President Obama has called for Muslim characters who aren’t related to national security,so where are they and why cant US television seem to get it right?In a speech at a mosque in Baltimore, Maryland, and yesterday,President Obama declared that “our TV shows should believe Muslim characters that are unrelated to national security”. As with anything that Obama says about Muslims thats not related to vaporizing them with a drone strike, it didn’t recede over too well with conservatives. That wasn’t much of a surprise, or as any show of compassion or empathy (sensitivity to another's feelings as if they were one's own) from the president is seen by the rightwing as cowardice or worse,treason. What was surprising, however, or was that Obama would point to television as a means of easing cultural and devout tension,when it’s often used for exactly the opposite purpose.
One could point to instances in which TV was the harbinger of a more just, equal society. Star Trek featured a landmark interracial kiss between William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols in the late 1960s on NBC primetime. Sitcoms like Family things, and Martin and The Cosby Show transmitted black culture across the country,into the homes of people who might not believe ever met a black family otherwise. But TV can also be used to reinforce stereotypes just as often. NBC’s short-lived sitcom Outsourced got nuked by critics for its reliance on cliched characterizations of Indian people working in a call center. And every time a person of color pops up on an otherwise white show to play a criminal or cannon fodder for the sinful guy, it further cements the thought that brown and black people are crooks or extraneous. Related: 'Homeland is racist': artists sneak subversive graffiti on to TV show Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com