Requirements of Modern Television - Annotated Bibliography Example

Assignment 3 Prompts:

• The SLUMPY class
• Ron Becker, “Gay-Themed Television and the SLUMPY Class”
• Ron Becker referred "narrow-casting" or "Niche Programming" as targeting specific audiences by the TV. He describes a specific demographic that showed a clear preference to spend tremendous amounts of money on consumer goods. These were “affluent and upwardly mobile adults” that could range from 18-45 years old. Becker argued that prime-time TV with a gay twist played very well to this demographic, which he calls the "Slump Class." He characterizes this group of people as socially liberal, urban-minded professionals. Becker claimed that the reason the Slumpy Class found gay-themed TV appealing was that it "…offered straight Slumpies a painlessly passive way to affirm their open-mindedness.” The Slumpy Class consisted mostly of wealthy, white individuals, and showing a taste for gay-themed television made them feel tolerant, sophisticated, and a bit "hip." Becker argues that the characters that the gay and lesbian characters portrayed on TV were often economically self-sufficient and well educated, thus shaping them to be the "model minority." This strongly appealed to the Slumpy Class. Above all, watching these characters made the Slumpy Class feel like making a statement of support to the LGBTQ community without truly facing much difference.
• Cameron and Mitchell, Modern Family, Television Series.
• Cameron and Mitchell are an openly gay couple on the television series Modern Family. They are portrayed as a fun and caring couple who raise a child together in their home. The fans love the two characters. However, most of what is described in the show about the characters does not show the dark realities of LGBTQ people's struggles. While there are a few instances where their struggles as gay individuals are mentioned as part of their early lives, most of their lives on the show are free from that. They are surrounded by other families who are very accepting of their sexuality and allow them to be themselves. Thus, it can be argued that the audiences that watch Modern Family could fall under the demographic of the Slumpy Class. The show itself is orientated towards this demographic. They do not portray their gay characters as inferior or suffering from harassment or discrimination in society and the workplace. Modern Family, like the Gay 90s, has a narrow range of illustrations of what it means to be part of the LGBTQ community.
• The Trans tipping point
• Mia Fischer, “Queer and Feminist Approaches to Transgender Media Studies”
• From 2013-2016, television reached a tipping point known as "The Trans Tipping Point." During this time, Tran's people were more focused on and featured in television programs, leading to a period of increased Tran's visibility on television and social media. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in transgender people's representation on TV and news media. The transgender tipping point was known as "America's next civil rights frontier" in 2014, marking an unprecedented moment for transgender visibility in the national dialogue. During the Trans tipping point, news outlets and reporters produced better practices of identifying Tran’s people, allowing Trans people to share their stories in their voice and identity. One of Fischer’s first arguments that show a tipping point is the depiction of Tran’s people in the news. She states that news stations have now adopted more appropriate practices, and they have not misgendered individuals as much. News stations have also moved away from strictly referring to Tran's people by their name given at birth. Fischer uses the term "Dead Naming," meaning to call someone by their name used before the transition. While there has been progress, Fischer remarks that there are still many areas that still do not allow Trans people to be adequately represented. She says that news outlets will often rely on non-trans individuals to tell the stories rather than allowing the Trans people themselves to tell their own stories. Fischer goes on to discuss more on the media stage that Trans individuals have taken on now. She says that trans-tipping point TV shows depict Tran's hetero-normative characters, meaning that they still conform to traditional gender roles of masculinity and femininity. Fischer states that Trans individuals have responded by taking social media to tip the scales back in their favor and let their voices be heard. Through social media platforms, Tran's individuals have been able to resist what Fischer refers to as "the co-opting and fetishizing of Trans identities by mainstream media.
• Orange Is the New Black
• ‘Orange Is the New Black" ​is an excellent example of a television show that began airing during the trans tipping point, as the show's groundbreaking trans character Laverne Cox discusses in her TIME Magazine issue. ​Orange Is the New Black​was launched in 2013, within the time frame of 2013-2016 that the Trans tipping point falls into. ​"Orange Is the New Black" is a Netflix show that revolves around a women's prison and the backstories and day-to-day lives of its inmates. Laverne Cox plays Sophia Burset, a Tran’s woman of the color inmate. And Cox's portrayal has been critically acclaimed but does highlight the media's treatment of Tran’s folx of color versus Tran’s individuals that are white, more ‘passing’ and usually perhaps even economically better off. If Netflix were to make a supercut of all of Sophia Burset’s scenes across the show's run, you would see that the only thing Sophia does is endure abuse, whether that's verbally through trans phobic slurs, or being beaten up by her inmates, or attempting suicide in solitary confinement. While one could argue this is realistic of the horrible conditions Tran’s folx endure in prison, it’s interesting to see that it takes almost six seasons for the writers to give Sophia a sense of agency and more dynamic relationships. The trans tipping point has brought about visibility to trans folx on screen but “this visibility is fraught with exclusions around race and gender normativity," and there is still clearly bias even within groundbreaking shows such as ​“Orange Is the New Black”​ for trans folx who don’t fall into a specific bucket. Cox engages with the media to represent her everyday life and showcase an example of what being Trans in the US is like. On her Instagram, Cox shares the hashtag “#Transisbeautiful" in her bio and expresses opinions and examples of the truth behind the news and other media in her posts. She can share her own stories on social media to resist the "fetishizing" and falsifications regarding Tran's identities created by mainstream media. In this case, Cox uses social media to spur new viewpoints and correct the Trans community's misrepresentations.
• The Bechdel test
• Alison Bechdel, "The Rule," Jo Light, "What Is the Bechdel Test and How Will It Help Your Writing?", Megan Logan, “Meet the Race-Conscious Bechdel Test: the ‘DuVernay Test"
• The Bechdel Test determines how well developed female characters in a piece of media are. It first appeared in Alison Bechdel’s comic Dykes to Watch Out For. The three conditions of the Bechdel Test are described in the strip. The work must contain at (1) least two women who (2) talk to each other about (3) something besides a man. The rules seem relatively straightforward, but so few works of media pass it. Women in movies and television are often depicted as only having a value in some relation to a man. This spreads the idea that a woman has no life outside of man, and she is nothing without men. When thinking of the stereotypical roles of women in media like the girlfriend, wife, secretary, or the "damsel in distress," it is clear that they are often shown strictly speaking to men or men. The Bechdel Test truly serves as a call to action or an alarm to the entertainment industry to do a much better job representing women as themselves, capable of being the central character. When asked about the Bechdel Test's applications and complexity, Alison Bechdel remarked that it serves to promote discussion, and it is by no means a definitive measure. She even says that a media piece can be feminist also if it shows no woman. Many other tools can be used to assess what levels different people are being represented on screen. Megan Logan quotes a Manohla Dargis, a film critic, who proposed the DuVernay Test, which determines how well African American characters are developed. This Test seeks to see whether African American characters have storylines of their own outside the relationship to some white group of people.
• Big Little Lies, HBO Television Series
• Big Little Lies is a television series based on a best-seller by Liane Moriarty. The show tackles dark issues involving abusive and broken relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, and even friends. Debuting in February 2017, the show features a cast of three female leads. The story is told through their eyes, and the male characters are secondary. The male character's storylines exist mostly in strict relation to the female characters. The show seems to be a complete reverse of most other shows that dominate mainstream media. While the show tackles an abusive relationship between Nicole Kidman's character and her husband, there are still many instances of female characters talking with each other how their own lives are independent. With a 94% rating on rotten tomatoes, the show has been a massive hit across the board. It tackles an important issue of domestic violence while empowering all its female characters. The storylines for all three leads are independent while also concurrent, and the supporting female roles play as a big a part of even bigger in the story as the three men. The show is still mostly white-dominated, so it is likely to pass the various tests for minority representation. However, the show is an excellent example of the Bechdel Test's direct and indirect pass because of the issues of toxic masculinity and domestic violence that are addressed.

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In recent years, there has been a significant increase in transgender people's representation on TV and news media. The transgender tipping point was known as "America's next civil rights frontier" in 2014, marking an unprecedented moment for transgender visibility in the national dialogue. During the Trans tipping point, news outlets and reporters produced better practices of identifying Tran’s people, allowing Trans people to share their stories in their voice and identity. One of Fischer’s first arguments that show a tipping point is the depiction of Tran’s people in the news. She states that news stations have now adopted more appropriate practices, and they have not misgendered individuals as much. News stations have also moved away from strictly referring to Tran's people by their name given at birth. Fischer uses the term "Dead Naming," meaning to call someone by their name used before the transition. While there has been progress, Fischer remarks that there are still many areas that still do not allow Trans people to be adequately represented. She says that news outlets will often rely on non-trans individuals to tell the stories rather than allowing the Trans people themselves to tell their own stories. Fischer goes on to discuss more on the media stage that Trans individuals have taken on now. She says that trans-tipping point TV shows depict Tran's hetero-normative characters, meaning that they still conform to traditional gender roles of masculinity and femininity. Fischer states that Trans individuals have responded by taking social media to tip the scales back in their favor and let their voices be heard. Through social media platforms, Tran's individuals have been able to resist what Fischer refers to as "the co-opting and fetishizing of Trans identities by mainstream media.

Orange Is the New Black

‘Orange Is the New Black" ​is an excellent example of a television show that began airing during the trans tipping point, as the show's groundbreaking trans character Laverne Cox discusses in her TIME Magazine issue. ​Orange Is the New Black​was launched in 2013, within the time frame of 2013-2016 that the Trans tipping point falls into. ​"Orange Is the New Black" is a Netflix show that revolves around a women's prison and the backstories and day-to-day lives of its inmates. Laverne Cox plays Sophia Burset, a Tran’s woman of the color inmate. And Cox's portrayal has been critically acclaimed but does highlight the media's treatment of Tran’s folx of color versus Tran’s individuals that are white, more ‘passing’ and usually perhaps even economically better off. If Netflix were to make a supercut of all of Sophia Burset’s scenes across the show's run, you would see that the only thing Sophia does is endure abuse, whether that's verbally through trans phobic slurs, or being beaten up by her inmates, or attempting suicide in solitary confinement. While one could argue this is realistic of the horrible conditions Tran’s folx endure in prison, it’s interesting to see that it takes almost six seasons for the writers to give Sophia a sense of agency and more dynamic relationships. The trans tipping point has brought about visibility to trans folx on screen but “this visibility is fraught with exclusions around race and gender normativity," and there is still clearly bias even within groundbreaking shows such as ​“Orange Is the New Black”​ for trans folx who don’t fall into a specific bucket. Cox engages with the media to represent her everyday life and showcase an example of what being Trans in the US is like. On her Instagram, Cox shares the hashtag “#Transisbeautiful" in her bio and expresses opinions and examples of the truth behind the news and other media in her posts. She can share her own stories on social media to resist the "fetishizing" and falsifications regarding Tran's identities created by mainstream media. In this case, Cox uses social media to spur new viewpoints and correct the Trans community's misrepresentations. Read More