This is apparent in the still widely watched and loved show "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air". Take the well known theme song for example, the story which precedes the beginning of the show plays on typical black stereotypes such as basketball, graffiti, "thugs" causing trouble in neighbourhoods and finally, a transition to a middle class suburban neighbourhood for the "troubled" kid. The theme song uses these familiar stereotypes to appeal to a large audience, as it accommodates a black audience by starring a black man, and a white audience by using well known stereotypes and beliefs as its introduction.
The language used is comedic and "ghetto", playing on the stereotype that black culture and slang is informal and distinct. Will Smith says phrases such as "yo homie, I'll smell ya later" and "chillin' out, maxin', relaxin' all cool", which reinforces the informal slang used by black people, in addition to the theme song being a rap rather than a song, a genre of music most closely associated with black culture. This arguably can lead to the assumption that black people aren't as well educated/learned as white people, a point proven in the number of "itooamHarvard" posts which discuss black language as lesser than formal, "White peoples" way of talking. The FPOBA was aired from 1990-96, whereas the Harvard campaign was created in 2014, demonstrating the lack of change in regards to stereotypes around black language.
As mentioned, some shows do attempt to reverse restrictive stereotypes, with some cuccess. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air aired an episode based around Will and Carlton's prep school history lesson. The episode involves Will asking for black history to be taught at the school, as he believes it will entitle him to better grades. It becomes clear Will knows parts of black history, but does not understand the connections between issues or events in the wider context. Will finally accepts the need to understand the significance of individuals in history and their links to broader issues and problems, to fully appreciate, rather than trivialise racial history. The lesson learnt by Will teaches the audience both the lack of significance given to black history in the 1990s, as well as a tendency to trivialise history without truly understanding it. This can therefore critique institutions such as schools, in not enforcing the importance of all history, as well as the tendency for black people to become arrogant about moments of their history without making an effort to understand the complexity and entirety of it.
Ive recently started re watching this show and realised the large amount of serious scenes that bring up "black lives matter" issues. The show often involves small speeches towards the end of an episode that involve current matters (at the time). e.g. Will explaining to Carlton that the cops stopped them while driving an expensive car becasue of their color and it wasn't random. Or the many of times they talk about Martin Luther King.
ReplyDeleteYou raise some good points. I just wanted to mention that we can't forget that most of the characters in the show are wealthy black people, living in Bel Air. With this im trying to say that the portrayal of black people is not always negative in this show. With that being said it is evident that although they are wealthy, they had to work very hard to get there and they still might not be accepted everywhere.