Mar 2 ML Ch.18, 28, 45, 52

I'll list which examples of TV shows I think tackle race issues well:

1. "Everybody Hates Chris"--this is a really cool show that wasn't mentioned in class. It's narrated by Chris Rock and is supposed to be based on his childhood growing up in New York. It's great because I find a lot of shows that portray an African American family sort of show them either in the context of the black sitcom (think UPN or BET) that is directed mostly toward African American audiences, or the family is basically trying to defy stereotypes by portraying characters as wealthy, highly educated and powerful (think Fresh Prince of Bel Air) which for the most part doesn't reflect reality. "Everybody Hates Chris" has characters that fit the statistical stereotype: a black family that is poor, lacking in tertiary education and working in difficult conditions. However, the show seeks justice to its characters by making them traditionally moral, frugal, conservative and genuinely funny--which I think does more for the power of representation that our books loves so much than just making black characters wealthy and educated.

2. "Lost" -- It has an uber multiracial, multinational cast. It has a huge cast in general but it's probably unprecedented in terms of tokenism. Although I'm not a big fan of tokenism (it usually isn't realistic or contribute artistically) but it works here. It makes a lot of sense for a group to come together on an island regardless of race or nationality, and that there would be a great diversity.

I think that's about it. I could only think of two. Here's an example of race done poorly:

"Twilight" -- I think this was a kind of weird movie in terms of race. There are the uberwhites--the two main characters, Bella and Edward, and the vampire clan. Then there was a vampire that was kind of randomly black but not really a main character. Then there were the teenage boys from the Native American tribe Quiluete--who in the books are werewolves and are subjects to a great deal of modern myth that is the ultimate enemy of the Native American "Disney's Pocahontas"-haters. In the high school, there are a smattering of different races that play friends of the main characters. Their personalities are so generic that it seems like their different races only serve to differentiate them visually for reference.