I have only seen snippets and a select few episodes of The Real World, but enough to understand what the show is and how it works. Just like every “reality show” after it (e.g. The Bachelor, Jersey Shore, and everything on VH1), there is little to no realism portrayed. The stories and characters are exaggerated, with the editing process creating most of the “reality”. Hopefully, people know how little reality there is in shows like The Real World, and the characters in the show by no means represent the larger percentage of the group(s) they represent.
The show’s producers, I believe, know exactly what they are doing with creating these aggressive, unstable black male characters. Good casting, even better editing, and a little underlying fear or aggression from other housemates lead to a television show watched regularly by millions. I do not watch regularly (or at all) to know how these seven guys in the early seasons were exactly portrayed. The essay explained how most of the guys, although having diverse occupations, came from tough inner city childhood, which I’m sure was a very deliberate choice by the show’s producers.
The sexually abusive, violent, emotionally volatile, and inherently angry nature of the show’s black male “characters” was done very much on purpose. Obviously, this is an incredibly wrong and quite racist thing to do by the producers and editors. But, it has clearly worked in gaining popularity for the show. Most of the incidents talked about in the essay from the early seasons are 15-19 year old stories, and we are still talking about the episodes and the characters today.
I absolutely do not agree with The Real World’s practice of exploiting stereotypes of black males for the purpose of entertainment. Hopefully, in the more recent or future seasons of the show (I’m not sure if it is still on) they have or will try to be a little more creative in finding a more diverse group of young people, especially less offensive portrayals of young black males. This pseudo-reality is the reason I don’t watch it or shows like it.
1. Why do you think the producers of the show create these black male “characters” the way they do?
2. Do you think that viewers believe the stereotypes, portrayed in the show, of black males are indicative of most black males?
I completely agree with you. I do not like at all that in todays world stereotyping is part of television and is endorced by producers and creators. We should not be trying to enhance stereotypes but instead try to get rid of them as much as we can.
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