In the last couple of years, the media has exploited different cultures under a veil of entertainment. As time went by it went by many names, In A Resurgence of ‘Redneck’ Geoff Nunberg says, “Many of these names are forgotten now, and others were regional nicknames like tarheels, buckeeyes and hoosiers.” Although the name has change over time from “half breeds” to “white trash” the names still have the same connotations and culture is still around. In the last sixty years a huge hit on television has been southern culture, in particular “white trash” culture. Two famous TV shows for their white trash counterparts, are Honey Boo Boo and The Beverly Hillbillys. The two shows different in many ways also share a lot in common, from their mockery of shouthern poor white to the shift …show more content…
in class systems. Two episodes that compare the two shows well even though vastly different in the time era are; the first episode of Beverly Hillbillys, “The Clampetts Strike Oil” and the first episode of Here Comes Honey Boo, “This Is My Crazy Family”. To compare the two, in the first episode of The Beverly Hillbillys it introduces the main characters of the show, Elly May, Jethro, Jed, Milburn, Jane, and Granny. The first episode shows the transition of the family from a poor shack to a rich mansion. In the first episode of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, it starts by introducing the main characters of the show also, Mama June, Sugar Bear, Pumpkin, Chubbs, and Chickadee. The first episode of both shows introduce the characters. The two shows are similar in the fact that they joke about the poor southern culture shared by both families. For example, in The Beverly Hillbillys, the oil buyer askes Jed if he could use the telephone and Jed assumes the boy was hit too hard on the head because he has never heard of an invention like that before. The scene is then followed by a laugh track, signifying the humor the audience should find in a poor family not knowing what a telephone is. Looking at this scene really a family from their economic background would not be able to afford a phone so course they would not know what it is.
In Honey Boo Boo there is not a laugh track but the show shares the same concept. After Mama June or Honey Boo Boo would say a signature like, “A dolla make me Holla” the audience would know to laugh. Both of the TV shows also share southern slang such as “aint”, and “yall’. The main contrast between the two shows would be how far the humor went. In Beverly Hillbillys it is a lighthearted show about a silly family from the south. The show though making fun of the family still portrays them as a kind and loving family. The show still makes the “hillbillys” seem human. The latter can be said for Honey Boo Bo. In this show it is more of a mockery of not just the family, but “white trash” as a whole. In the episode” This Is My Crazy Family” the family goes to the “Summer Redneck Games”. In the episode the camera zooms in on induvial in the crowd after certain comments were made. For example, in the episode Mama June describes a certain type of white trash as “broke down”, the camera then zooms in on a few heavy set women to “help” prove her point. This showcase of the “white trash” is far different from the funny and more bearable Beverly Hillbillies because with Honey Boo Boo it
is real and an actual family for people to laugh at. The show seems to try to make the family seem light-hearted, but it simply comes off as mockery. In the article, The Harsh Reality Behind Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, Lavine states, “Honey Boo Boo may pretend to show a sympathetic depiction of its characters, but the editing and framing of the show make it hard to avoid the sense that the cast is being presented not so much as a different class, but practically a different species altogether. “(Lavine p. 7) Lavine expresses his concern in how TLC portrays Southern people, especially poor people in this TV show. Lavine even advises the audience to remember that this show is reality in the “loosest form” (Lavine p. 7). In the TV shows there are multiple themes of white trash that the shows play off of. For example, the idea that “white trash” are uneducated is a huge trope displayed in both shows. An example of this is showed in Beverly Hillbillys when the oil buyer says that he is going to fly back to California to make a deal, they think that he hit his head to hard because he does not have the wings to fly. The family has never heard of or seen any type of aircraft before so of course they would have hard time believing it. This is not just a play in their education, but also their class. Different class systems can afford certain things, and of course these poor families in both shows can only afford so much. In ‘White Trash’ A Cultural and Political History of an American Underclass Carlos Lozada states, “If slavery is Americas’ original sin, class may be its hidden one.” (Isenberg p.1) Lozada alludes to how the slave trade and the racism that followed is an obvious issue that is discussed throughout American History. In White Trash, the novel talks about how class systems in America started out by separating certain white as less. In the novel, George Weston describes the whole south as “economically backwards”. (Isenberg p.246) This class system at the time and now was just used to create a distraction between groups of people. History speaks of the the divide between African Americans and Whites. Although, the history behind the poor whites is forgotten. In White Trash. 400- year untold History of Class in America Isenberg describes the effect that Southern culture had on modern TV in the 70s. She speaks on how the media treated the Bakker family specifically. Isenberg states, ““She achieved the American dream not because of her beauty, education, or talent, but because of having fashioned a cable TV personality that refused to partake of the fine manners of her social betters.” (p. 469) The author expresses how the audience though they loved to watch Tammy and cultivated her fame. They still would deem themselves as her better. The shows highlight many sociological themes such as family structure, and gender and sex. In The Beverly Hillbillies, Granny talks about how Elly May needs to stop running around outside and put on a dress. This is an obvious play in gender and sex because in the idea of women wearing pants, especially in the South was still deemed as something women did not do at the time. Both families in the TV show do share the Southern tradition of close-knit family units, the example of Jed unwilling to leave Granny behind. Through the two TV shows were a huge televised hit in America. The TV shows showed poor white citizens in a negative light. The negative light that the TV shows portray them in do not help diminish the stereotypes that still dehumanize and trap poor whites till this day.
Film Historian Donald Bogle, the author of “Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, & Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films,” offers compelling and informative examples of various stereotypes of African-Americans performers. He emphasizes on historical characteristics of gifted black actors/entertainers; renovating their roles to disseminate specific representations that are significant to the economics and history of America’s shifting environmental circumstances.
Omi claims that media and popular culture are two of the main culprits for the dissemination of a segregation ideology through music, movies and TV shows (Omi 114). According to Omi, media has the “ability to reflect the dominant racial ideology” and to “shape that ideology in first place” (Omi 115). These two sentences imply that Omi is not just blaming on media, but also on white people, who dominate communications and provide a better image of themselves in order to maintain the status of dominant culture. Moreover, Omi uses the concept of “representation” to claim that even the popular culture, which was supposed to be created by the people, brings segregating ideology on itself and do not contribute to the celebration of cultural diversity (Omi 120). Omi explains this belief of “representation” as a tool of segregation when stating that jokes and songs “reinforce stereotypes and rationalize the existing relations of social inequality” (Omi 121). Media and popular culture are outsiders, meaning that are not racist themselves, but according to Omi they are the main incentive to
Marshall writes, “These are the ‘rednecks’ who frosted their hair and wore camouflage…” (Marshall). T.V. shows like these praise the wealthy, non-educated rednecks who makes the rest of the south look bad by glorifying their ignorance. The show Rocket City Rednecks is another example of society using one’s culture to entertain the public by subliminally making fun of their background. Rocket City Rednecks was filmed in one of the cities that I grew up in and with personal experience I can assure you that the city it was filmed in was not full of
Since its start, the television industry has been criticized for perpetuating myths and stereotypes about African-Americans through characterizations, story lines, and plots. The situation comedy has been the area that has seemed to draw the most criticism, analysis, and disapproval for stereotyping. From Sanford and Son and The Jefferson’s in the 1970s to The Cosby Show (1984) and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the 1990s, sitcoms featuring black casts and characters have always been controversial. However, their significance upon our American culture cannot be disregarded. During the 1950s and 1960s, 97% of the families were Caucasian. In the first five years of the 1990s, nearly 14% of the television families were African-American (Bryant 2001). These statistics obviously show the substantial impact our American culture has had on African-American television families.
Nous sommes Acadiens. (We are Acadians.) Some outsiders see us as a quaint, virtuous people, spending a great deal of time singing, dancing, praying, and visiting? (Conrad, 1978, p.14). Others see us as independent and unsophisticated. We see ourselves as fun-loving, carefree, happy, proud people who have a great love for our culture. The Acadians were French settlers of eastern Canada who were exiled from their land in the 1750?s. The Acadians are known to have settled in the southern bayou lands of Louisiana around that time. The Acadiana people acquired their nickname, ?Cajuns,? from those people who could not pronounce Acadians correctly. Due to the opinion that Cajuns were ?different?, they lived close together and became isolated from others in Louisiana. They have since developed their own distinct characteristics which make them unique and unlike no others in the bayou state. Family, music, housing, food, marriages, and ?traiteurs? were all a part of the simple but challenging lifestyle of the Cajuns.
Since television came into existence, it has evolved into a useful tool to spread ideas, both social and political, and has had a great effect on the generations growing up with these heavily influential shows. To these younger generations, television has taken the role of a teacher, with the task of creating a social construction by which many of us base our personal beliefs and judgments on. This power allows television shows take the opportunity to address problems in a manner that many audiences can take to heart. Many television shows present controversial topics in a comical matter, in some ways to soften the blow of hard-hitting reality at the same time bringing attention to the issue being addressed. In the television show, Everybody Hates Chris, season one, episode four entitled “Everybody Hates Sausage”, the stereotypes that continue to fuel racism are examined in a satirical motif, and class is presented in a comical way, but carries serious undertones which present a somewhat realistic view of the different social strata within the United States.
Marlon T. Riggs’ video, Color Adjustment, offers the viewer an exciting trip though the history of television, focusing on the representation, or lack thereof, of African-Americans. A perfectly chosen combination of television producers, actors, sociologists, and cultural critics join forces to offer insight and professional opinion about the status of African-Americans in television since the inception of television itself. As Color Adjustment traces the history of television shows from Amos n’ Andy and Julia to "ghetto sitcoms" and The Cosby Show, the cast of television professionals and cultural critics discuss the impacts those representations have on both the African-American community and our society as a whole. Color Adjustment continually asks the question: "Are these images positive?" This video raises the viewer’s awareness about issues of positive images for African-Americans on television.
"Race and Ethnicity in Entertainment." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies.
Southern hospitality is the best in the world. People that live in the South are very nice and are always willing to help another person in any way they can. If someone is from out of town and needs directions to a certain place southerners will make sure he or she knows how to get there before he or she leaves them. Southerners are very polite. Every time we pass someone on the rode, we are going to wave at him or her. Towns in the South have fewer people and everyone knows everyone. The people in the South are nicer than anywhere else in the United States.
Woll, Allen L and Randall M Miller. Ethnic and Racial Images in American Film and Television: Historical Essays and Bibliography. n.d. Print.
According to Poverty & Prejudice: Media and Race, co-authored by Yurii Horton, Raagen Price, and Eric Brown, the media sets the tone for the morals, values and images of our culture. Many whites in American society, some of whom have never encoun...
With the turn of the century, society and technology evolved and so did the minstrel shows. The introduction of the television gave the shows a new platform to broadcast their content to more American audiences. While not as harsh as the shows in the 19th century’s shows, the modern minstrel shows were “vestiges of their racial stereotyping and performance aesthetics that persisted for decades in various performance mediums. ” (7).
The world of television can either completely hit or miss the mark when it comes to providing its audience a diverse cast/actors. "Girls" is a new HBO show about young, prosperous, and white New Yorkers in their twenties struggling to find their footing in the post-collegiate world. It is a poor example of representation of race, but the show in itself cannot be held responsible for the whole problem of racial diversity of media and popular culture. There has been a lot of controversy about the show's diversity since the first episode, seeing how it is set in the melting pot of NYC and Brooklyn, yet it is prominently white. The shocking part is that despite its meting pot nature, it is very easy to live a segregated social life in New York City, especially if you are a rich white person. The fact that the show is so white should not come off as unusual, yet it does because this generation is more willing to see that change happen in pop culture. Not everyone sees it that way and pop culture still does not represent races equally or at times even accurately. For example, when show do add in minorities they often make them extremely stereotypical to their race. The recurrence in the lack of realistic representation in the show highlights the “whiteness” of stereotypical roles that overshadows real life representation.
1) The representation of African American’s in television has increased greatly since the early 1950’s. Through the years that television has progressed, the view of ethnic and racial groups have improved. From their beginnings as stereotypical roles to primary characters in television, the representation of African Americans have transformed in almost every genre in television. Tracing the development of African Americans through television history helps us to understand the different ways a group of people are represented and how that representation changes as the years go by.
One of the greatest exports of American culture is American media. American media is one of the most widely distributed and consumed cultural forms from the United States. This means that not only do Americans consume large quantities of their own media, but many other countries in the world consume American media, too. People in other countries will not interpret or understand the media in precisely the same ways that Americans will and do, nonetheless, many aspects of American culture and American reality are communicated to numerous viewers as part of the content in the media. The media is an important tool in the discussion of race, class, and gender in America. It takes a savvy viewer to discriminate between and understand what media accurately represents reality, what media does not, or which aspects of experience are fictionalized, and which elements ...