Brent Staples’s
Black Characters in Search of Reality (02/12/2012) asserts that representation
of African culture in American dramatics both commercial and theatrical is
biased towards the expression of the black struggle. He supports this by
providing examples of roles that have won Grammys and characters that are used
and not used in advertising as well as providing proof that the alternative
lifestyle of affluence exists. Staples wrote on this subject in order to bring
awareness to the subject of stereotypical media in order to stimulate a shift
of the way black are portrayed in American media. Staples wrote this essay to
the populous that consumes media on the
regular basis.
I conditionally
agree to Staples argument on the basis of the time period. It is true that racism in media was opaque
and un-malleable in the past , but now the characters portrayed by blacks in
theater and commercials has been forced to change. The standard of living for a
considerable percentage of blacks has transcended the status of deep poverty,
and media has accepted degrees change. It is to be understood that there is
much room for improvement in media representation, but many of the
stereotypical roles of blue-collar employees are still the deployed in movies
but, at least the context has changed from maid by force to maid by choice.
The essay used
specific language that highlighted the examples of stereotypical media
subjection of blacks to uneducated states of being. He talked about “pancake
–mammy” , “ Jemima and Rastus”, and other Maids that have graced the hollowly
wood kitchens with their service. She
also gave examples of black resistance in Hollywood to the assigned
stereotypes, naming Sidney Poitier as a member
of the black resistance. Over all I appreciated the writing and felt that it
was written well.
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