TITLE: Portrayal of coloured people in foreign sitcoms
INTRODUCTION
I have chosen this topic because, being an Indian, I, myself have noticed Indians being portrayed not realistically but stereotypically in foreign sitcoms. And not just Indians but all people of colour. Pick any foreign sitcom, be it The big bang theory, The Simpsons or any movie like Mean girls, etc, you will notice that they all have this one thing in common: Stereotypes. There are a million shades of stereotypes present in the foreign sitcoms and not a single shade of reality. People of colour have been made a joke, Asians are too smart, Indians are too preserved, Koreans are weird, Black people are sarcastic , it’s always the same thing being repeated as a joke in the sitcoms. …show more content…
They are present in book, sitcoms, movies and even certain comics. Another thing you will notice is that there might be black people living in America as Americans but there are only about 23% sitcoms with people with black colour as protagonists (That’s so
Raven, Blackish, etc) Also, Im sure you must’ve heard the terms ‘white girl problems’ and ‘black girl problems’ where white girls are mostly rich and having problems such as ‘which car to use’ and black people have problems like ‘which public transport to use’. This is an example of the economic stereotypes that are shown in American as well as British sitcoms. Like I said, there are a million shades of stereotypes in these foreign sitcoms and I would like to analyse if not all, the some of it and also the grassroots reason for these stereotypes and where they stem from.
RESEARCH …show more content…
In the novel THE HELP , the relationship between African -American help and their employers is portrayed . Set in 1960’s in Mississippi the earlier presumptions , stereotypes regarding the help is proven wrong i.e. they were earlier portrayed as loyal , asexual , contended caretakers of the white population . In this particular novel , the black women are portrayed in a genuine limelight where they are shown to be loyal to their jobs , families , and the relationship between them and the children that they care for is candid and sincere. But then we see how these black people were treated in 1960’s and they were treated like slaves. They were slaves, in fact, to the white people. They took care of the kids to the extent that they practically raised them. And another aspect of the book was how girls who were chubby were shown. In the book, the girl that was being raised by a maid who was black in colour was not as loved by her mother because she was chubby. The white mother kept on asking the kid to not eat a lot as she was chubby due to which she didn’t have any self confidence. So, girls with white skin are expected to have the perfect figure in the book as nobody would marry
INTRODUCTION
I have chosen this topic because, being an Indian, I, myself have noticed Indians being portrayed not realistically but stereotypically in foreign sitcoms. And not just Indians but all people of colour. Pick any foreign sitcom, be it The big bang theory, The Simpsons or any movie like Mean girls, etc, you will notice that they all have this one thing in common: Stereotypes. There are a million shades of stereotypes present in the foreign sitcoms and not a single shade of reality. People of colour have been made a joke, Asians are too smart, Indians are too preserved, Koreans are weird, Black people are sarcastic , it’s always the same thing being repeated as a joke in the sitcoms. …show more content…
They are present in book, sitcoms, movies and even certain comics. Another thing you will notice is that there might be black people living in America as Americans but there are only about 23% sitcoms with people with black colour as protagonists (That’s so
Raven, Blackish, etc) Also, Im sure you must’ve heard the terms ‘white girl problems’ and ‘black girl problems’ where white girls are mostly rich and having problems such as ‘which car to use’ and black people have problems like ‘which public transport to use’. This is an example of the economic stereotypes that are shown in American as well as British sitcoms. Like I said, there are a million shades of stereotypes in these foreign sitcoms and I would like to analyse if not all, the some of it and also the grassroots reason for these stereotypes and where they stem from.
RESEARCH …show more content…
In the novel THE HELP , the relationship between African -American help and their employers is portrayed . Set in 1960’s in Mississippi the earlier presumptions , stereotypes regarding the help is proven wrong i.e. they were earlier portrayed as loyal , asexual , contended caretakers of the white population . In this particular novel , the black women are portrayed in a genuine limelight where they are shown to be loyal to their jobs , families , and the relationship between them and the children that they care for is candid and sincere. But then we see how these black people were treated in 1960’s and they were treated like slaves. They were slaves, in fact, to the white people. They took care of the kids to the extent that they practically raised them. And another aspect of the book was how girls who were chubby were shown. In the book, the girl that was being raised by a maid who was black in colour was not as loved by her mother because she was chubby. The white mother kept on asking the kid to not eat a lot as she was chubby due to which she didn’t have any self confidence. So, girls with white skin are expected to have the perfect figure in the book as nobody would marry