On my soapbox

Its 1:30, and I'm about to go to bed, but before I do I want to comment briefly about a TV show I was just watching. Having missed the Daily Show tonight, I began to flip forward, looking for something else to watch for a 1/2 an hour or so before going to bed. I didn't have to go far as on the very next channel I came across VH1's latest contribution to pop culture: "TV's Illest Minority Moments."

Apparently, this is supposed to be VH1's attempt to provoke a somewhat serious discussion over how minorities have been portrayed on television. You would never know it though from the actual content of the show. To begin with, what genius executive came up with the title of the show? What the hell does that even mean?

Secondly, this attempt to analyze stereotypes on television is anything but analytic. They simply show several clips from sit-coms, almost exclusively from the 70's and early 80's, and haul in commedians to crack a few cheesy jokes. No attempt to say how this impacted society, how people reacted to the show, or how stereotypes have changed over the past 40 years. Have there been no "ill" minority moments within the past 15 years? Not only is there no analysis, but even the examples from the 70's they use are pathetic. At one point they attempt to explore the portrayal of black people as servants, yet they examples they cite are Nell Carter in "Gimme A Break" and Florence Johnston in "The Jeffersons." Their assessment is that both of these women were sassy house keepers who were not afraid to give their bosses lip. What they fail to point out though is that these cases are actually very different in that Johnston works for a black couple, while Carter for a White family. How does this impact our understanding of the stereotype. Surely this complicates the comparison significantly. Well, apparently not according to VH1 who just passes it off as an opportunity for a couple cheap jokes by getting contemporary musicians and artists to offer commentary (although VH1 just provides the race of the person, not the occupation). The show could have had a very interesting discussion looking at the portrayal of black servants working for both black and white families. They could have also examined gender differences by comparing Johnston to someone like Geoffrey on the "Fresh-Prince of Bel-Air." Hell, this would not only have let us examine the different experiences of Gender, but even class, in that Geoffry worked for the very wealthy attorney Philip Banks. But no, that would have been asking too much. . .

Furthermore, VH1 entitled the show "minority" moments? Yet, what does this mean? Apparently VH1 would have you believe minority consitutes only Africans, Latin Americans (yes, using a term this large is problematic, but let me run with it), and Asians. What about Native Americans, Arabs, and Jews (yes I realize there is also a debate over whether or not Jewishness is even a racial category)? Are these groups not also racial minorities? Why stop there though? The show is only entitled "minority." Where is TV's portrayal of Homosexuality?

Ultimately, this show falls flat on its face, and one wonders what benefit it serves. it provides no analysis, and does not help us to understand how miniority stereotypes have changed over the years. Hell, it never even tells us what "ill" means.

Ok, I've had a long day w/airplanes and all. I want to sleep.

Excuse the unclarity and disjointedness. I'm out.