Page 474 - Battleground The Media Volume 1 and 2

Representat ons of Race |

getting better? What constitutes or creates “better” representations, and is im-
provement only relative?
The representation of race has been a topic of discussion since the beginning of
film exhibition at the turn of the twentieth century and even more since the start
of television broadcasting in the late 1940s. In fact, the questions, public debates,
and private reactions connected to the representation of race in culture precede
film and television, having a history in theater, literature, and journalism. What
makes race such a powerful cultural, intellectual, and political issue is that it is
also deeply personal. Race is something that is not only represented, it is some-
thing that is perceived; hence, race is about how an individual is understood (or
misunderstood), and how a person is ultimately treated (or mistreated) in soci-
ety. Film and television play an important role in communicating—sometimes
dictating—social roles and social hierarchies according to racial, class, gender,
sexual, national, and religious identities.

tiMeline

1950s—Amos ‘n‘ Andy airs and is canceled after two seasons as a result of strong NAACP
protests.
The Nat King Cole Show is canceled due to lack of sponsorship and poor ratings.
Television westerns replicate the film genre’s tendency to depict Native Americans in ho-
mogeneous ways as either threatening enemies to Western expansion, or as a peace-
loving people in need of modern assistance.
1950s–60s—Civil rights movement is broadcast on national television news.
1960s—Asian servant characters such as Hop Sing in Bonanza, Kato in The Green Hor-
net, and Mrs. Livingston in The Courtship of Eddie’s Father appear.
Julia premieres, starring Diahann Carroll and produced by Hal Kanter specifically as an
apology for earlier depictions of African Americans; the program becomes controver-
sial, liked and disliked by African American as well as white American viewers for its
“unrealistic” portrayal of a beautiful African American nurse.
1960s–70s—Vietnam War receives increasing, and increasingly negative, coverage, along
with antiwar protests.
1970s—Norman Lear produces a number of social commentary series such as All in the
Family and several spin-offs, Maude, Good Times, The Jeffersons, and Sanford and Son.
Chico and the Man, starring Freddie Prinze, was similar in format to Sanford and Son in
its portrayal of a father/son–like relationship between an auto garage owner and a me-
chanic, Chico. It broke ground as a successful series with an ethnic lead character. The
series included the same producers as Julia (Hal Kanter) and The Courtship of Eddie’s
Father (James Komack).
Several popular television programs emerge that represent whiteness in nostalgic ways,
for example, The Waltons, Little House on the Prairie, and Happy Days.
1980s—The Cosby Show rises to the top of the ratings and remains the number-one pro-
gram for most of the decade. ( The working-class, feminist series Roseanne eventually
rivals The Cosby Show in the late 1980s.)