NationStates Jolt Archive

http://uk.tv.yahoo.com/17072008/19/shows-criticised-stereotyping.html


Quote:

EastEnders and Coronation Street have been accused of stereotyping ethnic minorities in a report.
Shows including the BBC's Vicar Of Dibley and Who Wants to be a Millionaire? on ITV were also criticised in the publication on minorities on the small screen.

It found that US imports have more credible representations of minorities, with viewers praising shows such as Heroes, Lost, ER and even the Simpsons.

Older British programmes like the sitcom Desmond's were also received well, with the report concluding that broadcasters may have produced more specialist ethnic programmes in the past than they do now.

Talent shows such as the X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing and reality programmes like The Apprentice and Who Do You Think You Are? got the thumbs-up from minority viewers.

News and current affairs programmes like Dispatches and Panorama, and long-running dramas such as The Bill, Casualty and Holby City were also praised.

But Hollyoaks, Emmerdale and Australian soaps such as Home and Away were picked out for having no virtually no ethnic minority characters.

Viewers cited Asian corner shop owner Dev in Coronation Street and black single mother Denise, who had two children by two different fathers in EastEnders, as examples of stereotyping and tokenism in soaps.

The report was commissioned by Channel 4 following the furore over the allegedly racist abuse of Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother.

Ethnic minority viewers accused all broadcasters of tokenism and stereotyping, screening exaggerated and extreme representations of minorities and failing to reflect modern ethnic minority culture.

How can a reality show stereotype minorites? And there aren't any minorities in the Vicar of Dibley are there?

The whole point of soaps is to use stereotypical characters that many people can relate to.

maybe their would be more ethnic stereotypes if they made for interesting characters

seriously does anyone else remember the Ferreiras?

All of Coronation Street is one big, outdated stereotype.

I don't see how Millionaire is a problem, though; your article just names it without explanation.

Well did they ever consider that the characters role has nothing to do with there race? And that if theres abrely any "ethnics" on a TV shows thats because they didn't fit the criteria or there was some one better than them chosen?

Yes, there should definitively be more bigtopians in our soap operas...

How can a reality show stereotype minorites?

In the same way a scripted show can. Reality shows are controlled to the nth degree.

In the same way a scripted show can. Reality shows are controlled to the nth degree.

Heh yeah I was gonna say that, everything is edited afterall.

it's all very well to claim Eastenders is racist cause they only have one black woman in it who has 2 kids by 2 different fathers and so isn't a positive role model, but how exactly are any of the cast in Eastenders positive role models for any race? From what I can recall from the few episodes I watched with mum no-one came across as particularly well-presented. They could just as easily say Eastenders is ageist cause they make Dot Cotton out to be such an idiot.

And As for comparing the US to Britain, it's very unfair. Britain is a much more homogenous country than the US is. 26% of the US are identified as minority (12% being Black, another 14% Hispanic - disparity is that some Hispanic are counted as being 'White Hispanic which in itself means there's more than 26% minority - and 4% Asian), whereas just 8% of the UK are, most of whom live in or around London. So a TV show like Coro st set oop north as it is, where <5% of the population is minority, is of course going to be heavily white-biased. Likewise the mind-destroyingly unfunny Vicar of Dibley set in the middle of fucking nowhere where no self-respecting Black or Asian would want to go.
The study should compare % of minorities on TV compared to % minority to general population of where the show is set - and not on what TV shows from other countries are like.

it's all very well to claim Eastenders is racist cause they only have one black woman in it who has 2 kids by 2 different fathers and so isn't a positive role model, but how exactly are any of the cast in Eastenders positive role models for any race? From what I can recall from the few episodes I watched with mum no-one came across as particularly well-presented. They could just as easily say Eastenders is ageist cause they make Dot Cotton out to be such an idiot.


QFT :)


and "specialist ethnic programmes" sounds a lot like segregation of culture to me, which is a slippery slope imho

QFT :)
and "specialist ethnic programmes" sounds a lot like segregation of culture to me, which is a slippery slope imho
Quite.
Another thing the authors appeared to have missed is the idea that soap operas love to have characters in conflict cause that's what sells. That and showing people with shittier lives than what the average viewer has. We love to watch other people's misery and that's a fact. Makes our own dull existence look better.
Do they honestly think having a strong independent highly paid black woman whose biggest problem for the day is deciding whether to have a cappucino or a latte really going to rise Eastenders ratings?