Prejudice: Fantasia Barrino

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Recommended: Positive and negative aspects of stereotypes

On November 21, 2010 thousands of ebony- skinned women, young and old, tuned in to VH1 to support Fantasia Barrino. These women are proud to learn that she has not only written a sitcom but actively seeks a producer; the viewers finally see Fantasia finding a constructive use of her time. Fantasia has a devoted fan base willing to forgive even the most prominent blunders presented on her show, such as failing to get her G.E.D., being reckless with her money, and dating a married man. Despite all these mistakes, Fantasia still identifies with an audience that accepts her and believes in her ability to grow and to give hope. This belief, however optimistic, is shattered the minute Fantasia expresses her reasoning for not playing the leading role in her new sitcom; “She’s beautiful…I know I’m hot and all but I’m not light-skinned.” These words spoken by Fantasia Barrino are only one example of a stereotype maintained by the show. Fantasia does not believe that she is attractive enough to play the leading role, simply because she is dark-skinned. Fantasia for Real is a VH1 unscripted show that depicts the everyday life of the season three American Idol winner. The program aims to portray Fantasia regaining control of her career and personal life. Sadly, the show has done just the opposite; Fantasia for Real disgraces Black women and men, single mothers, high school drop outs, and the state of North Carolina. The show substantiates stereotypes of both the ignorant “ baby mama” and the lazy young Black man by Portraying Fantasia as egregiously uneducated, while simultaneously depicting her brother as being shiftless and unmotivated .

A recurring motif in the series is Fantasia’s apathy toward education. Episode six of the first ...

... middle of paper ...

... characterizations of African American men, Fantasia for Real again perpetuates negative stereotypes.

Francine Prose argues in her essay “Voting Democracy off the Island” that if the lesson to be learned in watching reality television shoes like Survivor and The Bachelorette is that “anyone will do anything for money, that every human interaction necessarily involves the swift, calculated formation and dissolution of dishonest, amoral alliances, it seems naïve to be appalled by the fact that our government has been robbing us to pay off its supporters in the pharmaceutical industry”. By this same reasoning, if the lesson to be learned from Black reality television shows like Fantasia for Real is that African Americans are ignorant, uneducated, and lazy, it is naive to be surprised by such realities as the achievement gap and disparities in prison demographics.

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