How does British television negatively represent Black people?
British television has become more
diverse over the years, broadcasting programs that include different ethnic
minorities from “Desmond's” to “Top Boy” but has British television challenged
or reinforced negative stereotypes of black people? It can be argued that
British television exaggerates the typical and negative stereotypes of black
people and other ethnic minorities, Von Dijk found that “black people,
especially African-Caribbean’s tend to be portrayed as criminals”[1]. In a
popular black British television program, Top
Boy (2011), it mainly focuses on
the typical stereotypes of black people, such as drug dealers and gangsters, in
order to represent black youths' daily life - the director, Ronan Bennett,
wanted to produce something
‘honest’. But this isn't always the case, as
there is a counter-type black British television program: Luther (2010). Luther
doesn't fulfil the typical stereotype for black people, as the main character
John Luther, who is played by Idris Elba, doesn't portray the norm as a 'drug
dealer' but a Detective Chief Inspector instead; Hall would describe Luther as “changing the relations of
representation”[2].
British television programs often use
stereotypes to “give audiences a
quick, common understanding of a person or group of people”[3], so
the use of stereotypes can reinforce the negative representation of black
people. In the first five minutes of “Top Boy” the audience can already assume
what type of program Top Boy is, despite
the few glimpses of London's iconic tourist attractions. As British television
regularly use stereotypes, the main focus on the black actors and dilapidated
council estates shown will give audiences an impression of crime and drug use
but on the other hand, this can be portrayed – from the director's perspective
– to “give audiences an accurate portrayal of growing up in London”[4]. Barry (1986) argues that ethnic
minorities are labelled in three categories: troublemakers, entertainers and
dependant[5]. Yet,
in “Top Boy”, the character Ra’nell doesn't portray Barry's ‘dependant’
category as he rejects money from a close family friend in order to help with
basic necessities as his mum is in hospital. But among British television, this
doesn't happen regularly “whether the fault lies
with commissioners or writers, the fact remains that the spectrum of blackness
on TV is narrow, and has remained almost stagnant in the last decade or so”[6].
By contrast, a black
lead character on a counter-type drama was introduced to BBC 1 in 2010, “Luther”. Luther deflects the common roles
of black people in British television as he is
a Detective Chief Inspector who works for a Serious Unit Crime which is set in
London. It can be said that Luther is a counter-type British television program
because “if a show
does feature black folks, they are usually one-dimensional, sidekicks of the
lead character or the rapist/murderer/gang-banger on Law & Order”[7]. As the program
progresses, it can be argued that “Luther” may reinforce the typical
stereotypes based on the setting of John Luther's appartment, as he lives in a groggy council estate in London,
despite his middle class job as DCI. Does British television ignore the
possibility that black people can live in a house instead of a ramshackle two
bedroom appartment? According to Barry's theory, John Luther averts
'dependency' as he adapts a father role to a broken girl called Jenny who he
met in a strip club and, who the audience later find out, has also been
neglected by her mother. She has to resolve to stay with Luther as she has
nowhere else to go. Furthermore, John Luther's strong east London accent may
seem more relatable as he uses common phrases which can associate with the
working class socio-economical group but this can link with the negative
representations of black people, as they can be looked upon as unsophisticated.
So even the effort for Luther try and steer away from the negative stereotypes
– it also refers back to them.
The
negative representations of black people on British television could have a
significant effect on racial prejudice in society according to George Gerbner’s
cultivation theory. Cultivation theorists argue that “television has a long
term effect on the audience which is small, gradual, indirect but cumulative
and significant”[8]. According to research by
Robert Lichter, “about one-third of those with
an opinion say that the ethnic characters they see
on television affect their attitudes toward ethnic groups in real
life”[9]. So, the more programs that constantly
misrepresent black people, the more the audience will eventually have fixed
ideas associated with them. This unvarying representation can also
stamp an impression on black people themselves as it was found that “black
students were the heaviest TV watchers and were also the group most likely to
use television as a learning tool”[10].
Therefore, this can suggest
that black people, especially young black people in the UK, can be ‘learning’
attitudes from programs such as “Top Boy” because it is based in London so it
has more of a realistic approach, more
than American black dramas, because it relates more to them as they could be
experiencing the same situation. So the minimal black British television
programs limit an alternative representation for the black community. The
negative misrepresentations of ethnic minorities shown on television can have a
strong impact on white audiences because “if the audience views certain ethnic
and racial groups in a negative manner and television portrayals confirm those
images”[11] this would be an unfair
interpretation of that specific ethnic minority. All and all, television is a
key factor of misunderstanding ethnic minorities because “people actually form their opinions
of cultures or races based on what they see on TV”[12]
“How many
times have we seen in our daily newspapers and televisions Black people
associated with crime; people from the third world presented as poor and
starving victims of famine and drought, refugees and asylum seekers as
‘sponging off the state’?”[13]
In recent and historical events such as
the Notting Hill riots in 1958 and the London riots in 2011, British television
exaggerated and reinforced the typical, negative representations of black people
and other ethnic minorities. But for the case of Stephen Lawrence, “the British nation was once again confronted
with the memory of Black presence: that of Stephen Lawrence, the victim of an
ugly and brutal form of British racism this
case challenged the negative stereotype of black people as Stephen was a
victim of a racist attack”[14]. This
was a very iconic moment in British history because it made people focus on the
police force as it took 18 years to find only two of the five people that
committed the murder.
As George Gerbner explains the
Cultivation Theory with relations to the negative representations of black
people on television, in Frantz Fanon's book 'Black Faces, White Masks', he
“uses psychoanalysis and psychoanalytical theory to explain the feelings of
dependency and inadequacy that Black people experience in a White world”[15]
which means that Fanon argues
that black people don't have a chance in succeeding in this world, due to their
colour of their skin. Thus, Fanon identifies four ways black people can be
typically stereotyped: Infantilize, for example, 'cute' children on charity
adverts/posters; Primitivize, for example, the 'exotic & virile' tribal
warriors with a 'natural sense of rhythm'; Decivilize, for example, the
'gangsta', 'pimp' etc and Essentialize, for example, 'they all look the same to
me'. “Top Boy (2011)” adapts
Fanon's theory as characters portray black people to be decivilized, relating
black people to be gangstas and drug orientated so this, again, links to the
negative representation of black people on British television. The Alvarado
Theory (1987) – which is similar to the Fanon Theory – describes the four
themes in racial representation: exotic (tribal warriors), dangerous
(gangstas), humorous (comedians) and pitied (children on charity posters), “Top
Boy” adapts Alvarado’s dangerous and somewhat pitied category.
British
television made a remarkable change in 1976, where “The Fosters” became the first British sitcom to
contain a solely black cast. Sadly, this sitcom only lasted a year, only having
two seasons and twenty-seven episodes which showed that it wasn’t very
popular with the ‘white audience’ as
much as it was with the ‘black audience’. But despite being quite
unsuccessful for British television, “The
Foster’s” was a stepping stone for other black British
sitcoms, such as, “The Real McCoy’s”,
“Desmond’s” and “The
Lenny Henry Show”. Nonetheless, it can be argued that “positive
Black imaging tends to be found in sports and entertainment - both of which
point "naturally" to Blacks”[16]
hence the reason why black people only abided with creating sitcoms because it
was something they found ‘natural’ to do. “Empire Road (1978)” was the first British black soap
written, directed and predominately acted by black people. “Empire Road” was similar
to Coronation Street, but unlike Coronation Street, “Empire Road” depicted
life for African-Caribbean and other ethnic minorities on the streets of
Birmingham. Unfortunately, “Empire
Road” was short-lived, only lasting two seasons and having
15 episodes over the course of one year. In the mid-70s, black British
television programs were very unsuccessful until the late 1980s where “Desmond’s (1989)” became
one of the most popular and successful black British sitcoms – surviving six
seasons and broadcasting seventy-one episodes.
“Desmond’s” appeared
on Channel 4, “where ethnic programming, and particularly that
offered by the 'minority' channel, Channel 4, had been unable to fulfil
original expectations”[17]
so despite there being a full black cast, the roles of the
characters were stereotypical. The main character, Desmond Ambrose, owned a
barbershop which was seen to be ‘common’ for many Afro-Caribbean males; Sean
Ambrose, who was Desmond’s youngest son, inspired to be a rapper which was
popular among black young males but also relating to Barry’s theory of black
people being ‘entertainers’. However with black American television, in the late 1960s “there were more than two dozen
programs featuring black actors as leading characters or in prominent, regular
supporting roles”[18]. The
hit black American sitcoms were “I
Spy”, “Julia” and “The Cosby Show” and in the 90s “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” which was, in
my opinion, the most successful black sitcom, as it still airs previous
episodes on channels like Vivo. But the lack of positive images surrounding
the black community on British television leads black British actors wanting to
pursue a career in America. However, Bill Cosby told an interviewer that the series sought to tell
"an American story”[19]
so he “integrated the show with blacks, whites, Asians and Latinos to
broaden the audience”[20], it
can be argued that Cosby’s decision relates to Frantz’s theory of ‘Black face,
White mask’. Cosby had to put on a ‘white face’ to relate to a wider audience
in order to succeed.
More recently, young black writers and
actors take to the internet to upload videos of their own dramas/sitcoms. With
British television, “there really
aren't that many roles for authoritative, strong, black characters in this
country”[21] because
“commissioners say: 'Can you make white people laugh?'”[22] So
black people’s end result is the internet, on sites like YouTube because they
can’t get television networks interested in the shows they have created. The
last British all-black sitcom was “The Crouches” in 2003 and came to an end in 2005,
only lasting 12 episodes for the reason that it received moderate reviews.
Could this imply that British television is covertly racist? But British
television networks are uninterested on having a full black cast unless the
program portrays the obvious, typical negative stereotypes of black people,
whether it is a sitcom or a gritty urban drama. They “are responsible for influencing, sensationalising and creating stories
that play on violence and conflict”[23],
this links to the Hypodermic needle which means the views get injected
with negative messages of black people from the media. “Brothers with No Game” is a prime example of a
popular black British web series which follows four black men's life in London,
relationships and jobs. Other popular black British web series are “Venus VS Mars” which follows the life of a
girl and how she deals with certain situations; “All about the McKenzie's” is fairly popular black British web series.
Above all, ethnic minorities are significantly under-represented within
British television as they seem to be restricted to particular genres:
comedy or urban drama, ethnic minorities are also “marginalised by a white ideology”[24].
Karen Ross (1992) argues that “white
perceptions of ethnic minorities on television demonstrate that attitudes of
whites towards non-whites are influenced by media representation”[25]
so viewers base their opinions of black people on what they see on television; it is evident to
see that these representative images have strengthened the issue of racial
stereotyping. There have been changes over the years regarding black British
television but there isn’t much significant change with the roles of characters
for black people.
Word count: 2,292
Work Cited:
Books/Journals
1.
Fanon,
Frantz. Black skin, white
masks. New York: Grove Press, 1967. Print.
2.
Awan. F. (2007). Young People, Identity and the Media - Representation
3.
Kwartey Titus-Glover, A. (2004). An Educational Guide to The
History of Black People Past and Present
4.
Ross, K. (1992) Television Black and White
Moving Text:
1.
Top Boy (UK –
2011 to Present – Channel 4)
2.
Luther (UK – 2010
to Present – BBC 1)
3.
Desmond’s (UK –
1989 to 1994 – Channel 4)
4.
Empire Road (UK –
1978 to 1979 – Channel 4)
Internet:
1.
Black people only
online - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/02/black-british-tv-drama-online
2.
Black people
going to America - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/9051992/Young-black-actors-should-go-to-America.html
3.
Not having strong
black actors
- http://madamenoire.com/104363/the-persistent-issue-of-black-representation-on-television-and-why-more-roles-wont-fix-a-thing/#j3H1eGwYAga1s1Wl.99
5.
Top Boy gives an accurate portrayal of London
- http://www.metro.co.uk/tv/880078-yann-demange-being-a-teenage-boy-in-london-now-is-scary
9.
Black actors as
supporting roles, leading roles - http://www.jfredmacdonald.com/bawtv/bawtv10.htm
10.
Channel 4 unable to fulfil original expectations - http://web.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/CRER_RC/publications/pdfs/Research%20Papers%20in%20Ethnic%20Relations/RP%20No.19.pdf
Work Consulted:
Internet:
1.
Programs only
include ethnic minorities because they should - http://revisionworld.co.uk/a2-level-level-revision/sociology/mass-media-0/media-representations-age-social-class-ethnicity-gender-sexuality-and-disability
2.
Stuart Hall - http://beyondproject.wordpress.com/tag/representation-of-black-people-in-television/
7.
Failing to
reflect modern ethnic minority cultures - http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/passtheremote/2008/07/top-soaps-accused-of-stereotyp.html
8.
Media teaches the
public about ethnic minorities - http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/long-way-go-minorities-and-media
Newspapers:
2.
Underachievement
representations of black people -http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/05/london-black-children-awards
[1]
Media representations of African Caribbeans http://revisionworld.co.uk/a2-level-level-revision/sociology/mass-media-0/media-representations-age-social-class-ethnicity-gender-sexuality-and-disability
[2]
Representation, history and ‘black Britain’ [Internet]. Available
from: http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/9459_011200ch1.pdf
[4]
Director’s perspective http://www.metro.co.uk/tv/880078-yann-demange-being-a-teenage-boy-in-london-now-is-scary
[5]
K. Ross, (1992) Television Black and White. P.28
[7]
One dimensional black characters http://madamenoire.com/104363/the-persistent-issue-of-black-representation-on-television-and-why-more-roles-wont-fix-a-thing/
[9]
Television affects peoples’ opinions of ethnic minorities http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/does-tv-shape-ethnic-images
[10]
ibid
[11]
ibid
[12]
People form opinions of cultures http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/does-tv-shape-ethnic-images
[13]
A. Titus-Glover. (2004) An Educational Guide to the History of Black people
Past and Present. P.5
[14]
Representation, history and ‘black Britain’ Available from: http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/9459_011200ch1.pdf
[16]
Representation, history and ‘black Britain’ Available from: http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/9459_011200ch1.pdf
[17]
K. Ross, (1992) Television Black and
White. P.28
[18]
Prominent regular supporting roles http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/9051992/Young-black-actors-should-go-to-America.html
[20]
ibid
[23]
A. Titus-Glover. (2004) An Educational Guide to the History of Black people
Past and Present. P.5
Representation, history and ‘black
Britain’ Available from: http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/9459_011200ch1.pdf
[24] Representation, history
and ‘black Britain’ p.14 Available from: http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/9459_011200ch1.pdf
[25]
K. Ross, (1992) Television Black and White. P.28
