By ROBERT GOLDRICH
A SAG-COMMISSIONED STUDY conducted by George Gerbner, professor of telecommunications at Temple University, has concluded that Americas poor and underprivileged are practically nonexistent on primetime dramas and daytime soaps, while foreigners and mentally ill characters are more likely to be portrayed as villains.
Entitled Casting The American Scene, the survey sampled nearly 6,900 characters on 440 episodes of primetime dramas from 1994 to 97, and more than 2,100 characters who appeared on 200-plus episodes of network daytime soap operas from 95 to 97. Gerbners research found that by and large the world of television is frozen in a time warp of obsolete and damaging representations.
According to the study, the U.S. Census classifies more than 13% of the populationaand one-third of African-Americansaat or below the poverty level, and many more as low-income wage earners. But among characters playing major TV roles, such wage-earners make up but 1.4% of the major characters in primetime, 1.2% in daytime and 0.6% in childrens programs, thus concealing crucial realities of American life and society.
The impoverished, however, are not the only ignored group. The study described Americans with physical disabilities as virtually invisible in dramatic TV. And even when television depicts certain other overlooked groupsasuch as the mentally ill and people from foreign countriesait is often done in a negative, demeaning fashion. For example, the study reports that the mentally ill are represented as the most dangerous of all demographic groups, with 60% portrayed as being involved in crime or violenceamany times the average rate in society and thus perpetuating a stigma of the most damaging kind. The second most dangerous characters in primetime are those of foreign origin.
Gerbners research also touched upon ethnic minorities, finding Hispanic characters represented at less than one-third of their proportion in the U.S. African-American males, however, are cast in higher numbers than their share of the U.S. population, while Asian/Pacific characters are still less than one-half of their proportion of the U.S. population, the study says.
Perhaps the most dismaying observation is a prime cause cited by the study for the under- or misrepresentation of these often disenfranchised demographic groups. The marketing imperative rules television, concludes the survey. Advertisers seek novelty but not change. They have no incentive to sponsor programs that undermine the existing structure of power, expose glaring inequities, or feature less powerful, less wealthy or less healthy customersaexcept, perhaps, as anomalies or threats.
As organizations like the 4As look to increase minority hiring in their ranks through the implementation of scholarships and other programsaand as a number of spot producers try to open up industry opportunities for inner-city and disadvantaged kidsait is clear that whats being produced, both short- and long-form, also cries out for more careful, thoughtful scrutiny.
Though some strides have been made, our report shows just how far we have to go before Hollywoods vision matches the actual diversity of the American scene, related Dr. Patricia Heisser Metoyer, SAGs executive administrator for affirmative action.
Richard Masur, SAG president, said the guild is committed to improving job opportunities for groups that have traditionally been underrepresented on television and in films. Part of that effort is educating our industry about the differences between the fictional world created for television and film and the real-world audience that watches those fictional creations.
Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. Explore Generations, Old School vs. New School, In “Poppa’s House”
Boundaries between work and family don't just blur in the new CBS sitcom "Poppa's House" starring father-and-son comedy duo Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. They shatter.
"It's wonderful to come to work every day and see him and some of his kids and my sister and my brother and nieces and nephews. They all work on this show. They all contribute," says the senior Wayans. "I don't think there are words to express how joyful I am."
Wayans plays the titular Poppa, a curmudgeonly radio DJ who's more than comfortable doing it his way, while Wayans Jr. plays his son, Damon, a budding filmmaker who's stuck in a job he hates.
"My character, Pop, is just an old school guy who's kind of stuck in his ways," says Wayans, who starred in "In Living Color" and "My Wife and Kids."
Pop yearns for the days when a handshake was a binding contract and Michael Jordan didn't complain if he got fouled on the court. Pop laughs at the younger generation's participation trophies.
"It's old school versus new school and them teaching each other lessons from both sides," says Wayans Jr., who played Coach in the Fox sitcom "New Girl."
"They (the characters) bring the best out in each other and they're resistant initially. But then throughout the episode they have revelations and these revelations help them become better people," he adds.
The two have worked together before — dad made an appearance on son's "Happy Endings" and "Happy Together," while son was a writer and guest star on dad's "My Wife and Kids." But this is the first time they have headlined a series together.
The half-hour comedy — premiering Monday and co-starring Essence Atkins and Tetona Jackson — smartly leaves places in the script where father and son can let... Read More