Viacom doesn’t care about black people
CVK
Viacom, the parent company that owns MTV, VH1, BET and many other media holdings, is doing a piss-poor job when it comes to media representations of black men and women. Judging by what we’ve seen over the last few weeks, Viacom seems pretty enthusiastic about furthering stereotypes of black men as inherently criminal and violent, and black women as sub-human, oversexed beasts.
First, Flava Flav’s reality show came back for its second season on VH1 on August 6th. According to TVGuide.com, the “premiere of Flavor of Love 2 earned VH1 its biggest season-premiere audience ever: 3.3 million viewers.” The show is already a hot ass mess on a regular day. But the premiere episode took it to a whole new level. One of the contestants, apparently suffering from uncontrollable diarrohea, squatted down in her evening dress during the “clock ceremony” and defecated on the floor.
(For more on Flava Flav’s descent into utter buffoonery, check out these great posts from Nate On The Mic and Return of the Brown-Eyed Girl.)
Then, MTV2 came under attack for its new animated series “Where My Dogs At?” (Thanks to Gigi and Kimberly for the tips.) Yahoo! News summarizes the episode which, by the way, aired on a Saturday afternoon - primetime viewing for children and teens:
In it, a look-alike of rap star Snoop Dogg strolls into a pet shop with two bikini-clad black women on leashes. They hunch over on all fours and scratch themselves as he orders one of them to “hand me my latte.” At the end of the segment, the Snoopathon Dogg Esquire character dons a rubber glove to clean up excrement left on the floor by one of the women.
MTV President Christina Norman — who is a black woman — dismissed the criticisms, claiming that the episode was “social satire” and “in fact a parody of an actual appearance Snoop Dogg made where he was accompanied by two women wearing neck collars and chains… We certainly do not condone Snoop’s actions and the goal was to take aim at that incident for its insensitivity and outrageousness.” More after the jump…
Somehow I have a feeling that all the twelve year-olds watching this episode were not thinking to themselves, “well clearly they’re referencing Snoop’s August 28, 2003 arrival at the MTV Video Music Awards and lambasting him for his misogyny.” :|
retell the life stories of infamous figures like Stanley “Tookie” Williams, Leroy “Nicky” Barnes, “Freeway Ricky” Ross and the Chambers Brothers. Airing on Wednesdays at 9pm EST/PST this ground-breaking series will peer into the lives of some of Black America’s most notorious figures and their impact on society and their communities
So basically, BET is celebrating violence and criminalism in the black community. Real classy.
It’s too bad because lately BET had actually been giving me hope. Jeff Johnson has helmed a couple shows that attempted to throw some social commentary into the mix. “The Cousin Jeff Chronicles” is or was (not sure if it’s still on) a news magazine-style show that covered issues ranging from the gap between the hip hop generation and the civil rights generation, to obesity in the black community, to sex in hip hop, etc. And “The Wrap-Up” “The Chop Up” is a pretty innovative show that delivers quick hits of important news, combined with commentary and rants from various people in the community.
Of course, it’s far too simplistic to make this just about “The Man” perpetuating negative stereotypes about black people. It’s important to question how and why black people themselves are involved in creating this media and supporting its existence by tuning in to boost its ratings.
“Where My Dogs At?” is voiced by comedians Tracy Morgan and Jeffrey Ross. “Flavor of Love” of course, has a black man as its star, and many black woman among the contestants. And I would guess that there are plenty of black folks involved in creating BET’s new shows “Beef” and “American Gangster.” And perhaps most importantly, there are lots of black viewers consuming this media. And if there’s a demand, there will be a supply.
I leave you with snippets from two really great bloggers. First, Kim Pearson:
So this raises a question about the women who originally allowed Snoop to parade them around. Were they perpetuating oppressive stereotypes, or having fun? Are they at fault for helping to create the image on which the cartoon was based. What about Snoop Dogg’s responsibility as a black man? And as a black woman, should the president of MTV’s stance have been different?
And finally, LynnLinn:
…this whole notion of feces and black women appearing within the same context of do do, is beyond crass, bordering on evil, and indicates a whole new low in the construct of the “black bitch out of control” stereotype. Now the media posits that the black woman’s body is so out of control that she chooses not to go to the bathroom, preferring to shit on herself or in her own space (an indication of an infantile mentality or an animal that has no respect for itself). This lack of self control points to the need to beat her, take her out to the country and leave her in a field, or euthanize her for her own good. Furthermore, her body stinks up the place, and should she be kept at home, chained and locked away from the rest of society–invisible…
…What I find most appalling (besides MTV’s lame excuse for the creation of the cartoon) is Christina Norman’s defense of this poop. This just demonstrates that people will do anything for money including kicking their own asses. The bottom line is that whether she knows it or not, she is the one “socially” associated with the image of the defecating out of control black female and Viacom will take her to the country and leave her with the first wrong move, including supporting crap (again, no pun intended) if it suddenly becomes unpopular. Perhaps this is why she is playing the Condoleeza Rice role, shuffling down the corridors of Viacom, happy to accomodate all those “high powered” execs, in whatever manner they choose, including support of this cartoon…
Really Really Good-The Weekender « Canhead on 25 Aug 2006 at 3:20 pm
[…] Mixed Media Watch has a piece up called Viacom Doesnt Care About Black People. In it they call out the MTV, VH1 parent copany on the way they depict black people. check it out, if for nothing more that the classic shot of Flav’s grin. […]