Do u feel blacks are being represented negatively In Media.. (Atlanta: lawyer, houses)

[residinghere2007]

I don't watch the Real Housewives of anything but I do think that they give Atlanta a bad reputation. Like the author mentions, there are just only so many shows about Atlanta and the ones that are have crazy people in them acting like loonies so I can see how the city would get a bad reputation. I also remember the reality shows on BET I think, I saw one once at my aunts house (I don't have cable/satellite because I'm cheap and think it is crazy to pay for TV when you can just plug it in and it works and I already pay an electric bill) the one with TI's wife and the one with TI and his family and a couple others and all of them had "buffoonery" moments IMO, but I think all "reality TV" is like that.

But I fell bad for people in New Jersey too after Jersey Shore and LA is known for quite a few negative qualities due to the amount of crazy Los Angeles citizens that have been paraded about for years. New Yorkers are portrayed as being full of attitude and violent a lot.

I do think in a low of ways that black people, historically have been portrayed negatively as a whole, but that this trend seems to be on the decline. I even notice that the news has a lot more criminals of different ethnicities than there used to be displayed across the screen. I would say most reality shows are pretty stupid though. I don't watch any reality shows, not even DWTS, American Idol, America's Got Talent, or any of those singing/talent shows because to me they are pretty dumb and not worth my time. I mostly only watch PBS. There are 4 PBS channels now too because of the digital upgrade so I am in PBS heaven most of the time.

[9162]

It's kind of amazing people would complain? I see numerous positive representation in the media, and some hesitation by writers and directors to have bad characters played by black people. Shows like Law & Order, and other crime shows illustrate this. Consider that AA's represent barely 14% of the population and are heavily represented in most shows. They may not be the majority in the majority of shows, but compare to 30 years ago, when all there was, were the Jeffersons, Good Times, and later the Cosby Show. Today there is far more diversity.

But, if AA's always play positive role models, isn't this also a form of condescension..??

[DTL3000]

There wouldn't be TV shows like this if there weren't people who really act like this and an audience who eats it up. There are similar shows featuring no class white people with exponentially more money than sense so I don't see what's to get upset about. What really upsets me is that their are enough people who feel that crap like this is worth wasting their time on.

As far as Atlanta, it seems to have made the choice between becoming a center of black intellectualism or black Hollywood in the 90's. With all the HBCU's in the city it's kind of a shame that that's the case. How many nationally influential black author or politician to come out of Atlanta in the last 2 decades? Now compare that to how many rappers have come from Atlanta during that time.

[Box]

FINKMAG ISSUE7 MAURICE GARLAND on Vimeo

I think Killer Mike sums things up quite well in this video. Skip to 11:30 and he talks about Atlanta culture vs. Atlanta popular culture, and how Atlanta has been viewed has changed over the past couple of years.

[FlyiMetro]

.......sneaks in thread, places a note on the table that reads "Awkward Black Girl is a dope show" looks around, gives all the black people in the thread a "bruhman from fifth flo" head nod, then quietly leaves the thread.......

[ATLTJL]

I love Awkward Black Girl. It would be nice if it was set in Atlanta, but I know you were just trying to give an example of an African American show that has universal appeal.

It actually does. I think the neat thing about that show is that even though if has an African American star, the cast is quite diverse and she has a lot of different friends and co-workers, just like most of us do. Other shows tend to be set in the "white universe" or the "black universe", but ABG really does a good job capturing the actual universe that we all live in.

[Caltovegas]

Those people on the reality shows are only doing it for the money. Anyone who takes them serious are the ones with issues. Do people still think the south is like the Andy griffith show?

[Listennow32]

Why?... Why this thread?

[Box]

Originally Posted by Caltovegas

Those people on the reality shows are only doing it for the money. Anyone who takes them serious are the ones with issues. Do people still think the south is like the Andy griffith show?

yes

[AcidSnake]

I'd rather people think the south is more "The Andy Griffith show" than "Deliverance" with Ned Beatty and Burt Reynolds. But when observing the short-sighted ignorance emanating from the decision-making streaming daily at the State Capitol, it's probably more the latter.

Originally Posted by Caltovegas

Those people on the reality shows are only doing it for the money. Anyone who takes them serious are the ones with issues. Do people still think the south is like the Andy griffith show?