Derek Morgan Character Traits

According to hooks, “while superficially appearing to present a portrait of racial social equality, mass media actually work to reinforce assumptions that black folks should always be cast in supporting roles in relation to white characters.” Throughout the years, black and white characters were presented in the same frame, but with different lights. While they worked together, the subtle ideas of subordination and subservience of black people were being sent to the public. This fixed representation is nothing more than a racist stereotype, an

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

One of the disciplines explored by The Silence of the Lambs is criminology. "Criminology is the scientific study of crime, criminals, and the criminal justice system" (Northwest Community College). Criminology sets out to investigate and analyze criminals' motivations, the impact of crime on the community, how the criminal system operates, and the effectiveness of the criminal system (Northwest Community College). The Silence of the Lambs not only highlights the crimes committed by serial murderers, but it also analyzes the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) and the processes they undergo to determine, profile, and apprehend a serial murderer. In the film, the primary BAU investigator is Clarice

Executive producer Ed Bernero, who spent 10 years as a Chicago police officer says, “Criminal Minds episodes have roots in real cases”(1). He says the writers insist on accuracy and try to make the show as realistic as possible. In addition, it focuses and the personal lives of the agents, as well as illustrating the life of a profiler. The team is led by, profiler Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, who is able to gain people 's trust and draw out their secrets. Other members of the team include Senior Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi, a founding father of the BAU, Dr. Spencer Reid, the nerdy genius, Jennifer Jareau, the team 's Communication Liaison with the media and local police agencies, Penelope Garcia, the team 's Technical Analyst, and Derek Morgan.

As equality has become a prevalent issue and has furthered the significance of how all races are represented in all types of media. It only makes sense for there to be an increase in the effect of the stereotypes because it is what is being shown on television. On everyday television shows, African Americans are commonly: thieves, hookers, robbers, drug dealers or dumb. In the early 60s, African Americans were used as comedic relief in white television shows, creating stereotypes that black people are only used for talent or comedic relief. However, in this world, African Americans are pushed into the similar lives of the weird kids and/or losers that don’t accept their race. This

CBS aired the television show “Criminal Minds” in 2005, involving a team of seven intelligent and unique individuals. It is running strong into its seventh season and continues to gain popularity from people of all ages. This elite group of individuals makes up the leading team of profilers for the Federal Bureau of Investigation Behavioral Analysis Unit. These men and women find themselves in violent and dangerous situations all the time in their career with the FBI. The drama immerses viewers into the world of crime and violence that most people do not experience. The job of these FBI agents is to profile criminals and figure out their next move so they can stop them from committing another crime to innocent people. This show not only

Stereotypes are defined as an oversimplified image or idea about a specific type of person. It is believed that stereotypes about African Americans began in the United States around the 18th century. Anti-Black stereotypes arguably the most developed racist stereotypes in racial framing and have been used as foundations for the capture, enslavement, and later, the subjugation of African American people. Stating that stereotypes are just a joke is an understatement of the consequential after – math racial images and stereotypes have on the African American population. Even stereotypes that are considered positive are often concealed with negative implications and reasons as to why they exist. Most people may think they only hold stereotypes in the back of their head, but studies show that people are more likely to fall back on them in making judgments when they feel challenged, face uncertainty, or experience sensory overload. Using information from class, comparisons from the films we have watched and Ed Guerrero’s Framing Blackness, this paper will analyze the stereotypes in the television show Empire.

Wright would examine racial profiling if he was to write Black Boy today. Racial profiling is a very serious issue in the society today. Many African American were being target, and in some case murdered by law enforcement official because of their race. On August 9, 2014, a white police officer named Darren Wilson shoot an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown multiple time in Ferguson, Mo. According to news article “From Ferguson to Charleston and Beyond, Anguish about Race Keep Building”, Even though there was a video tape showing that the black teenager was unarmed, the county grand jury still decided not to indict the police office because they believed the old assumption that African Americans are more likely to be criminals. “Grand juries have tended to give the benefit of the doubt to police officers. National polls revealed deep divisions in how whites and blacks viewed the facts in each case. Whites were more likely to believe officers’ accounts justifying the use of force. Blacks tended to see deeper forces at work: longstanding police bias against black men and a presumption that they are criminals”.

The racial stereotyping of minority groups is a prevalent problem within the United State’s criminal justice system. It is a regrettable issue which permeates American society. The young Black male, in particular, is often portrayed as a criminal based on incorrect assumptions regarding who perpetrates crime. There are several components contributing to the criminal stigma of Blacks. The way crime is conveyed by American culture is possibly as important as how crime actually functions. The widespread belief that Black males commit the majority of crime skews the view society’s perception of Blacks. Typifications of Black males include a violent, threatening, thug-like character. The connection between race and crime is so deeply seeded in

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.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek” Barack Obama. The question is always asked does the media reflect the reality of society, or does society try and imitate the reality shown by the media? There are a number of stereotypes associated with African Americans in our society such as African American men are athletes, rappers, criminals, deviant, streetwise, uneducated, and unemployed just to name a few. African Americans in the media have changed through the years. The history of African Americans on TV or minorities in general is hampered by the racial conflicts and segregation that are embedded in American society. Historically, black actors have been grouped stereotypically and assigned to comedy. This has often been traced to the genre of black minstrelsy that was popular in the early 20th century.

In the television show The First 48, which is promoted as being an authentic form of reality television, the depiction of blacks as criminals is evident. In most cases, it is a black person who is suspected, accused and arrested for a crime; although, one might argue the show does its job to follow along with the calls received and crimes reported, the overrepresentation of blacks relative to the population numbers is evident. Ardis C. Martin, in an Academic Psychiatry Journal, writes, “People develop conceptions about the world as a result of repeated exposure to consistent and repetitive images in the media.” In watching The First 48, it is no surprise why a white consumer would come to the realization that all blacks are deviant criminals, while a black consumer would be susceptible to being a criminal because of a media that has already defined him or her by the color of his or her skin.

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 Dexter T.V. show is about a blood splatter pattern analyst for Miami Metro Police Department who also accompany of an undisclosed serial killer. Hunting down criminals who

Criminal Minds is one of the most interesting television shows I have come across. What sets it apart from various other shows based on forensic science and FBI storylines is that the BAU (Behavioral Analyst Unit) catches various criminals often referred to as ‘Unsubs’ in the show through behavioral profiling which means the team solves the cases through focusing on the psychology and point of view of the criminals, deeply understanding their stressors, statutory requirements, thought processes and more that lead them into committing some of the deadliest crimes. The show is written extremely well and is believable unlike other crime shows, infact a lot of episodes are based on real crimes committed by infamous criminals. What makes this ever-so-interesting series better is its wonderful cast. Each character in this show namely Hotch, Reid, Morgan, Rossi, Garcia and Prentis have their own quirks and set of skills which they contribute to the team. From Dr. Spencer Reid’s photographic memory and unlimited knowledge about everything to Garcia and