TV Shows and Stereotypes : ‘Whose Reality Are They Writing About?’

Two new TV shows about black life--”South Central” and producer Norman Lear’s new “704 Hauser Street”--are causing a stir. Are the portrayals realistic or just more stereotyping? Teens, people in the entertainment industry, community leaders and people from outside the area give their impressions.

*

ASHLEY HENKIS

Sophomore, 16, Middle College High School

*

“South Central” was a great show. It shows a real South-Central Los Angeles family. My own family is kind of like that. I especially liked how the mother dealt with a lot of situations. You could tell that they were a close family, that there was a lot of love and friendship. That was very positive. I liked the mother the best. I appreciated the fact that she was a strong black mother doing her best.

YARDENA RICE

Freshman, 15, Middle College High

*

“South Central” was good, except the the scene where the daughter said something about smelling gunpowder in the morning. But overall, I liked the whole show. “704 Hauser” was interesting too, and pretty funny. I enjoyed it. Everyone had different points of view, and they were all interesting, especially the son and his white girlfriend. But I liked “South Central” better, because I understood it more. For me, it was real: I know that a beeper can cause problems. I would like to see a show that would bring together both types of people--middle class and lower class. The way they make TV shows now is out of date. We need something different.

ABRAHAM ZAMBRANO JR.

Sophomore, 15, Middle College High

*

The show was nothing like South-Central Los Angeles. Everybody had metal doors and made it seem dangerous, but we leave our doors open all the time where I live, near 68th Street and San Pedro Avenue. The acting was OK, but I just don’t know any people like that. Also, it made fun of Hispanics in the scene with the checker in the grocery store. I don’t know anyone who acts like that.

ANTHONY HINTON

Senior, 17, Dorsey High School

*

I really didn’t like “South Central.” It seemed very degrading to black people. The kids were very disrespectful to their parents, particularly the way they referred to their father. There are a lot of black men raising kids out there, but all the men played very weak parts. I live with my mom and dad. The son was real, but a person like him shouldn’t be shown to America. We should do more positive things, have role models that black kids could look up to like “Doogie Howser.” Just something besides gangs and drugs.

RASHARD MAGEE

Junior, 16, Crenshaw High School

*

I liked “704 Hauser.” It was funny but realistic at the same time. The way everyone disapproved of each other was good. It was different than a show like “Cosby,” which was a perfect family. This one had problems, and argued, but they still cared about each other. It really showed the father and son relationship. I didn’t like “South Central” because it tried to stereotype low-income families. I don’t know anybody like that, kids who talk back to their mothers. I would like to see more shows like “Martin”; Martin is not trying to show people from the neighborhood, he’s just himself. I’d like to combine a comedy like that with realism, put it on one show. That’s something you don’t see.

KEITH PENA,

Seventh grader, 13, Audubon Middle School

*

“South Central” really explained life, and how people struggle. It got to me when I watched it. “704 Hauser” was realistic in a different way. Everyone knew the roles they were playing, and weren’t afraid to say what was on their minds. But I didn’t agree with the father and how he only saw skin color. That was wrong. But I understand that TV goes overboard sometimes because it’s entertainment.

ROY CAMPANELLA II

Director, co-chairman African American Steering Committee, Directors Guild of

America

*

I don’t want to criticize shows I haven’t seen; but one of the problems in television is that, historically, African Americans have been portrayed primarily in comedic or criminal roles. There needs to be a broader range when it comes to a depiction of all people of color. Although some sitcoms such as “Roc” do a very good job within their genre dealing with serious issues, the problem is that they are tackling issues that need to be explored in the context of a one-hour drama. Right now, unfortunately, there doesn’t exist the willingness to explore developing serious and entertaining one-hour dramas about the African American experience.

KEVIN HOOKS

Director of the film “Passenger 57,”

Sherman Oaks

*

Not having seen either “South Central” or “704 Hauser” I really can’t comment specifically about the characterizations on those shows. However, from an historical standpoint the root of the problem is the same as in the early 1970s when “Julia” first premiered and J.J. on the show “Good Times” first said, “Dynamite!” There was a backlash to those shows and it’s the same today. The problem is twofold: first, the lack of African American roles and characters that are represented on the small screen; and, second, the limitations of the sitcom format that African Americans seem to fall into on a traditional basis.

Because of the cost factor, sponsors and networks have lessened the time a show has to prove itself on the air in the first place; and it makes it extremely difficult to cultivate, nurture and develop any characters within that show with the kind of complex arc you would expect when telling the story of a human being.

RODNEY MITCHELL

Co-president, Media Image Coalition,

Los Angeles

*

While certain media critics laud the show for its so-called realism, one must ask the question, whose reality are they writing about? Most South-Central residents (teen-agers included) are not involved in gangs or drugs. Even though unemployment is twice that of the white community, most are employed or seeking employment and profanity rarely finds its way into conversation, especially between children and their parents.

The ideal is for the media to reflect people in our society as they really are: good and bad. Unfortunately, too much attention has been paid to the bad when it comes to African Americans in particular and people of color in general.

HARRIET A. DICKEY

Writer, 34, Los Angeles

*

The black viewing public (should) express its concerns, (but) temper its criticism. Give “South Central” a chance. If it doesn’t improve fast enough, give the producers suggestions; don’t arbitrarily ask that it be canceled. What you need to demand is that if a show is about minorities the creative staff should be comprised of a majority of that race.

RHAE WATKINS

Elementary school teacher, Los Angeles

*

I know black actors have to have jobs; but I’m almost to the point that I would rather they didn’t accept parts like those in “South Central.” There’s nothing tender about the way (these characters) communicate. They talk to each other in putdowns.

sg,2

JANELL CARLLA WILLIAMS

Youth worker, Inglewood

*

I thought (“South Central”) was excellent. I know the critics (complained) there wasn’t a strong black male image in the family; but then that’s a reflection of life. The number of single-parent families has grown so greatly over the years. I come from a single-parent home and very few of my friends live with both parents. It was realistic to me.

I think people aren’t realizing the show is not a serious melodrama. It’s a situation comedy and that’s part of their job to be humorous and take things and make you laugh at them. There are people who wake up to gunshots. They go to sleep to it. They dodge them coming to and from school, going to and from work. It was just taking something that’s serious and making a joke of it because it’s real. But I don’t think that’s offensive. The show’s a comedy--a comedic opinion on part of life here.

DIANE YOUNG

Administrative aide, Los Angeles

*

As a single parent of two boys, I related (to) the mother (in “South Central”) and the problems she went through because I recently lost my job. Having decent kids and having to say no to your children, going to the supermarket and not having enough money to pay for your groceries--I’ve been through that and I felt her pain. It’s an experience people really don’t want others to know about because they’re ashamed. It’s really nothing to be ashamed of.

I’m still trying to form an opinion on “704 Hauser.” There again it was very true to life as far as how we feel when our children’s views are so different from ours--marrying outside the race, (for example,) is a real issue and some minorities don’t want that.

MARTIN CALDWELL

Computer consultant, 42, San Diego

*

Shows like “South Central” are good for people like me. Because I’m so isolated from that way of life, the only perception I get of South-Central Los Angeles is from the news reports. And based on that, it seems the area is like some killing field where people are in constant fear. And I understand that no show, especially a half-hour show, is going to begin to capture the real life dramas that exist in that area. But at least for someone like me, who’d be the first to admit lives a sheltered life, it helps me better understand this culture.

DICK MADSEN

Retired, 62, San Clemente

*

I usually don’t watch much TV but I did watch this because of the articles I read. I personally liked it. I have no idea what it must be like to live in a place like South-Central Los Angeles. This show afforded me a little glimpse into a world I have no clue about.