It 'aint much betta in hea, kid
Everyone always complains about stereotypes in the media, but what about how my people are represented? By my people, I mean New Yorkers.
The other morning I sat down to a bowl of cereal with my brother and watched an old favorite TV show: "Saved by the Bell." After tuning in a bit late, my brother and I were forced to guess what the plot had been up to that point. The facts were these: Jessie's greasy-haired half brother (or something) from out of town had come to Bay Side, creating problems for the trusty crew while doing "wise guy" things and speaking like one. Not until the end of the episode, after the crew revolted against this creep, did I hear him remark that he was "going back to New York."
Really? Going back to New York? This is the kind of representation my people get?
Think about it; how often do you see a person in a film or TV show supposedly from New York who doesn't have some obnoxious accent or tough guy/girl demeanor? Where is my normal college school kid from the suburbs of New York who has barely any accent at all, except maybe a light "aw" sound where her "ah" should be?
I guess All New Yorkers are cramped inside Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx (occasionally Queens, but never Staten Island).
I hope people don't think that all of New York and New Yorkers are like that. I mean, as much as I would love to have prostitutes at every corner, asking to read me bedtime stories, I haven't had such an opportunity presented to me. I don't even have sidewalks (not like there are thousands of cars rushing by me). The only way that I gamble is buy purchasing a scratch card at the Shell Gas Station down the street; unfortunately, there are no rigged card tables in my neighborhood. The sole thing that threatens me when I walk out the door during my 5-second walk to my car in the driveway is the fleet of landscapers cutting my grass.
Don't get me wrong; there are plenty of things to fear here in Suburbia, New York other than falling tree limbs and uncurbed dog poo. However, the message here is this: we do not all wear leather jackets, talk on our cell phones incessantly, and speak in highly-accented, loud voices. There is racial diversity in New York, and there diversity among that diversity. Expect us to be normal human beings, not clones of this stereotype.
Personally, I blame Joe Pesci.
The other morning I sat down to a bowl of cereal with my brother and watched an old favorite TV show: "Saved by the Bell." After tuning in a bit late, my brother and I were forced to guess what the plot had been up to that point. The facts were these: Jessie's greasy-haired half brother (or something) from out of town had come to Bay Side, creating problems for the trusty crew while doing "wise guy" things and speaking like one. Not until the end of the episode, after the crew revolted against this creep, did I hear him remark that he was "going back to New York."
Really? Going back to New York? This is the kind of representation my people get?
Think about it; how often do you see a person in a film or TV show supposedly from New York who doesn't have some obnoxious accent or tough guy/girl demeanor? Where is my normal college school kid from the suburbs of New York who has barely any accent at all, except maybe a light "aw" sound where her "ah" should be?
I guess All New Yorkers are cramped inside Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx (occasionally Queens, but never Staten Island).
I hope people don't think that all of New York and New Yorkers are like that. I mean, as much as I would love to have prostitutes at every corner, asking to read me bedtime stories, I haven't had such an opportunity presented to me. I don't even have sidewalks (not like there are thousands of cars rushing by me). The only way that I gamble is buy purchasing a scratch card at the Shell Gas Station down the street; unfortunately, there are no rigged card tables in my neighborhood. The sole thing that threatens me when I walk out the door during my 5-second walk to my car in the driveway is the fleet of landscapers cutting my grass.
Don't get me wrong; there are plenty of things to fear here in Suburbia, New York other than falling tree limbs and uncurbed dog poo. However, the message here is this: we do not all wear leather jackets, talk on our cell phones incessantly, and speak in highly-accented, loud voices. There is racial diversity in New York, and there diversity among that diversity. Expect us to be normal human beings, not clones of this stereotype.
Personally, I blame Joe Pesci.