The Real World is meant to show how a diverse group of young Americans react and respond to living together with no history between any of them. However, it is very skewed and hardly gives us the whole story. MTV is all about having the most viewers to boost ratings and that is exactly what they are trying to do with the Real World. They select the cast based on the diversity as well as the personalities and then edit the footage to create the image they believe will be responded to the most by the audience they are targeting. With this they have assumed the stereotypes created in the past and try to use these to create a certain image and the most talked about is that portrayed of the black man in this popular show.
I believe the three main stereotypes MTV tries to portray of African Americans on the show starts at the casting not just the editing. They see thousands of tapes in the beginning when they select the group and first try to fill positions of certain diversity. If the want the black man that follows under these certain stereotypes they will choose him and make the editing much easier. I do not put all the blame on MTV. They do try to portray them in certain ways to try to create drama and boost ratings but the people they choose ultimately are the ones responsible for their actions. MTV chose these African Americans to create drama and fill these specific stereotypes. To MTV its all about the ratings and viewers. They choose a certain cast and edit them to ensure they are playing what they had intended to get the best ratings. They try to portray the black man as angry, unstable, violent, and sexually aggressive. The cast is ultimately responsible for their actions. They do fill these stereotypes at certain times as the examples show but also go against these stereotypes as well. MTV is only worried about ratings not stereotypes. If certain stereotypes boost ratings that’s what MTV will portray. MTV’s diverse groups has many different types of cultures mixed together. They are also judged under the certain stereotype they fall under. They also go against these stereotypes as well but can at times back them up.
I believe this situation is blown out of proportion. The Real World is just like every other reality tv show. They edit clips to portray people with certain personalities to create the most drama, which creates excitement. Everybody follows stereotypes whether they are portrayed or not. MTV does what every tv channel does. They do whatever they can to boost ratings. Stereotypes are apart of our society and will always be used for entertainment in our pop culture.
Discussion Questions:
1. Will MTV ever use these same personality traits used as black stereotypes for white cast members?
2. Why is so much attention attracted to stereotypes of blacks portrayed on the Real World when they have clearly used negative stereotypes on other cultures in the diverse cast?
Going off or your discussion questions I think it is very interesting to think about the fact that this is the really main targeted stereotype on the show. I really feel like there is just as much aggressive behavior portrayed on the show by the white males as well, but whether it is editing or cutting it feels like this is the main focus of the drama, and whether we like it or not until viewers demand a change there won't be one.
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