In a tech and media forward world, all different types of media that are available hold accountability for the culture’s shaping. Because of this, television, a huge part of today’s mass media platform, has potentially changed cultures idea of race, gender, sexuality, and even culture “norms.” Without television, and other forms of media, the world is left to question what the visible culture would be like today.
Overall, aside from problems that persist, there is progress continually being made going towards a more diverse entertainment world. It is hard to say if there is a point in which entertainment as a whole can hit a capacity for diversity. As time and situations are changing, diversity can continually progress and grow towards a better future.
Television opens up the opportunity to influence the population and create a more diverse culture through the workplace as well as the content in which is created, allowing for diversity in mass media, specifically television, to keep working towards a more eclectic world.
Television shows provide a visual representation of racial diversity and also can educate viewers on issues which may be happening, broadening the audience’s views on these topics. The show Black-ish is an outstanding example of creating representation and education for its viewers.
But, even in the African American culture, there is inequality throughout. Rainbow, the mother in Black-ish, talks about her feeling of pain as a “light-skin,” and being a “black doctor.”
Black-ish allows one to come to the understand that no matter your born race, your availability to break the boundaries of racial” norms” is limitless. In an article written by the Los Angeles Times it mentions that, “some of the most celebrated shows on TV showcase diversity, whether it is the African American family of ABC's ‘black-ish,’ the multiracial inmates on Netflix's ‘Orange Is the New Black’ or the transgender dad on Amazon's ‘Transparent’” (Collins).
An alarming amount of popular shows, as of now, provide a platform for diversity. Even with the numbers that are shown, there is an extensive amount of room for growth. Black-ish is a hallmark in the uprising of creating a more diverse culture. Not only does the laughter and the crucial serious conversations help diversify and educate in the show, but also opens up the door for fulfilling one’s identity. Black-ish teaches its viewers to embrace their race but not let that set boundaries for them.
Though it is important to educate on diversity, it is crucial to create a diverse environment of educators, in this case the writers room. A writer’s rooms should have an equal opportunity for all races, genders, and sexualities. In order for culture to be on the right track of diverse equality, television, a major influence on the shaping of culture, has to put-forth the same amount of effort in workspace diversity as they put into the content diversity.
www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-tv-film-diversity-20160224-story.html
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