American Dad

We have been discussing advertising in America. How they have been making writers interact with products and essentially advertise from within. When the kids of "Gossip Girl" all use verizon wireless phones or people eat at certain spots. How on "American Idol" you can vote through text only if you have AT&T. This is going way beyond advertising and seems to be a more clever way to get us to watch commericals. The writers say that it stifles their creativity and i agree. Its hard to position and write for a show when you have to factor in phones, products and music. I have however found one refreshing way that this has been combated.

We have all seen the show "American Dad". For those of you who havent it is a cartoon on Fox about the "all american dad" . It is quite a funny show and often pushes the envelope. I was watching a re-run of this show on the cartoon network and saw the same kind of advertising. However in the episode the child asks why they had to have a certain converstation at Burger King. The father responds with a speech about how american advertisers are now integrating their products into shows relentlessly. I found this refreshing. Calling out the advertisers on their ridiculousness about putting certain things into shows.

Do you see how even I, in this blog have advertised certain shows and products? Will it ever end?

Gay Teens on TV

I was watching a show on "The-N" which is an affiliate of nickelodeon. The show is called "South of Nowhere". It is a teen soap opera however it is very different from any type of shows on other networks. It is about 8 teens and the drama of their life in LA. However two of the girls are gay and dating. One is out one is still in the closet. They show the hardships of the relationship, the reactions of peers and the sexual relationship as well. They are seen kissing, dating, sleeping together and simply hanging out. It deals with a homophobic mother and an accepting father. They deal with the daughter coming out to her parents and the fall out from that. There is no sugar coating the situation is it much like one you would have seen in today’s world. Angry, upsetting and difficult to handle.
I for one believe that this show is amazing. I loved it from the moment I saw it and am quite disappointed to see that is it going off the air. I don’t necessarily know if it is because of the gay teens because other shows on that network that have gay teens. But I think this is a great step for learning to accept and understand the hardships in gay relationships, especially when you are still trying to find yourself.

Black Sitcoms

We recently discussed a few of the older and newer black sitcoms. While the older ones were more typical in type casting with the fathers being either absent or stupid and the "ghetto" women, i.e. Sheneneh on Martin. However points were also made that in newer sitcoms such as Fresh Prince of Bel Air there are still typical characters and on some level that is correct, however i feel that these sitcoms have come a long way. While you have Carolton who is defintaly considered the "white" black man you also have Uncle Phil who is a high powered judge and respected throughout the community. You have the mother, Vivian, who is a well educated Professor. When you step past those characters more of a type cast comes in. Hilary, the eldest daughter is the "airhead" or "dumb blonde" and you have Will who is the "ghetto" nephew from Philly. Even though there are type casts in this sitcom i believe that black comedy has come a long way.

In sitcoms such as Martin, there are contrasting characters which accentuate the negative in the more stereotypical characters. Like Gina and Sheneneh. Gina is light skinned, educated, a lawyer and seemingly very put together. Sheneneh is more wild, a hair dresser, loud, obnoxious and is meant to be uneducated. Now when sitcoms like this typecast i like to beleive that Martin is trying to make fun of the stereotypes, kind of like a satire. Saying that these stereotypes are unfounded and uneducated. While some black people can act like Sheneneh and some are stupid like Martins friend Cole, alot of black people are well educated with decent jobs. Like in the sitcom All of Us. It is about a divorced couple with children and thier new partners. It shows all of them with upstanding jobs, with decency and class. Another show that is a better representation of the black community that i know is The Hughleys. Now while the father is the funniest of the characters he isnt absent, or just plain stupid. He is a hard working man, a loving father and husband and most of all has white and black friends. New shows like this are something i believe can only be good in the portrayl of blacks to the white community.

Now the other type of shows that are popping up right now that are supposedly a representation of the black community are shows like "Baldwin Hills" and "College Hill" on BET. They are the "Black" version of The Real World on MTV. While most of thees people are educated at times they show stereotypical black attributes. So which is really a better representation of the black community? Someone who is black that writes a sitcom or 7 "real" black people being videptaped around the clock, looking for there most unflattering moments. You be the judge.

The Jetsons

So is has been a while since I've written but something struck my last night while watching "The Jetsons". Yes the old cartoon from the '80's about George Jetson of the future. However this episode it seems like all the thinking was from the 1950s. The first part of the episode that irritated me was when Jane Jetsons friend called her on the TV phone and she had to "put on her face" before she could answer. Why? Couldn't she just answer how she was, she did just get up you know. After that passed it seemed to just get worse. George and Jane went out looking for a new car. Jane, a mother of two, did not have her driver’s license. She has just gotten her permit. Now most of us in general get our permits at 15 and license by 16. Why was Jane just getting her permit, at let’s estimate like 37? On top of that, when they went out she had to beg George to let her drive and that’s where the real stereotypes came in. First George said she wasn’t a good driver, then after handing over the keys they make Jane drive through buildings, almost hit other cars and eventually get pulled over by the cops. Now I realize that this is just a cartoon but many children and adults used to watch this cartoon pretty regularly. I am a little irritated at the Jetsons. When writing this episode did no one think to asses what the audience reaction would be? I can see men just laughing along and women too, but the underlying message was one that supports and incorrect stereo type. I just feel that even for the '80s when the Jetsons last aired that the message was incorrect and that if we continue to let little things like this go, more and more damaging messages about women will be passed onto children.