2nd
The article by Greg Braxton, “Hollywood Loves BBFs 4-Ever” talks about the trend that involves the almost exclusive use of African-American women as the best friends of white women on both the big and small screen. Now, I had never thought about this, I probably would have never even noticed it; although I had noticed the lack of characters of color on Friends. However, something I have noticed is what I perceive as the use of white actresses in the characterization of the typical “dumb blonde”. An example that comes to mind, is the role of Chelsea in the Disney channel show That’s So Raven. Despite the fact that Chelsea is a redhead, she is for all intents and purposes the butt of this stereotype. The saddest thing is that I from what I remember as the show progresses she seems to get dumber and dumber. I really don’t know how the producers let this pass or what purpose it served. Did it amp up the rating? Another more recent example is, Sam, a leading character on the show iCarly on Nickelodeon. Now, unlike Chelsea, Sam has her witty remarks every so often (and blond hair), but still, this doesn’t stop her from being portrayed as a slacker student who constantly has no idea what her friends are talking about, which makes her seem stupid. I might just be overanalyzing these PG shows, but I really have to ask myself whether there is some underlying significance to these findings.
