My Pop Culture: ‘‘The Cosby Show’’ One pop culture that had a great influence on me was ‘The Cosby Show’. ‘The Cosby Show’ aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992. Although it was based on comedy, the sitcom focused on real life family events. The Huxtable Family symbolized a typical African-American family who was financial stable and socially acceptable; which during that time was not the reality in the everyday life of an African American family. Nevertheless, I was inspired by ‘The Cosby Show’ every day. ‘The Cosby Show’ depicted an appealing African American household that helped me to realize the importance of family, respect for others, and self-pride. Unquestionably I must confess, ‘The Cosby Show’ The show was centered around an African-American family; but it was mostly grounded on comedy and ethical messages. Even so, NBC exposed a family that many people along with myself, could relate to. Cliff Huxtable, was a hard working doctor and dedicated father. Clair Huxtable was his wife and a nurturing mother, whom also had a notable career as a Lawyer. Their children Sondra, Denise, Theo, and Rudy were the typical American children who got into everyday mischief. Being a parent myself, Today I can relate to Cliff and Clair, similarly they wanted nothing more than for their children to have an opportunity at the best imaginable. However, during the airing of the sitcom I was around Theo’s age so I related more to him during that time period. Theo was the only male child in the family. Also like to Theo; I was athletic, obsessed with obtaining a sports car, somewhat of a troublemaker, and I was protective of my sisters. Likewise, I too struggled in high school academically. Nevertheless, the show represented a family with ordinary problems from ear piercings (Theo), getting children to eat vegetables (Rudy), and even complications with the firstborn child dating (Sondra). While the Huxtable children did indeed reveal ordinary mishaps; in my opinion, their father Cliff is the one who finalized the genuine impression of ‘The Cosby Show’. Cliff Huxtable also educated me on a Most of these images are always negative; in fact, when most of us turn on the television to watch a sitcom, we will often see African- Americans acting as if they have little or no sense at all. Frequently African-Americans would be depicted as being extremely melodramatic in all that they say or do, and it tends to send the wrong message to people in the United States; as well as, people all across the world. For example, on the television sitcom ‘Good Times’ viewers observed a black family living in a Chicago housing project in poverty. Sitcoms of African Americans who did not live in poverty were uncommon until the 80’s. The Huxtables introduced me and everyone else to a new image of living as an African American. ‘‘The Cosby Show’’ enlightened me to a new sense of self-confidence and pride. Throughout its broadcasting years, the Huxtable family candidly crushed the stereotypical images of the African-American family. The show displayed the African-American family in a way that was never before seen or grasped by the American public. In fact, during that era most of the mass media programs depicted African-American television families as hard working lower class poor citizens, many of which constantly used slang or terrible grammar. Likewise, the broadcasting community endorsed the idea that African-American people were connected to
The movie 'Ethnic Notions' describes different ways in which African-Americans were presented during the 19th and 20th centuries. It traces and presents the evolution of the rooted stereotypes which have created prejudice towards African-Americans. This documentary movie is narrated to take the spectator back to the antebellum roots of African-American stereotypical names such as boy, girl, auntie, uncle, Sprinkling Sambo, Mammy Yams, the Salt and Pepper Shakers, etc. It does so by presenting us with multiple dehumanized characters and cartons portraying African-Americans as carefree Sambos, faithful Mammies, savage Brutes, and wide-eyed Pickaninnies. These representations of African-Americans roll across the screen in popular songs, children's rhymes, household artifacts and advertisements. These various ways to depict the African ?American society through countless decades rooted stereotypes in the American society. I think that many of these still prevail in the contemporary society, decades after the civil rights movement occurred.
This shows the business side of the entertainment world and how it is not always pretty. Many people claim that entertainers live in a lavish world like ”Hollywood people” do, but in Ethel’s case it’s the farthest thing from quality treatment. Ethel has a lot of courage to stick up for herself to Bailey. She doesn’t want African Americans to accept their placement in their world; she wants people to treat her like whites are treated. Ethel demands respect from Charles because she does not want to rip her audience off.
The Beulah Show, airing on ABC in the early 1950s, is the first sitcom to star an African American actress who plays as a maid to the Henderson family (Bronstein). In the episode “Beulah goes Gardening”, the Henderson discuss Beulah’s demanding workload―housework and gardening―after realizing Beulah did all of their gardening. Beulah tells Oriole, her friend, about her rosebush problem, and the next morning, Beulah sasses Bill, her boyfriend, into helping her. While the show may seem revolutionary with an African American actress and an innocent representation of a 1950s family, this show in reality demonstrates the harmfulness of the lack of diversity and misrepresentation on television. Tropes like “Mammy” and the “sassy black woman” are
They had three children all mixed with white, black, Mexican, and Irish traits. Danzy had a clear understanding of her parent’s marriage. They married with hopes that they would “snub the history that divided them and create an ahistorical utopia…” (Senna 33). That is not how the marriage resulted, however. There was physical and later verbal abuse. There was alcoholism and disrespect. Friends and family believed that the divorce was “the ugliest divorce in Boston’s history” (Senna 32). Danzy understood that was the belief because of the beauty that a marriage between a white woman and a black man could promise. From the outside, their family was described by “domestic coziness, the pedestrian normality only underscoring the young family’s literary and multicultural exoticism” (Senna 20). I believe that Carl’s Senna mistreatment of his wife and children stemmed from his misgivings of his conflicted identity. It did not help that he was skeptical of whites and married a white woman with “blue eyes [and] blue blood” (Senna 13). Kelly argues that he is that way because of his “abandonment by his black mother and the absence of an authentic experience of blackness.” By the end of the memoir, Senna’s father has remarried and discovered that all lines follow that his mother did not lie to him in the telling that Francisco Jose Senna was his father. He seems
Throughout “The Jefferson Show,” there were criticism and complaints about the show, because it showed “negative,” stereotypical and ethical realism of African
...nly seen in everyday television. Common beliefs of black families being more aggressive, having lesser moral values, and living less socially acceptable and lawful lives can be clearly seen through the actions of the white characters, and the thoughts that Chris expresses throughout the episode. The show uses satire to exaggerate black stereotypes to the point where it means the opposite of the comedic nature of which it was presented. The treatment and visualization of the lives of the black characters in the episode, through comedy and exaggeration, clearly shows the real-life problem of black stereotyping that is still all too present in American life. Chris’ everyday life as a black student in a white school and struggle to “fit in” is a struggle that non-white students have faced and are still facing today.
Throughout Hughes’ Not Without Laughter, we see the long-term effect of generations of prejudice and abuse against blacks. Over time, this prejudice manifested itself through the development of several social classes within the black community. Hughes’, through the eyes of young Sandy, shows us how the color of one’s skin, the church they attend, the level of education an individual attained, and the type of employment someone could find impacted their standing within the community and dictated the social class they belonged to. Tragically, decades of slavery and abuse resulted in a class system within the black community that was not built around seeking happiness or fulfillment but, equality through gaining the approval of whites.
Starring Bill Cosby, the show was centered on an upper middle-class African-American family living in Brooklyn, New York, and were known as the Huxtable family with that being their last name. The members of the family included the father Cliff (Bill), mother Clair, five children (four daughters and one son); Sondra, Denise, Theo, Vanessa, and Rudy. This show is viewed as a comedy but does a very well done job integrating the struggles and issues of the mid-1980s to early 1990s. A few good examples of issues represented are race/ethnicity, education/intelligence, and generation.
Marlon T. Riggs’ video, Color Adjustment, offers the viewer an exciting trip though the history of television, focusing on the representation, or lack thereof, of African-Americans. A perfectly chosen combination of television producers, actors, sociologists, and cultural critics join forces to offer insight and professional opinion about the status of African-Americans in television since the inception of television itself. As Color Adjustment traces the history of television shows from Amos n’ Andy and Julia to "ghetto sitcoms" and The Cosby Show, the cast of television professionals and cultural critics discuss the impacts those representations have on both the African-American community and our society as a whole. Color Adjustment continually asks the question: "Are these images positive?" This video raises the viewer’s awareness about issues of positive images for African-Americans on television.
Besides, in cultivation theory, George Gerbner proposes that heavy users of media treat the content of media as a primary source to perceive the world and assert what they see in media is very similar to the reality (Bryant, Thompson and Finklea, 2013), so there is a high possibility that audience will bring the perception of stereotyped portrayals of African-American from media into the real world. Based on the above unhealthy situations, this paper is going to illustrate how the racial stereotypes in media negatively affect people’s perception, attitude and behavior toward African American in the reality....
The readers who comprise this group have much in common with Jimmy. They are largely lower-middle class and come from either fatherless homes, what might easily be considered dysfunctional two-parent homes, and/or live with extended families in lieu of their natural parents. In any case, the parent(s) are possibly absent from the home a great deal of the time, involved in a variety of dating practices and sexual promiscuity, caught up in illegal activity and often incarcerated or have been, oppressed by substance abuse of some type, and/or often living in an environment of either subtle or overt racism. I have made no effort to quantitatively justify the particulars of this description though such a study would undoubtedly prove enlightening. Rather, I assert this general description based on 12 years of experience of living in a white, lower middle-class suburb. In some ways, we could easily view these readers as insiders in that they share with Jimmy some elements of a common familial experience, but it is the cultural differences between white and ...
This quote provided by Braxton is an example, “The show depicts an African American family trying to exist and survive in this world.” This quote tells of how even in a show they’re trying to survive to the next day, and this is the case for many African American families who live in dangerous cities today. Braxton appeals to the emotions of audience members that are facing this problem today, and that money is the root of all problems that determines a family’s socioeconomic status, and people with no money turn to
Woll, Allen L and Randall M Miller. Ethnic and Racial Images in American Film and Television: Historical Essays and Bibliography. n.d. Print.
Throughout the history of history of television, the creators of the show are trying to always portray certain people a certain way. In television show “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” Curtis Payne, the father, and Ella Payne, the mother are portrayed based on their negative racial stereotypes of African Americans, the traditional gender roles, as well as the time period when the show takes place.
Bill Cosby is an entertainer, a national father figure, a comedian, he is a person who is loved and known by many, including an entire generation. Throughout his career he was in movies, a television series, wrote books, and made commercials. His face was everywhere during his career. Although Cosby accomplished many things in his life, his childhood was not the greatest. He grew up in a housing project in north Philadelphia with an absent father, a mother who worked 12 hours a day cleaning white people's homes, and two younger brothers Bill was expected to supervise (a third died at six of rheumatic fever) (Cawley,1998.) His socioeconomic background was not what it is today in life. Cosby worked all his life for his family, Bill shined shoes,