BUI301F2022/Comedy and Identity Discussion

From Screenpedia
Revision as of 19:22, 8 November 2022 by Jeremy Butler (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigationJump to search

Class screenings related to identity

  • Race
    • The Bernie Mac Show
    • Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip
    • Girlfriends
    • Jeff Foxworthy, The Good Old Days
    • Jim Gaffigan, Noble Ape
  • Ethnicity/nationality
    • Always Be My Maybe
    • Reservation Dogs
    • Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens
  • Religion
    • Curb Your Enthusiasm
  • Class
    • The Lady Eve
    • 2 Broke Girls

Herman Gray and Michael Omi & Howard Winant on the study of race and ethnicity

  • Sociologists Michael Omi and Howard Winant reject the idea of racial essentialism and propose an approach based instead on a racial formation.
  • Herman Gray identifies three African-American discourses in TV.
    1. The assimilationist category, including Designing Women.
    2. The pluralist category, including Girlfriends.
    3. The multiculturalist category.

Beretta Smith-Shomade

Beretta Smith-Shomade (pronounced "show-ma-day") examines "four intertwined elements in [1990s] television comedy that define and give meaning to Black women's representation there: work roles, characterization, class, and identity" (48).

  • Work and class. When Joan snoops in Marcus's apartment, she notes music by John Coltrane and Macy Gray and a novel by Walter Mosley. What do these allusions tell you about Marcus's social class? Also, elsewhere in the episode there are allusions to the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, Nelson Mandela, and Rainbow/PUSH. Each is a significant allusion within black culture. What/who are they?
    • The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment subjected many black men to the disease without proper treatment or information before the experiment. This contributed to a growing mistrust between the black community and medical professionals.
    • Nelson Mandela was jailed for 27 years in South Africa for fighting to end apartheid.
    • Rainbow/PUSH is a non-profit intended to empower black individuals within government positions. PUSH stands for People United to Serve Humanity.
  • Identity
    • Language. How does the way they speak define black characters? What differences do you hear in the Girlfriends characters' speech?
    • Skin shade. How does skin shade define black characters? Describe how this episode directly addresses this issue in the black community. Is there a moral to this story?
    • Hair. How do hair styles define black characters? What hair-style differences do you see in the Girlfriends characters and what do they tell you about Toni, Maya, Joan, and Lynn?
  • Characterization (i.e., conventional roles and stereotypes). Does Girlfriends rely on African-American stereotypes? E.g., "mammy," "sapphire," "tragic mulatto," etc.

Casts

Girlfriends

Texts & resources

  • Beretta E. Smith-Shomade, "Laughing Out Loud: Negras Negotiating Situation Comedy," in Shaded Lives: African-American Women and Television (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2002), 24-68.
  • Jeremy G. Butler, "Redesigning Discourse: Feminism, the Sitcom and Designing Women," Journal of Film and Video, 45, no. 1; pp. 13-26. Online version.
  • Wikipedia book: Girlfriends allusions
  • Girlfriends illustrations
  • "Infanity: Girlfriends," tour of the Girlfriends set by Persia White, local copy