2004’s Best Media Representations of Mixed Race People, Interracial Couples and Interracial Families Are Honored by 1st Annual Mixed Media Watch Image Awards
JC & CVK
Media watchdog organization Mixed Media Watch announces that Jennifer Beals, The Rock, Showtime’s The L Word, UPN’s Girlfriends, and Verizon’s “The Elliotts” ad campaign are among its Image Award honorees.
New York, NY, February 9, 2005 — Mixed Media Watch, an organization that seeks to promote more realistic, three-dimensional portrayals of mixed race people, interracial couples and interracial families in the media, today announced the honorees for its 1st annual Mixed Media Watch Image Awards.
The Mixed Media Watch Image Awards recognize efforts by film, television, radio and print media to promote more realistic, three-dimensional portrayals of mixed race people, interracial couples and interracial families.
“Mixed race individuals have become much more visible in the media recently,” said Carmen Van Kerckhove, Co-Director of Mixed Media Watch. “Marketers increasingly favor racially ambiguous models in their ad campaigns and many famous actors, musicians and athletes now openly identify themselves as biracial or multiracial.”
“But most media representations of mixed race people, interracial couples and interracial families are still too simplistic or sensationalistic,” added Jen Chau, the other Co-Director of Mixed Media Watch. “Media images have great cultural power. We hope that the Image Awards will inspire others to emulate and even surpass the work of 2004’s honorees.”
Below is the complete list of honorees for the 1st annual Mixed Media Watch Image Awards:
Special Honoree: Jennifer Beals
Honorable Mention: The Rock
Outstanding Television Drama Series: The L Word
Outstanding Television Comedy Series: Girlfriends
Outstanding Fiction: Country of Origin, The Love Wife, Pushkin and the Queen of Spades, Symptomatic
Outstanding Advertising Campaign: Verizon’s “The Elliotts”Mixed Media Watch Image Award honorees were published, released or broadcast between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2004.
For additional information, visit the 2004 Mixed Media Watch Image Awards site or contact Mixed Media Watch at team@mixedmediawatch.com
ABOUT MIXED MEDIA WATCH
Mixed Media Watch is a collaborative weblog and grassroots coalition that works to promote more realistic, three-dimensional portrayals of mixed race people, interracial couples, interracial families and transracial adoptees in film, television, radio and print media. Jen Chau and Carmen Van Kerckhove serve as its Co-Directors.
luis pena wrote:
I love this site! I’m in the process of starting a support group for people of mixed race here in Denver because I’m totally in love with mixed-race people and feel that we should recognize ourselves and each other. I support all positive pro-Multiracial individuals, support groups, and organizations such as this. If I can help, please let me know! Keep up the good work and I ‘ll visit again soon!
Luis - melange1@comcast.net
Posted 10 Feb 2005 at 1:30 am ¶
brian wrote:
i am asian (adopted) and personally i feel the media is not showing enough asians. the movies that show asians seem to be typical oriental roles with very annoying foreign accents. there are many talented asian actors/entertainers but none of them stand out in movies and tv shows (it’s almost as if they were invisible). i’m not sure if hollywood is still color blind or something but, there are no role models for asian amercians gowing up except for typical asian action stars like bruce lee and jackie chan. i was confused when i was growing up because i didn’t see anyone that looked like me except for martial artists, so i felt alone and frustrated and vented my anger towards my adoptive white parents (it wasn’t there fault). i still feel very alone and ashamed of being asian, so i rarely go out and date.
it’s true there are mix asian actors like keanu and the chick from smallville (superman’s love interest) that take unstereotypical roles, but these actors seemed to be specifically picked by the studios because they appear more white then oriental. also, did you know the younger generations of americans (who were not even born at the time) are still angry at asian americans because of wwII, korean war, and vietnam war? i’m only 27, but when i was growing up (not so much the kids in my grade), i was constantly teased at, (sometimes in violent ways) by white kids who would call me jap, gook, chink etc.
Posted 11 Jun 2005 at 12:20 pm ¶