One of my favorite shows would probably have to be The Misfits. It doesn't originate here in America so I watch it on Hulu.com when I need some good UK sitcom in my life. Non-American shows are just better than ours, and I'm not just saying that to get a good grade from my professor who's from the UK.
In this show, there are five “juvenile delinquents” that gain superpowers in a storm, and get in a bunch of difficult situations like teenagers usually do. I did not even think about the race of these kids until now, since they are all diverse. Their race doesn't have anything to do with the “trouble-maker” role they are trying to express. The TV show also has an array of different characters and races in general and I found that there is no predominant race or gender.
Although this series
has a racially diverse cast, when I deeper thought about this I noticed that
they do use some stereotypes in this show.
Curtis is the dominant example of a stereotype in this show. He is African American and in this series, he was a Olympic status athlete. Curtis' character represents the "all-black-guys-are-good-at-sports" stereotype and especially since he is a runner.
Another stereotype of a main character in this show is Alisha's character. She is portrayed as the beauty, and is often sexualized in this show. I believe she portrays the woman that everyone wants, and has the lack of brains at the same time. When you get deeper into the season, you realize she not just a beautiful face but that there is more to her.
I actually believe that this show does a wonderful job at bending gender and ethnic roles, for example the "bad-guy" in the first season is actually a woman! But the two examples above is the only time I noticed The Misfits use race and gender stereotypes.
It's important for shows to be sexually and ethnically diverse because they break the negative stereotypes that are sometimes places on race and gender. Even though this is a show from the UK, I believe America TV shows are breaking stereotypes more often and as we progress it should continue in that direction.
Curtis is the dominant example of a stereotype in this show. He is African American and in this series, he was a Olympic status athlete. Curtis' character represents the "all-black-guys-are-good-at-sports" stereotype and especially since he is a runner.
Another stereotype of a main character in this show is Alisha's character. She is portrayed as the beauty, and is often sexualized in this show. I believe she portrays the woman that everyone wants, and has the lack of brains at the same time. When you get deeper into the season, you realize she not just a beautiful face but that there is more to her.
I actually believe that this show does a wonderful job at bending gender and ethnic roles, for example the "bad-guy" in the first season is actually a woman! But the two examples above is the only time I noticed The Misfits use race and gender stereotypes.
It's important for shows to be sexually and ethnically diverse because they break the negative stereotypes that are sometimes places on race and gender. Even though this is a show from the UK, I believe America TV shows are breaking stereotypes more often and as we progress it should continue in that direction.
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