intro

Media has changed drastically over the years. In pop culture television and movies, we’re seeing a lot more diversity, more risqué topics, and more equal camera time for women. We want as many college readers who love to watch all sorts of TV shows and movies. We analyze the TV shows Scrubs, The Soup, and Family Guy, and the movie Clerks 2. Each one of these pieces illustrates to us what’s wrong with our culture and the kinds of people contributing to the problem.
Clerks 2 is a film that was directed and produced by Kevin Smith, and was supposedly filmed because his friend Jason Mewes had gone to rehab to get his cocaine addiction under control. Almost every single actor that shows up in the film is a friend of Smith, and every single character has an "issue" that they try to deal with as the film progresses. The issues they face are those that are often seen in modern society.
Scrubs is a show that we will take an inside look upon and analyze how it deals with social matters such as race, class, and gender. The target audience is anyone who has a general care about these matters and at least occasionally tunes into network television, specifically Scrubs. Our central message about this show is that although it is a program showcasing off the wall humor and visuals, it carries an underlying tone that satirizes the social generalizations we carry in the world today, such as ditzy blondes or emotionless men. We will go about this by posting Scrubs clips off of Youtube and analyze them while at the same time leaving room for viewer interpretation so that they may look at it and formulate their own opinions. In this thread we believe that self interpretation of issues allows for better self improvement.
There’s so many bad TV shows on right now, it’s ridiculous. 90% of the bad shows tend to be bad “reality” shows where people are competing for on air camera time. It embarrasses me to say this is what American television is like here in the U.S. It’s impossible to watch all the bad TV shows on; it’s nice to have someone else watch it for you, like the Soup. What makes the Soup so great is that the people in the show watches bad TV for you and shows clips of the most outrageous stuff that happened in those shows. In the recent years, women on TV, especially reality television, have been gaining more on screen time, but has this increased time been a positive change? The Soup shows that most girls of reality TV are portrayed negatively and they are only valued for their looks and are expected to at a certain way. I take a few clips from the Soup and analyze the messages the shows are portraying.
Family Guy deals with racism and is famous for "crossing the line" in many ways whether it be racism, bashing religions, making light of tragedies too soon, or even making jokes about those who are mentally challenged. The writers use the characters to represent what is wrong in our society. There are many who believe that racism is a thing of the past, but unfortunately it still pops its head out daily. Some may not know what they are doing is racist, or what they are saying is racist...but it's these instances that need changed. I think Family Guy does a good job pointing these situations out. Knowing that they are jokes I am able to laugh at many of them. Some of them remind me of things I've heard in public or from friends, and it reminds me of just how sad it is that people still can't get over color. Ignorance is not always bliss.
After looking over the four different media pieces, we have realized that there are many things that are problematic with media. But is the media just portraying how our society is or are they just making it seem worse than what it already is? Overall, media may portray things negatively in our world, but it also makes us aware of the issues going on and that we need to do something about it to fix it.

Sexually Frustrated Clerks

Clerks 2 is a film that was directed and produced by Kevin Smith, and was supposedly filmed because his friend Jason Mewes had gone to rehab to get his cocaine addiction under control. Almost every single actor that shows up in the film is a friend of Smith, and every single character has an "issue" that they try to deal with as the film progresses. The issues they face are those that are often seen in modern society. Randal, the best friend of the main character, is the sexually frustrated, racist, prejudiced, and, over all, the guy that everyone loves to love and hate. Many of his comments are cruel, harsh, and... true? One of the many sex conversations that takes place occurs in the sitting area of a restaurant. Randal is talking to his friend, Dante, about how young girls like to get into new, wild, and "kinky" things, such as the infamous "ass-to-mouth" incident. This sparks an argument between the two as to why anyone would do such a thing in the first place, but Randal argues that it isnt his idea, but instead, the idea of the young girls, who supposedly get their ideas from pornography. A later conversation takes place between Randal and Elias, a very religious and nerdy teenager, about the lack of sex in Elias's relationships. Elias gives the excuse that he and his "girlfriend" (we don't actually know if she exists) can't have sex, because of Pillowpants, the troll that won't allow the girl to have sex until she is 21 (women.... psh). Then there is Jay. The horniest man on Earth. That is all that really needs to be said about him. Through the conversations between the characters, we, the audience, get to see how males look at sexuality and how they might judge a woman on how she presents herself sexually. Randal tends to describe girls as more like a cam-whore, where as Elias see's women as people who are incapable of having sex. Innocense is bliss. However, if you live in this day and age, and are as clueless as Elias is, you might be in trouble as far as education goes. Sexuality is a major part of society, whether or not we choose to accept it. People are far more open about it than they were, say fifty years ago. Sex is seen in films (not counting pornography), posters and billboards, it's talked about in comedy acts, and is talked about openly by almost anybody of the younger generation. This piece of society is reflected in both Clerks and Clerks 2, but more prominently in Clerks 2 (it's more up to date). Clerks 2 is a great film and should be watched by everyone, if not for the content then just for the general story.

Chicks, man (gender and race)

History of the Soup
On January 7, 1991, Talk Soup premiered on E! Channel and continued to air until August 2002. In the 11 seasons of the show, the show has gone through four hosts: Greg Kinnear, John Henson, Hal Sparks, and Aisha Taylor. Two years later in July, a spin-off of the show called, The What The…? Awards premiered on the same channel and then changed its name to The Soup, to pay homage to Talk Soup. The show features comedian Joel Mchale as the host, and stands in front of a green screen (a nice looking studio appears on the screen) and for 30 minutes he pokes fun at celebrities and the bad TV shows (including reality TV shows, talk shows, telenovelas, etc.) that everyone loves.

BAD TV SHOWS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM9MF7WGrfY (uploaded by mikek1974)
In the show Cheaters, it would usually show women talking about how their boyfriends have cheated on them. Almost always, it’s the men that have cheated on the women. What does this say about relationships? Men have more freedom than women, and that they could be more sexually active than the women? Women are vulnerable? This show’s message seems to be that women are passive and they are the victims of the relationship and that the men are more active and have a lot more freedom.
But TV shows like the Hills, shows dumb, young, rich, Hollywood type girls, where the show goes nowhere. There is definitely an influence of gendered behavior, where girls and guys are expected to act in a certain way and look a certain way. Among all women of races and classes, there seems to be a pressure this pressure of being thin and attractive. All the girls on the Hills, America’s Next Top Model, Paris Hilton’s My New BFF, Dr. 90210, etc. Polished girls like the ones that appear on TV, gives off negative effects to the everyday girl and problems in their lives arises because of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqriBZBl5Lw (uploaded by JDG6385)
Dumb dating shows like Next, on MTV, the girls on the show are only valued on their looks, or one specific part of the body, and not valuing any intelligence. They appeal themselves only for sex. These types of shows give off negative effects to women of all races and classes. There’s a bunch of dumb people out there. Take this for example…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqW_xdD7cIs (uploaded by Mccraken74)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqW_xdD7cIs (uploaded by Mccraken74)
It’s like, the first conclusion she assumed was that the girl was ghetto, even though she was being perfectly normal. But a lot of reality show contestants overact their roles of color and portrays an unfair or unrealistic representation of race in reality TV shows. This is problematic because this is where stereotypes of certain races happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDGj_CDLOz0&feature=related (uploaded by WatchTheSoup)

Celebrity gossip news such as TMZ, Inside Edition, EXTRA, etc.; they document their show in a paparazzi format and invade celebrities’ privacy as much as possible. In each of the shows, there is a segment where they find the most unflattering photo of an celeb that was pictured by an paparazzi and exploit it to the public. Like celebs not wearing makeup, or celebs with cellulite, or bad tans. They basically make fun of girls for not looking pretty. What’s not included in this segment? The men. The women have high standards on appearance and then men don’t really have that much, so there is an unfair gender expectation in our culture.

For those who has not seen the show, i highly recommend it. It never fails to bring the LOLs.

-Naoki Izumo

Scrubs as it relates to race, class, and gender

Millions of households across the globe have tuned into their televisions each week to watch the visual display of the imagination of Matt Lawrence. His creation of the show Scrubs has brought joy to viewers everywhere by grasping a widerange of emotions, from laughter to tears. From the art and elaborate visuals to the simple one-liners, its' brilliance has shined for seven great seasons. What Lawrence really does is take everyday scenarios and exaggerate them to the point of pure hilarity. Of these everyday scenarios, race, class, and gender are very common themes. Of these themes, race gender roles are the most prevalent. The main characters are very much cast into the everyday stigma of their gender and race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWyveRn_SbA (Dr. Elliot Reed)

^^Youtube video posted by user CyClotroniC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAcDHy9NqgE (Dr. Turk, Nurse Espanosa, Dr. Dorian)

^^Youtube video posted by user dbfinch

As seen in the first video, Elliot has been cast into the role of the "dumb, klutzy blonde." She lacks coordination and a real sense of social skills, very common stereotypes of young blonde women. The second video shows the lack of depth and blunt emotional nature of the common, everyday male as seen by the behavior of Turk and J.D. What is funny about the way that the show carries out these stereotypes is that for every one of them, there is a counteraction to balance them. For example, Elliot Reid is very much a ditz, but she is still Dr. Elliot Reid. If she were really that dumb she would have never made it through medical school. As for Turk and J.D., their masculinity has been question on countless occasions, mostly due to their interactions with each other, as evidenced in this number in the season 6 episode entitled My Musical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL4L4Uv5rf0&feature=related (J.D. & Turk, "Guy Love")

^^Youtube video posted by user jeffchan19

As you can see here, the two of them have quite the feelings for each other. Not only does the song break away from the typical alphamale, but each of their reactions to the news given to them by Elliot and Carla certainly carry underlying feminine tones. Also from that episode is a song by Carla and Turk entitled I'm Dominican. It is a musical argument between the interacially married couple addressing Turk's inablility to remember Carla's ethnicity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCFEC_pD99c&feature=related (Turk and Carla, "I'm Dominican)

^^Youtube video posted by user MegaLamb

Although this can also be focused on gender stereotypes, the song's title and the salsa music with dancing indicate its stress on the racial aspects. Carla is seen a fiery latina woman who isn't going to take her husband's nonsense. She is a strong, independent, loving woman. These traits mixed with her fiery persona portray her as a "typical" latina.

So what does all of this mean? Like many shows, these issues are portrayed in a humorous way, and in my personal opinion, are trying to use humor to show its' obsurdities. This show is not meant to offend anyone, be they male or female, black or white, but simply to educate them. The messages are not always clear as they are commonly overshadowed by the humor and visuals. As citizens in a nation of free speech and free thought, such interpretation is left to the individual. I choose to see the satire. How do you choose to see it?

-Nathan Maul

Family Guy vs. Racism

^^posted on Youtube by user simpsonssite9999



As anyone familiar with Family Guy knows, and anybody else knows after watching these two clips, the show often deals with racism. Family Guy is famous for "crossing the line" in many ways whether it be racism, bashing religions, making light of tragedies too soon, or even making jokes about those who are mentally challenged.

While I have found myself thinking "wow, that was too much" I also realize that there can be a message behind the jokes. Sure, the show IS comedic but much like many animated cartoons there are reasons for the jokes (in most cases). On the other hand there are times that the jokes are just jokes...and meant to be offensive. In many of the examples in the above videos the episodes are dealing with issues in which the best way to get the point across is to show how ignorant people are. The writers use the characters to represent what is wrong in our society. There are many who believe that racism is a thing of the past, but unfortunately it still pops its head out daily. Some may not know what they are doing is racist, or what they are saying is racist...but it's these instances that need changed. I think Family Guy does a good job pointing these situations out.

On the other side of the spectrum are the people who are unintentionally racist by trying too hard to not be racist. One of the clips above is from when Peter swallowed a cell phone. He receives a call from Quagmire who says he "had sex with a black chick" and a black couple walk by and hear the conversation. Peter freaks out and tries to apologize even though the black woman says "what, he just said black?" Peter, like many Americans, thinks by simply mentioning blackness will offend the black man who "looks like your typical angry black man". This is a perfect example of ignorance that plagues society even today.

In conclusion, I believe many of the clips above speak for themselves. Knowing that they are jokes I am able to laugh at many of them. Some of them remind me of things I've heard in public or from friends, and it reminds me of just how sad it is that people still can't get over color. Ignorance is not always bliss. If people would open their eyes and realize we're all the same...life would improve. Society would improve. Until then.

-Weston White