Sensitive The black family dynamic on TV is disappointing (1 Viewer)

[kisshuhua09baby]

TW: Mentions of SA and other physical violence




If you've watched any show with a black family you know they follow one of the two formulas

- The lightskin mum and dark-skin father
- The single parent juggling multiple jobs

Starting with the first one, I must get out the obvious elephant in the room. Just because a show features two parents of different shades doesn't mean that it falls victim to this awful trope, but it's more often than not the case.
How this trope works is essentially the dark-skin father is written to overdramatic, constantly aggressive or angry,. or just plain fucking stupid. The mother on the other hand is portrayed as calm, a problem solver, wonderful and whatnot.
This is because light skin is perceived as pure, feminine, and gentle. Whereas dark skin associated with slavery stereotypes and long held beliefs that the darker someone is, the less intelligent they are.

Then there's the other side of the coin, the single parent stereotype. "But Kriss, anyone of any race can be a lower middle class single parent." I understand, but this goes far deeper than just being a single parent really. When this trope comes into play, it carries an underlying message with it, that being that black women are undesirable and cannot stay married. This is because of both masculinization and sexualization of black women. A lot of the older original slaves were subject to many types of abuse and violence from their masters and this included statutory rape and being forced to dance for their masters. This carried a belief into the 21st century that black women are provocative and, as one would put it, can't stay locked down. This belief is also held because black women are seen as scary and aggressive. I don't need to explain as you should already be familiar with this part. They're also portrayed taking multiple minimum wage jobs because god forbid we work somewhere normal instead of a corner store in the ghetto with the OPEN NOW sign blinking on and off.

This honestly pisses me off because it's mostly rooted in colorism.

 

[Jewel]

Huh, I haven't seen this in anything I've seen that does indeed include black people aswell as others. The black families are normal families just like others...Also, I used to watch blackish and never noticed any of that actually. I've also seen a LOT of Madea movies and related shows and never really saw that.

 

[kisshuhua09baby]

Huh, I haven't seen this in anything I've seen that does indeed include black people aswell as others. The black families are normal families just like others...Also, I used to watch blackish and never noticed any of that actually. I've also seen a LOT of Madea movies and related shows and never really saw that.

it's because they write the characters in a dog whistle type way where you don't notice it until someone points it out bc they want to ingrain these ideals in people's mindsds

 

[Jewel]

it's because they write the characters in a dog whistle type way where you don't notice it until someone points it out bc they want to ingrain these ideals in people's mindsds

So basically, you're saying they give subliminal messages?

 

[Tickita]

I was gonna say did you have examples? In terms of skin color I saw that in Proud Family. But I've been sitting here and can't think of anything else.

Also, have you ever watched Lincoln Heights? It's not perfect but the family is a two parent household. Both have jobs, mom is dark skin & dad is lighter.
Btw I think it was rated TV-14. It's a crime show.

 

[kisshuhua09baby]

I was gonna say did you have examples? In terms of skin color I saw that in Proud Family. But I've been sitting here and can't think of anything else.

Also, have you ever watched Lincoln Heights? It's not perfect but the family is a two parent household. Both have jobs, mom is dark skin & dad is lighter.
Btw I think it was rated TV-14. It's a crime show.

I was talking more about sitcoms that focus mainly on the families

 

[hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii]

TW: Mentions of SA and other physical violence




If you've watched any show with a black family you know they follow one of the two formulas

- The lightskin mum and dark-skin father
- The single parent juggling multiple jobs

Starting with the first one, I must get out the obvious elephant in the room. Just because a show features two parents of different shades doesn't mean that it falls victim to this awful trope, but it's more often than not the case.
How this trope works is essentially the dark-skin father is written to overdramatic, constantly aggressive or angry,. or just plain fucking stupid. The mother on the other hand is portrayed as calm, a problem solver, wonderful and whatnot.
This is because light skin is perceived as pure, feminine, and gentle. Whereas dark skin associated with slavery stereotypes and long held beliefs that the darker someone is, the less intelligent they are.

Then there's the other side of the coin, the single parent stereotype. "But Kriss, anyone of any race can be a lower middle class single parent." I understand, but this goes far deeper than just being a single parent really. When this trope comes into play, it carries an underlying message with it, that being that black women are undesirable and cannot stay married. This is because of both masculinization and sexualization of black women. A lot of the older original slaves were subject to many types of abuse and violence from their masters and this included statutory rape and being forced to dance for their masters. This carried a belief into the 21st century that black women are provocative and, as one would put it, can't stay locked down. This belief is also held because black women are seen as scary and aggressive. I don't need to explain as you should already be familiar with this part. They're also portrayed taking multiple minimum wage jobs because god forbid we work somewhere normal instead of a corner store in the ghetto with the OPEN NOW sign blinking on and off.

This honestly pisses me off because it's mostly rooted in colorism.

OMG thank u cuz I'm black and the rest of my family are completely black too. I tend to notice this stuff but until now it kinda seems like it is only my fam and I who see it