Minority Media Representations
Common Representations of Gays, African Americans & Other Minoritie
Representations of minorities in the mainstream media commonly are tailored to make non-minority viewers feel more comfortable. Here are some of the ways this happens.
When looking at representations of minorities of all kinds in the media-- racial minorities, sexual minorities, religious minorities, and so forth--similarities show up in their representations.
Perhaps the biggest similarity is that when minorities are represented in the media, frequently they are portrayed in a way that is designed to make non-minority viewers feel comfortable. This is done to assure high ratings, and isn't usually in the best interests of the minority group.
Here are some typical ways that minorities of all kinds are represented in the media. All of these reflect the creation of representations that are tailored to make non-minority viewers feel more comfortable. Keep in mind that these are only typical and not universal-- that is, you can find exceptions to every one of these easily. However, these are patterns that often occur.
Representations of Minorities Focus on Universal Experiences
To make non-minority audience members identify more with the characters, representations of minorities often focus on universal experiences that all kinds of people share, as opposed to experiences that are unique to that minority group.
A classic example of this is The Cosby Show, which Bill Cosby had trouble bringing to the airwaves because networks weren't sure that America was ready for a black family show. (They were wrong.) To make the Cosbys more "comfortable" to everyone, the show focused on universal family humor and experiences. Rarely did the Cosbys do anything very specific to African American culture.
Another good example of this is the way that Monica and Ross, who are Jewish, were portrayed on the show Friends. With the exception of one Hanukkah episode, they are never seen celebrating Jewish holidays with their family, attending synagogue, or doing anything else that is specific to Jewish culture or religion. In fact, Monica has a Christmas tree in her home every year.
Representations of Minorities Do Not Focus on Discrimination or Other "Politics"
Discrimination makes many viewers feel uncomfortable and change the channel, so mainstream television and other popular media usually avoid it. This is often the case with gay and lesbian representations.
On Will and Grace, for example, the gay characters on the show never suffer discrimination or violence because they are gay. Will and Grace also steers clear of controversial political issues such as gay marriage-- in fact, it pretty much steers clear of all politics and focuses on light, trivial issues that don't make anyone feel uncomfortable.
Others are Represented as Unrealistically "Perfect"
This is especially the case when controversial representations are shown. To make viewers more comfortable, a character is created who has few flaws and who therefore makes the audience feel very comfortable.
A good example of this was the 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, a film about interracial marriage, which was a very controversial subject at the time. To make the audience more comfortable with the situation, the white woman takes home a black man who is the ideal husband. He's Harvard educated, a doctor, and an absolutely perfect gentleman. He even refuses to sleep with his fiancee before they are married.
The Cosby Show is also a good example of "perfect" minorities. Dad's a doctor, Mom's a lawyer, and none of the five children ever get into any kind of serious trouble-- an unlikely scenario in any family with five children.
Minorities are Either Oversexualized or Desexualized
To make viewers more comfortable, minority characters are often desexualized to make them seem less of a threat. This is often true of gay characters, who typically are the last on a TV show to get a boyfriend or girlfriend. While heterosexual kisses (and much more) are very common in the media, a simple kiss between same-sex actors is a big deal, and was rarely seen in the mainstream media at all until the late 1990s.
In contrast, some minorities are made more "appealing" to the mainstream audience (or part of it) by exoticizing the minority characters' sexuality. This is frequently the case with African American and Asian American women. It's also common to represent bisexual women as hypersexualized, an image that plays upon heterosexual female fantasy and has nothing to do with the real experiences of bisexual women.
Minority Representations Focus on How Others React to Them
Often, representations of minorities aren't really about minority experiences themselves-- they're about how others react to them. Usually there's a "progressive" message behind these representations, but they still fail to portray the perspective of a minority character.
One way this is done is by showing non-minority characters learning about minority culture. This is seen in representations of religious minorities, such as Muslims or Jews. For example, an episode might feature a non-minority character learning about a Jewish or Muslim holiday-- while the audience learns as well.
Another way this is done is by showing a non-minority character "getting over" their prejudice. This happened in Guess who's Coming to Dinner, which focused more on the story of the dad getting over his discomfort with the interracial relationship than it focused on the black character himself. Another good example of this is a 1996 episode of The Simpsons, in which Homer freaks out when he finds out a new friend is gay, and through a series of comedic events learns to accept him.
In the mainstream media, ratings govern content, so representations of anything that might be viewed as controversial are tailored to make the audience more comfortable. While there are exceptions to all of these examples-- and many exceptions in alternative media--these patterns hold true in the representations of many different kinds of people.
