This essay examines three reality TV shows: MTV's The Real World: Denver, CBS's Survivor: Cook Islands, and the FX network's miniseries Black.White. The essay uses Grindstaff's conceptual framework of news media and television talk shows as a mechanism to examine the way race is constructed on reality TV. It argues that the shows promote a politics of difference,emphasize conflict and division by positioning race as a point of contention among the cast members and dramatize scenarios that reinforce cultural codes and stereotypes. Three points of reference will guide this analysis: First, Jhally and Lewis write that we should more closely examine the ways that media texts purposely, critically and unapologetically confront race in the US. Second, Brummett proposes that media texts are sites of struggle over meaning and that we engage in an unconscious yet powerful struggle over how to interpret them. Third, recent theoretical discourses on race and representation in media call for continued critique of how media marginalize the lived experiences of African Americans, perpetuate crippling representations of marginalized groups, and often render them invisible.
Black.White. and a Survivor of The Real World: Constructions of Race on Reality TV
Abstract
This essay examines three reality TV shows: MTV's The Real World: Denver, CBS's Survivor: Cook Islands, and the FX network's miniseries Black.White. The essay uses Grindstaff's conceptual framework of news media and television talk shows as a mechanism to examine the way race is constructed on reality TV. It argues that the shows promote a politics of difference,emphasize conflict and division by positioning race as a point of contention among the cast members and dramatize scenarios that reinforce cultural codes and stereotypes. Three points of reference will guide this analysis: First, Jhally and Lewis write that we should more closely examine the ways that media texts purposely, critically and unapologetically confront race in the US. Second, Brummett proposes that media texts are sites of struggle over meaning and that we engage in an unconscious yet powerful struggle over how to interpret them. Third, recent theoretical discourses on race and representation in media call for continued critique of how media marginalize the lived experiences of African Americans, perpetuate crippling representations of marginalized groups, and often render them invisible.Preview Only. This article cannot be rented because we do not currently have permission from the publisher.
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Black.White. and a Survivor of The Real World: Constructions of Race on Reality TV
Follow Critical Studies in Media Communication
, Volume 25 (4): 353-372
Informa Healthcare – Oct 1, 2008
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