The Portrayal of Interracial Relationships on Television Programs for Teens

The portrayals of minorities and interracial relationships on prime time television are often skewed and inaccurate. Minorities are drastically under represented in proportion to their actual standing in the population. Through a content analysis, researchers coded interpersonal interracial interactions in the television series, Glee. The study sought to understand the portrayal minority relationships in content geared towards teens and young adults, focusing on the quality of friendships and romantic relationships. Researchers found that 79.2 percent of interracial relationship members were seen as equals. Of all the material coded, approximately nine hours, 48 interracial interactions occurred. Interracial relationships were portrayed as honest and unaffectionate and were very much so under represented. Future research should code both same race and interracial relationships for the ability to compare and contrast relationship quality. INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS ON TV FOR TEENS 3 The Portrayal of Interracial Relationships on Television Programs for Teens Although media allows for immediacy and a plentiful conglomerate of knowledge, media messages are found, more often then not, to be skewed and biased, although framed in ways that appear real and normal to the social audience (Gerbner, 1972). In particular, portrayals of underrepresented individuals must continue to be evaluated, for previous research has found that they are often misrepresented and depicted negatively (Mastro, 2000). Not only are individuals of minority groups underrepresented, but their interactions with people of different ethnicities are, too, an area that needs investigating. In today’s society, so strife with problems in the realm of minority relations, all influences must be considered relevant and worthy of close inspection. Minority populations are rapidly growing in size. States including New Mexico and California are slated to reflect a Mexican American majority as soon as 2014. Such societal change calls for media representation to keep up and accurately depict relations between people of different races and ethnicities. Thus, the aim of this study is to expand on existing content analyses and examine the portrayal of minority characters’ relational interactions on the entertainment television comedy show, Glee, specifically geared toward teens and young adults. Research has shed light on portrayals of minorities in many media outlets including news, television, and film. Most research in this area, however, has focused on crime news and long running dramas geared towards middle-aged adults. This study seeks to expand on existing findings about racial depictions by focusing on the portrayal of racial minorities in situational dramas geared towards a teenage audience. The popular television sitcom that this study will examine is arguably heavily inspired by societal INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS ON TV FOR TEENS 4 sensations and trends in popular culture and therefore is reflective of teenage attitudes. These attitudes are important to understand, as the viewers of these shows will soon make up the adult populace of the United States. Before specifically stating our research question, it is necessary to review relevant bodies of literature, including past studies of minority characters in media and media effects theories that help explain the significance of this research. Review of Literature Media Portrayals of Minorities Previous research strongly supports the notion that the media drastically misrepresents ethnic minorities both in terms of how often they are represented and how they are portrayed (e.g., Mastro, 2000; Dixon, 2007). In a content analysis of a one-week sample of prime time television, Mastro (2000) found that minorities are often extremely under represented in relation to the proportion of the population that they actually hold. For example, while making up 12 percent of the population, Latinos comprise three percent of the TV population (Mastro, 2000). Mastro (2000) explains that due to the lack of broadcast television network shows targeted at Latinos with Latino characters, Latinos tend to watch programs targeted for a white audience. This phenomena, then, perpetuates underrepresentation for Latinos as they tend to assimilate into white lifestyles, somewhat stripping America of a Mexican heritage (Mastro, 2000). In advertisements, Latino characters are even more drastically underrepresented, making up only one percent of speaking characters in commercials (Mastro & Stern, 2003). While the proportionality misrepresentation is evident, Latinos are also often portrayed in stereotypical ways. They are often depicted as sensual and engaging in INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS ON TV FOR TEENS 5 alluring behaviors (Mastro & Stern, 2003). In another study that examined emotional visual representations of different ethnicities in newspapers, researchers clearly identified the depiction of Latinos as sad, calm, and submissive (Roger, Kenix, &Thorson, 2007). Mastro (2000) also found Latinos to be commonly portrayed as inarticulate, unprofessionally dressed, and characterized by heavy accents. Also, Latinos were disproportionately depicted as having conversations about crime and violence. This research illustrates that Latinos are the most inaccurately portrayed and represented minority ethnic group in the media, compared to African Americans and Asian Americans. The most studied minority population analyzed in media content is African Americans. In a content analysis measuring the extent of publicity on local Los Angeles television news found that Blacks, as well as Latinos, where twice as likely as Whites to be associated with prejudicial statements. Also, stories featuring Black and Latino defendants and White victims were more likely than stories featuring White defendants and non-white victims to contain prejudicial information (Dixon & Linz, 2002). These findings depict that the content most commonly associated with these minority groups is negative and dealing with crime. Further research supporting the notion of misrepresentativeness of African Americans studied the relationship between poverty and race. Gilan (1996) examined stories in magazines that emphasized the underclass and found that African Americans are overwhelmingly misrepresented as a part of the lower class. Given both findings from previous research, it is clear that the portrayal of African Americans in the media is skewed and inaccurate. They are overrepresented as criminals and part of the underclass. INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS ON TV FOR TEENS 6 Asian Americans also experience tensions of accurate representativeness in the media. Encompassing four percent of the United States population, Asian Amercians only comprise one percent of the TV population (Mastro, 2000). They are most commonly depicted as passive and tied to technology ads, which further perpetuates stereotypes of submissiveness and superior achievement (Mastro & Stern, 2003). This content analysis of TV commercials suggests that because of the strong association between technology ads, Asian Americans are perceived as dedicated to work only, ultimately tying self-worth to submissiveness and superior achievement (Mastro & Stern, 2003). Relative to Caucasians, all ethnic groups have the common emotional visual representation of submissiveness (Roger, Kenix &Thorson, 2007). Also, whites are over represented in TV commercials, making up 75.1 percent of characters, far more than their actual representation in the American populace. This radical misrepresentation reinforces the dominance and superiority of white America, qualities that enforce submissiveness of minority races (Mastro & Stern, 2003). Interracial Relationships on Television With such strong evidence supporting the misrepresentation and portrayals of minority characters on television, the interpersonal interactions between racial groups on television can, too, be expected to show under representativeness and less relational quality within relationships. Interracial relationships are often portrayed on television as less intimate than same race relationships (Washington, 2012). When specifically looking at medical dramas, research shows that interracial relationships are depicted in such ways that support white dominance (Washington, 2012). Washington (2012) further supports INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS ON TV FOR TEENS 7 this claim declaring that despite the apparent racial progressiveness in current TV medical dramas, the interracial Black and Asian relationships “work to maintain and cement. supremacy through hegemonic rule of television” (p.267). These relationships are undoubtedly noticed for their rarity. Inaccurate associations of interracial relationships, marriages and families with class, gender and racial hierarchies effectively shut out the possibility of a more nuanced representation (Washington, 2012). The level or degree in which interracial partners communicate is most often portrayed to a lesser degree than that of same race relations (Auletta & Hammerback, 1985). Prime-time television presents communication patterns characterized by independent relationships between Black and White leads, while interdependence was more often found between leads of the same race (Auletta & Hammerback, 1985). Researchers have found that interaction among white, same race characters are significantly more intimate, multifaceted, and more likely to involve decision making than interactions involving both black and white characters (Weigel, Loomis, & Soja, 1980). Furthermore, voluntary relationships between blacks and whites were depicted as significantly less intimate than voluntary relationships among whites (Weigel, et al., 1980). An analysis of more updated shows geared specifically toward young adults will help further an understanding and create awareness of the portrayal of interracial relationships in media. Theoretical Perspectives The