Thursday, 28 February 2013

Critical investigation - 2nd draft


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:
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
8.       Fanon - http://www.iep.utm.edu/fanon/
9.       Black actors as supporting roles, leading roles - http://www.jfredmacdonald.com/bawtv/bawtv10.htm

Work Consulted:

Internet:
4.       Stop whining about the media! - http://www.salon.com/2000/04/19/images/
6.       Emperor Jones (1958) - http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/534606/index.html
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


[2] Representation, history and ‘black Britain’ [Internet]. Available from: http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/9459_011200ch1.pdf
[5] K. Ross, (1992) Television Black and White. P.28
[8] Television has a long term affect on people www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/cultiv.html

[9] Television affects peoples’ opinions of ethnic minorities http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/does-tv-shape-ethnic-images
[10] ibid
[11] ibid
[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

[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



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