African American Family Media Assignment
Over the course of this week I was able to observe and analyze various portrayals of African American Family in the media. I watch a lot of television as it is so this wasn’t very hard at all. The following shows and media occurrences are what I based my reflection on:
• Wednesday March 25, 2009
o Family Matters
Season 2 DVD
o Television Comedy
o African American Family
The Winslow Family consists of two parents, Carl and Harriette, two teenagers, Eddie and Laura, and a grandmother.
o This family was portrayed positively.
• Wednesday March 25,2009
o Run’s House
MTV
o Reality Television
o African American Family
This show featured Reverend Run’s family which consists of three teenage children and two younger kids, a mother, and a father.
o This family was portrayed positively.
• Thursday March 26, 2009
o Fox News
Channel 12
o Live News Telecast
o African American Family
The Obama family was featured on this news cast. This family of course consists of President Barrack Obama, his wife Michelle, and their two daughters.
o This family was portrayed positively.
• Thursday March 26, 2009
o Chicago Tribune
Chicagoland newspaper
o Public Interest Article
o African American Family
The Obama family was again featured in this newspaper article. It involved Barrack and Michelle Obama and their two kids returning to their home in Chicago.
o This family was portrayed positively
• Thursday March 26, 2009
o Drumline
Movie about a drummer who attends a Southern University.
o Motion Picture film
o African American Family
This movie portrays an African American family that consists of mainly a mother and her teenage son. The father is there but he isn’t in the picture
o The family was portrayed negatively in the beginning and slowly transforms to positive towards the end.
• Friday March 27, 2009
o Article about Michelle Obama
Article featured on Chicagotribune.com about Michelle Obama’s hairstyles, mentions the family.
o Internet News Source
o African American Family
This article was a public interest piece that portrayed mainly Michelle Obama with snippets featuring her daughters and husband.
o This family was portrayed positively
• Friday March 27, 2009
o ATL
Film about a group of kids growing up in Atlanta
o Motion Picture film
o African American Family
This film consists of a family that is unconventional which includes two brothers that live with their Uncle.
o The sense of family was portrayed negatively.
When presented with this assignment I was very excited because I enjoy studying and trying to get a glimpse of the family life in other cultures. In regards to the images I found I found them to be much of the same song but with a different beat every time.
I normally don’t watch the news just because of the negative pictures and images they give of the world, but in the past three days I’ve watched it all three times. I found that most images of African American families shown on the news all seem to have a negative connotation, except for the Obama family. It seems as if the media portrays them as somewhat of an uplifting image to African Americans, and all Americans for that matter.
When it comes to broadcast television, I feel that African American families are portrayed predominantly positively. The two families I chose to observe were the Winslows and the Simmons. The Winslows feature a middle class family that really do well and have a very strong sense of family. The Simmons are from a much wealthier financial background, but also have a strong sense of family and are portrayed positively.
The only media form where I found African American families portrayed as broken, or struggling was in American cinema. They both told a story about how these black teens have a very hard upbringing but surpass a very climatic moment in their lives.
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I agree with you tom tv does give some positive images on the black family in shows . It just depends which you are correct about the news as well. It shows more negetive than positive . Unless its the Obama family . The simmons family is a good example of the family being shown in a positive way . I think it turned out that way because Rev Run is over the show . He wouldnt want the family to be percieve in a negetive way like other tv producers would like to do with reality tv. They call it adding twist to the show . But all it really does it just emphasize on a negetive aspect. Over all there are alot of postives im not bashing tv but they could do a better job of showing the real or true african american family
ReplyDeleteI agree. This assignment was very interesting and different. The families you chose to are good depictions. It‘s one thing to believe here-say about a particular race, but to experience it for yourself is incomparable. It was at times difficult to watch because despite the few positive images available; a lot of shows hid the issues they are really trying to address behind comedy. For example, I watched My Wife and Kids. In this episode the wife wanted to start working again, while the husband was completely against it. Why, because men’s, especially African American men’s ego are so immense. This would make them feel lesser of a man, if they were no longer the one the family depended on to provide for them financially. Another example, the Wayans Brothers, nonchantly commented and joked about most of the utilities in the house not working, implying that most African Americans are in middle class or poverty. We at times have to look at the bigger picture. Some shows and movies are really over exaggerated. I found that on all the shows, that I watched, the families always obtained 3 children or more, the wife was humble and timid, yet supportive, while the husband was egotistic yet loving. The point being, that media in my opinion is always twisted into what they believe is an adequate representation. In a sense, it can be viewed as bias. Overall, there are some better examples of the average African American family, yet the only way to know reality, is to experience living with one.
ReplyDeleteI was definitely eager to do this assignment because I wanted to see what the media was going to convey to the audience. I really don’t watch a lot of TV either primarily because its going through technical difficulty at the time however when I did watch for those 3 days I was pleased with all of the positive images regarding television shows but I dint even consider watching the news for anything I presumed the images were negative. Obama’s are not only portrayed in a positive light they ARE indeed positive and uplifting strong educated family who represents the epitome of excellence for all families but African Americans especially. Yea on television shows they do a pretty good job of portraying how my people and I are. We are strong reliant family oriented and overcome obstacles and family crisis but that’s what makes the black family so strong- overcoming obstacles and preservation sticking together through times of trial and tribulation. “Having a very hard upbringing but surpassing climatic moments in our lives” is indeed the anthem of many African Americans
ReplyDeleteI never thought that media could have such a tremendous effect on the way the audience viewed the world. I guess the media is very gulity of using these images to manipulate the audience’s perception so that it fits in with a established stereotype. I have not keep up with the media in a long while and it is because of this assignment and being away from the tv so long I was actually able to look at the media from a more neutral stand post. I really like to read my classmates’ blog posting because they give me a little insight into the way other people view the world around them. I would not have thought about this in other ways if it wer n’t for you guys. Keep up the good work.
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