These week’s readings serve as an
inspirational start to the many ramifications contained in the discussion of
the effects of representations of race in American television. I found
Esposito’s essay especially interesting for she analyses the ways in which
representation of Latinos in American television translates personal struggles
of identification, and influences the creation of sense of community in the
American society.
Besides Ugly Betty, as analyzed by Esposito, another show collaborates to
this discussion. Produced by CBS and released by The CW, Jane the Virgin (2014-present) follows the life of a catholic
Latina that in her mid-twenties get accidentally pregnant through a mistaken
insemination. While Ugly Betty seems
to focus on the struggles caused by racial privileges and injustices, Jane the Virgin brings a more positive
perspective of the Latino culture in the American society, breaking with
stereotypes that usually follow immigrants in popular representations. However,
it is still true that both shows fall into the challenges of portraying issues
of race, class, gender, and sexually through a comedically narrative, as
pointed out by Esposito (526).
While Jane seems to be abstained from experiencing
racial prejudice (her world is predominantly Latino), Betty seems to play along
with the discourse of meritocracy in support of the American dream, incapable
of individually recognize racism and/or gender discrimination. Esposito
describes the episode when Betty, woman and Latina, is chosen to an internship
over her co-worker, Marc, white, gay, and more prepared for the interview. Marc
accuses Betty of being picked over him because she is a “token ethnic girl”.
Betty, who had not considered her ethnicity as a determinant factor for her
performance in the interview, then starts to question her actual capacity for
the job.
In a society structured in competition, the task of
questioning your own abilities is intrinsic to almost every personal achievement.
When an outsider from the dominant culture accomplishes the same triumph as a
privileged “insider”, that person is then conditioned to think their success is
only partial. Of course, they are competent, but also it is possible that they
might have received extra help from the “quota” factor. Even thought we might
not know if it was the actual intent of the show to initiate an underlying
reflection of personal achievements for persons included in the “minorities”
category, the episode referred by Esposito definitely brings voice to a silent
doubt that many of us have.
No comments:
Post a Comment