences what these groups look like, how they behave and in essence who they are. Another important perhaps central dimensions of racial minority streotype is sex gender differentiation. women of color were sometimes treated as erotic sex objects. such a comment revelas an interesting aspects about myths and reality in american culture. the imporatance of race
Orange Is the New Black has started to redefine various gender and sexuality expectations that have been concreted in to media for many years. Women are not always portrayed genuinely in mainstream media, many television shows place women on a sexualized pedestal, where they are subject to male gaze due to hegemonic femininity representation. Diane Ponterotto (2016) describes how male gaze can affect media, and social notions, “Through the male gaze, the female body becomes territory, a valuable resource to be acquired,” (p. 147.) Ponterotto continues, mentioning that many women have