Page 476 - Battleground The Media Volume 1 and 2

Representat ons of Race |

lead character in relation to, literally, the supporting character. Often, the “racial
sidekick” serves to enhance white (and often male) superiority in the text; ex-
amples include Tonto to the Lone Ranger, Kato to the Green Hornet, the buddy
genre, as well as a long history in film and television of the racialized servant.
Racial stereotypes have been part of our visual and cultural lexicon since the
first interactions between people of different races. How can we move beyond
stereotypes in representational culture, on the part of both creators of television
as well as consumers of it?

on sCrEEn

The place to start when thinking about race and representation is to consider
what we see (or do not see) on television and in film. Background characters
or supporting roles played by actors of color are far more common than lead
roles. Stereotyped images are more common than rich, complex characters of
color. While the quantity of characters of color is a concern, it is the quality of
the roles that must be assessed. There has been, no doubt, an increase in the
number of actors of color working and appearing in the media overall; African
American faces are seen frequently, Latinos have become more noticeable, there
are a handful of Asian Americans when there used to be one or none, though
there are virtually no identifiable Native Americans populating the television
and film landscapes except as requisite props in a Western setting. While one
could argue that progress is being made inasmuch as there is steadily an in-
crease in the number of faces and actors of color appearing on the small and big
screens since previous decades, the questions to ask about these appearances
include:
• Are these characters important to the main plotline, and are the perform-
ers equally promoted as cast members if the series is popular or the film is
a hit?
• Do these characters of color challenge and perhaps even disrupt traditional
expectations of certain racial groups, or are they attached to stereotypical
notions in updated costume?
• Can such roles potentially widen the imagination of viewers, not only in
terms of representing race, but also in terms of representing race relations
in a multicultural country such as the United States? Ideally, new roles for
performers of color would be integrated into a popular vision that does not
reproduce racial hierarchy and is not solely about white subjectivity—in
other words, we need more film and television roles that share the perspec-
tives of racial characters in substantive ways.

BEhinD ThE sCrEEn/BEhinD ThE sCEnEs
How do these kinds of roles get created? Before an actor gets on television or
is seen in a film, before she or he is even able to audition for a part, the role has to
be written. Writers who have unique and lesser-known stories to tell can widen
and deepen the range of characters represented in the media, and conscientious