oh, this is in no way politically correct. you have no idea.
Okay, before I go into what could become a full-blown rant, I want to say that I fully believe in free speech, okay? As long as you are not insighting violence or spouting slanderous (/liable? which is verbal? but both apply here) BS which you know is BS, then I believe everyone has the right to their opinion, no matter how imbicillic, horrible or brain-dead it is.
- that being said, if you ever want to witness something that may cause question to that right, you're welcome to come to one of my fraternal family gatherings.
warning: I really, really mean no offence by this, but it's hard to talk about racial (or other) issues without coming out sounding racist unless the person is of a ethnic minority, so I apologise just in case it sounds like it.
. . . + when I start talking about portrayals and good & bad ways of showing subjects of bias, I'm talking about the media and not in life.
----Things we should have to hear but suck none the less (or, 'Reasons why Studio 60 was awesome and NBC is run by morons')Yes, racism, homophobia, and other bigotry sucks. Yes, quite often, assuming you're head isn't up your ass, remarks from small minded assholes are uncomfortable and even hurtful to hear even if you're not of the targeted minority. Yes, it would be a lovely thing if said assholes vanished from the face of the earth. However, there is no way to prevent it without taking away a right that is fundamental to equality and general freedom (and oh my god, I can't believe I had cause to ever say anything like that). Hell, even many of the assholes in question are uncomfortable hearing others say shit like that in public because it may draw attention to themselves or something.**
The fact is, bigotry exists and likely always will to some extent, no matter how far we get. I'm not defending it, but in some ways it is human nature, regardless of the fact that it's wrong. I personally have a problem with the IRA (not Ireland or the Irish, but still) and likely always will, even though most of what I know about them has come from watching Murder She Wrote, which not only is twenty years out of date and has the bias of the decade it was made in.
But the way to deal with it isn't by pretending it isn't there or even by portraying everyone who has those opinions (and -acknowledging my own bias (against bias)- I use that term loosly) as rednecks or outdated characters of the KKK. All this does is solidify the notion that there aren't every-day, educated people who look down on, fear or hate anyone who's different, which in turn allows those 'ideas' to go unchallanged.
Now, I'm not saying there aren't real people who fit or at least kind of justify stereotypes, but there aren't nearly the number that watching TV (and often movies) would give an outsider.*** And this sure as shit doesn't do anything but encourage idiotic notions. And I'm certanly not saying that a lot of shows don't have decent protrayals, either. Both Criminal Minds and Law & Order are good examples of shows that don't fall back on stereotypes (well, not always. I can think of a few poor cases as well, but that's life and, as I said, I do know that there are real people out there who do fit the stereotypes, as well). But almost always, they are one-shot characters and unless the writers are blantently trying to make a point, any issues are glossed over.
--- An (admitedly over-played) example would be racism towards an ethnic main character. I can't think of one case where, unless the focus of the episode is a hate crime, a character is treated with any sort of inequality, and when it is the main plot arc and it happens, almost all of the time, the asshole is either the killer or an accomplice. I will probably get shit for saying this, but I would like to see it acknowledged that sometimes, there are people on the same side as our heroes that can be just as dickheaded as the criminals. I'm not asking for it to be treated as common-place or accaptable, but it happens. Not out-right, but it would be believeable if (staying with the crime-genra example) there were one cop (a background character) who was cold or disrespectful of a main character of a minority, and get called on it by another character without the moral of the episode being "(x bias) is wrong". And, okay, I know it would make people uncomfortable, but you know what? That's a good thing. It forces the viewers to recognise that this shit happens.
--- It would also be nice if there were more homosexual characters as either reoccuring or main characters in shows without that being their defining personality trate. And I'm not asking for every show to have a gay character who's out and accepted by everyone else, because that's just not realistic most of the time. There is a reason organizations like GOAL exsist, but still. The only good example I can think of is Dr. George Huang on the Law & Order spin-off SVU. They only mention it once, when he gets upset because there's a pedophile trying to compare having sex with children as the same as having sex with an adult of the same gender. Otherwise, it's not something that is brought up.
....I know the phrasing of the second sounds a little contradictory to the first, but what I'm trying to say is that I'm sick of seeing the idea that all bigots are extreamists and using non-visible minorities to prove a show is edgy.
The only show I've ever seen that really didn't do much of this was the short-lived NBC series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. I felt they covered a lot of issues that are real but avoided on television because the subject matter makes people uncomfortable. Hell, I personally know a few people who couldn't get past things like the implication that Harriet could be homophobic and still an otherwise nice, talented woman to appreciate the other aspects of the show.****
**My father is one such case. He's one of the worst biggots I know, but he's (unfortunatally) got enough good sense to know not to make remarks like that in public. He's excellent in sucking up and knowing when he can get away with saying shit that could make him look bad. So when someone else makes a comment, joke or whathaveyou, he gets ridged, because he sure as hell won't correct or disagree with the other guy, but no one who doesn't know him as well as my family do see it.
***pretend we are in the same context as Earth; The Book. Yeah, I know, just go with it, okay? It's the only example I can think of that wouldn't be familiar with Western culture.
****I could go on about how awesome Studio 60 was, but that would make this twice as long as it is and take away from the point of it.
.
This entry was cross-posted @ http://fai-dust.dreamwidth.org/21770.html
- that being said, if you ever want to witness something that may cause question to that right, you're welcome to come to one of my fraternal family gatherings.
warning: I really, really mean no offence by this, but it's hard to talk about racial (or other) issues without coming out sounding racist unless the person is of a ethnic minority, so I apologise just in case it sounds like it.
. . . + when I start talking about portrayals and good & bad ways of showing subjects of bias, I'm talking about the media and not in life.
----Things we should have to hear but suck none the less (or, 'Reasons why Studio 60 was awesome and NBC is run by morons')Yes, racism, homophobia, and other bigotry sucks. Yes, quite often, assuming you're head isn't up your ass, remarks from small minded assholes are uncomfortable and even hurtful to hear even if you're not of the targeted minority. Yes, it would be a lovely thing if said assholes vanished from the face of the earth. However, there is no way to prevent it without taking away a right that is fundamental to equality and general freedom (and oh my god, I can't believe I had cause to ever say anything like that). Hell, even many of the assholes in question are uncomfortable hearing others say shit like that in public because it may draw attention to themselves or something.**
The fact is, bigotry exists and likely always will to some extent, no matter how far we get. I'm not defending it, but in some ways it is human nature, regardless of the fact that it's wrong. I personally have a problem with the IRA (not Ireland or the Irish, but still) and likely always will, even though most of what I know about them has come from watching Murder She Wrote, which not only is twenty years out of date and has the bias of the decade it was made in.
But the way to deal with it isn't by pretending it isn't there or even by portraying everyone who has those opinions (and -acknowledging my own bias (against bias)- I use that term loosly) as rednecks or outdated characters of the KKK. All this does is solidify the notion that there aren't every-day, educated people who look down on, fear or hate anyone who's different, which in turn allows those 'ideas' to go unchallanged.
Now, I'm not saying there aren't real people who fit or at least kind of justify stereotypes, but there aren't nearly the number that watching TV (and often movies) would give an outsider.*** And this sure as shit doesn't do anything but encourage idiotic notions. And I'm certanly not saying that a lot of shows don't have decent protrayals, either. Both Criminal Minds and Law & Order are good examples of shows that don't fall back on stereotypes (well, not always. I can think of a few poor cases as well, but that's life and, as I said, I do know that there are real people out there who do fit the stereotypes, as well). But almost always, they are one-shot characters and unless the writers are blantently trying to make a point, any issues are glossed over.
--- An (admitedly over-played) example would be racism towards an ethnic main character. I can't think of one case where, unless the focus of the episode is a hate crime, a character is treated with any sort of inequality, and when it is the main plot arc and it happens, almost all of the time, the asshole is either the killer or an accomplice. I will probably get shit for saying this, but I would like to see it acknowledged that sometimes, there are people on the same side as our heroes that can be just as dickheaded as the criminals. I'm not asking for it to be treated as common-place or accaptable, but it happens. Not out-right, but it would be believeable if (staying with the crime-genra example) there were one cop (a background character) who was cold or disrespectful of a main character of a minority, and get called on it by another character without the moral of the episode being "(x bias) is wrong". And, okay, I know it would make people uncomfortable, but you know what? That's a good thing. It forces the viewers to recognise that this shit happens.
--- It would also be nice if there were more homosexual characters as either reoccuring or main characters in shows without that being their defining personality trate. And I'm not asking for every show to have a gay character who's out and accepted by everyone else, because that's just not realistic most of the time. There is a reason organizations like GOAL exsist, but still. The only good example I can think of is Dr. George Huang on the Law & Order spin-off SVU. They only mention it once, when he gets upset because there's a pedophile trying to compare having sex with children as the same as having sex with an adult of the same gender. Otherwise, it's not something that is brought up.
....I know the phrasing of the second sounds a little contradictory to the first, but what I'm trying to say is that I'm sick of seeing the idea that all bigots are extreamists and using non-visible minorities to prove a show is edgy.
The only show I've ever seen that really didn't do much of this was the short-lived NBC series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. I felt they covered a lot of issues that are real but avoided on television because the subject matter makes people uncomfortable. Hell, I personally know a few people who couldn't get past things like the implication that Harriet could be homophobic and still an otherwise nice, talented woman to appreciate the other aspects of the show.****
**My father is one such case. He's one of the worst biggots I know, but he's (unfortunatally) got enough good sense to know not to make remarks like that in public. He's excellent in sucking up and knowing when he can get away with saying shit that could make him look bad. So when someone else makes a comment, joke or whathaveyou, he gets ridged, because he sure as hell won't correct or disagree with the other guy, but no one who doesn't know him as well as my family do see it.
***pretend we are in the same context as Earth; The Book. Yeah, I know, just go with it, okay? It's the only example I can think of that wouldn't be familiar with Western culture.
****I could go on about how awesome Studio 60 was, but that would make this twice as long as it is and take away from the point of it.
.
This entry was cross-posted @ http://fai-dust.dreamwidth.org/21770.html