Does TV Reflect the Realities of Race? Maybe you’ve noticed a change recently in the television landscape. In the past several years, we’ve seen an increase in the number of TV series that include diverse casts from a range of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Shows like Black-ish and Insecure, Master of None, and Jane the Virgin revolve around main characters who are black, South Asian, and Latina. And they’re not alone. There are many other TV shows with predominantly nonwhite cast on cable and streaming networks. It wasn’t so long ago that TV was largely populated by white characters, with only the occasional minority sidekick thrown in. Today it is much easier to find shows that feature multicultural casts and in which race is a central theme of the comedy, drama, or action. While such gains are encouraging, we are still far from reaching something that looks like racial parity on screen. Nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population is composed of minorities, and yet they remain woefully underrepresented both in front of and behind the camera as actors, writers, directors, and showrunners (Hunt et al. 2017). During the 2014–2015 season, minorities represented just 11 percent of lead roles in broadcast scripted TV shows, though this does represent a sizeable increase from just 5 percent in the 2011–2012 season. According to UCLA media researchers Darnell Hunt and Ana-Christina Ramon, “From the earliest days of the industry, white males have dominated the plum positions in front of and behind the camera, thereby marginalizing women and minorities in the creative process by which a nation circulates popular stories about itself “ (2015, p. 53). Another reason we may be seeing more minorities on TV is simply a matter of the bottom line: America’s increasingly diverse audiences prefer more diverse TV content. Along with an increase in the number of minority characters comes more variety in the ways they are portrayed. With more minorities in positions of power in the creative process, more TV shows are now taking on race in incisive, courageous, and nuanced ways. Audiences are seeing a broader range of character portrayals and situations and settings that more closely reflect the lived experiences of minority members. Seeing oneself represented in the media is critically important to feel included in a multicultural society. Greater representation can also serve to challenge racial and ethnic stereotypes and break down preconceived ideas about the members of minority groups. But that’s not to say that TV is completely realistic when it comes to race. We are only getting a selective slice of the real world when we watch TV, and often that content can still be narrow, superficial, exaggerated, or just plain unrealistic. For your paper, you will be watching TV and analyzing how it reflects the realities of race and ethnicity in contemporary society. Choose a TV series (drama, comedy, or reality TV) that takes place in current times and includes minority characters. You will be using existing sources as a research method and doing a content analysis of one episode of the TV series you chose. Refer to chapter two of your textbook, The Real World, for a review of this research method. Watch a recent episode of your chosen series in its entirety. You will want to record the program or look for an episode you can stream from Netflix, Hulu, or another online source so that you can review certain scenes, interactions, or bits of dialogue several times. Take notes as you watch, paying special attention to the episode’s content as it relates to race and ethnicity. Your notes can be informal but should be specific and detailed. Your notes will serve as the data set you’ll be analyzing. Consider your response to the following prompts or add your own questions for analysis: Look up your series on IMDb or Wikipedia to learn more about its creators. Who is in control of production, direction, or writing, and how might that affect the show’s content? Is race an explicit theme of the show, and if so, how is it addressed? Or are matters of race more implicit or in the background? How many minority characters are featured in the episode? What proportion of the total cast do they represent? In what ways are minority characters portrayed? (You may choose to focus on one or two characters or more.) Do the characters uphold certain racial or ethnic stereotypes or challenge them? Describe instances in which characters display aspects of situational or symbolic ethnicity. How does the race or ethnicity of characters intersect with other social statuses or identities such as class, gender, or sexuality? To what extent do you think the show reflects the “real world”? Use the information in the “Race, Ethnicity, and Life Chances” section of this chapter for reference. In what ways might the show help to maintain or perpetuate prejudice and discrimination? In what ways might the show help to counteract prejudice and discrimination? What kind of impact did the episode have on you as a viewer? How might it shape the perceptions of other audience members with regard to race or ethnicity? Write a three to four-page paper discussing your content analysis and responses to the prompts above. Make sure to incorporate and explain the relevant sociological concepts about race and ethnicity in your discussion. Attach your informal notes as an appendix to your paper. Your paper is to be double-spaced 12 pt. Times New Roman font.