| Reality TV growing more obscene (12/07) | | Print | |
| Written by Anthony Clay | |
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“New York makes a comment about all of the girls being ‘a pack of idiot bitches.’ Goldie drinks too much champagne, vomits, and passes out.” This wikipedia description of an episode of “Flavor of Love” sums up the entertainment: cat fighting, substance abuse and graphic language.
Yet the true obscenities that occur on “Flavor of Love” and other VH1 dating shows, such as “I Love New York,” are the spreading of racial stereotypes and misogynistic ideals to a largely vulnerable and oblivious audience. These shows have a simple premise: one person looks for love amongst a group of contenders. The contestants are usually matched to the race and behavior patterns of the main character. This selection policy makes the assumption that people prefer to date their own race. On the first season of “Flavor of Love,” a show designed to find true love for Flavor Flav, an African-American male, 13 of the 20 contestants were African-American. Not one of the 13 women went through an episode without cussing, exposing their bodies or verbally assaulting one other. This falsely represents African-American women as floozies who turn dating into an animated, obscene and degrading frenzy. But the stereotyping doesn’t stop at African-American women. Pumpkin, a preppy blonde, blue-eyed, Caucasian woman, alludes to the fact that she is wealthy and feels that she is above all of the other girls. She claims to “love her some chocolate,” playing into the stereotype that white women fantasize about being with black men. When the second season of “Flavor of Love” aired, Flavor Flav championed the stereotype that black men can sleep and impregnate women but they can’t maintain a lasting and loving relationship. Unfortunately at VH1, these stereotypes don’t stop at “Flavor of Love.” “I Love New York” is a show designed to find true love for an African-American female named New York. Out of 20 contestants, 12 were African-American, five of whom claimed to have done some sort of jail time. All the male contestants are given cynical and segregating names such as “Whiteboy,” “Token” and “T.Weed.” Throughout the show, everything “Whiteboy” did was connected to a racial stereotype based on his name. His behavior was explained by the contestants: “that’s because he is a white boy, that’s how they act.” The worst part about these shows is that they are broadcast during primetime hours. Contrary to popular cable policy, which relegates graphic and inappropriate shows for children to late hours, shows like “Flavor of Love” and “I Love New York” begin airing at 6:30 p.m. The once innocent VH1 channel, which used to broadcast shows about music, now exposes its viewers to the lives of random, uneducated, obnoxious and stereotypical people. Although some people take pleasure in watching the degradation of others on these shows, people who maintain some level of morality should not be subjected to the profanity, nudity and substance abuse that seems to be flaunted. We must take steps to prevent people from viewing these crude shows. To begin, the hours in which these shows air should be later. Doing so would eliminate the possibility of younger audiences inadvertently stumbling across a cussing, half-naked “Flavor of Love” contestant. Only the most avid watchers would choose to stay up and expose their minds to these racist and sexist ideas. The second thing that could be done is to force viewers to enter a password code — at no cost — if they want to access the shows. This would give parents the power to regulate their children’s viewing as well as what they themselves are subjected to. Doing this would call attention to the show, which in turn would increase the awareness of its content. By increasing awareness, viewers will become more aware of the stereotypes and may understand that by watching these shows, they are not only exposing themselves to untrue and detrimental ideals, but they are supporting them. Either way, something has to be done to ensure that our society does not become trapped in the black hole of racial and gender stereotyping. |
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to listen.
