Introduction:
The purpose of this essay is to critically analyze the representational aspects of race/ethnicity in media. Because the next two sections of this course deal with issues of race/ethnicity in popular entertainment and news, you have two options to choose from concerning the core content you use:
(1) Entertainment (e.g. TV, film, video games, etc.) (2) News (e.g. broadcast, newspaper, etc.)
If you choose the entertainment option then you should find a character from a recent (i.e. within the last 5 years) TV show, movie, video game, etc. and analyze how race and ethnicity operates in the construction of that character. What sorts of stereotypes are present/absent? What is the purpose of this character? How is the character typically situated within the context of the show?
If you choose the news option, then you will do an informal analysis of racial content in a news platform of your choice. How does this outlet approach racial issues? How does it typically frame (i.e. episodic or thematic) the stories about race and ethnicity? You could even consider a cross-platform analysis to explore how different news outlets discuss the same stories.
Note that the above questions are just general prompts to help you think about your choice.
Example:
Recently, I’ve been watching the new Netflix series Luke Cage. I am fascinated with how the show incorporates a variety of issues of blackness into the characters, particular the character of Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes. While it would be easy to reduce him to a stereotypical “gangster” who is focused exclusively on power and domination, he is much more complex than we often associate with villains in superhero adaptations (i.e. comic books, movies, etc.). Instead, we are presented with a character who illustrates these tropes but at the same time is humanized to an extent. Here is a man who reluctantly became a crime boss and has to navigate a world in which masculinity is often focused solely on physicality. While it is true that the character is responsible for beating to death a young man who robbed him, he also has a deep loyalty and respect for those who escaped the criminal life (i.e. Henry “Pop” Hunter). His
criminal life also belies a rich American tradition of succeeding through felonious purposes (e.g. the documentary Prohibition explores how esteemed families like the Kennedy’s became powerful through bootlegging alcohol in the early 20th century) in the pursuit of respectability.
Within this character is a complex construction of what it means to be both black and a man in the U.S. After establishing the character through a close analysis I would then make some educated guesses for potential effects such a character could have on the viewing audience. To do this I might consider approaching it from a hypothetical white viewing audience, a hypothetical black viewing audience, or a hypothetical co-viewing environment (to name just a few possibilities).
Paper Guidelines:
Your paper will be graded along three primary criteria according to how well you:
(1) demonstrate an understanding of how race is depicted in the media (character, news);
(2) provide a thorough analysis of the content (character, news); and (3) construct the argument for the effects you predict would occur
Other considerations factoring into your grade for this paper will be: (1) Clear content development and organization
(2) Well-supported and documented sourcing for your topic (3) Grammar, mechanics, sentence structure, etc.
You should expect to have at least three (3) sources, one of which should be academic, to support your analysis and/or the argument for potential effects you might expect to see. You are required to provide a complete reference list of ALL sources used in the paper. Don’t copy anything from Internet, books, articles, etc. Please use your own words.
