Representation 

Representation in Media is often always thought of as good. Which makes sense. I mean why would representation be bad? However I disagree with this sentiment. I think representation can often be equally harmful than it is good. Even if the intention is for their representation to be good.  A lot of times TV shows and media fall into the same tropes when trying to represent characters of different races or sexualities. While the creators of these shows often mean well when they create these characters they don't think of their target audience as who they are representing. Instead they think of it as the audience they already have, usually a white cisgender straight audience.  Very popular examples of this I can think of are with the trope of the “black female best friend” and “gay best friend”.

The “black female best friend” archetype was originally created to introduce black characters to an audience that may have never seen them on screen before. The first black person to ever have their own TV show is Ethel Walters  who hosted a one-off variety show on NBC on June 14, 1939, when television was still being developed.she forged a path into mainstream. While her show did Garner much success when specifically kids/ young adult shows started to introduce black characters they often made them the best friend or a side character. When crafting these characters producers often leaned onto archetypes and stereotypes rooted in racism and generalizations.  While this trope is a stereotype they proved to be profitable and therefore the trope continues. Some examples of this is Maxine "Max" Shaw in Living Single.  Max was played by Erica Alexander and was portrayed as a ‘ sharp tongued’  and independent best friend of the main character, Khadijah James. Her character often was used to create comedic relief with her sarcastic remarks while helping her best friend navigate issues in relationships and friendships. One last example to further my point is Tasha in the games. Tasha, who is played by Wendy Raquel Robinson, was portrayed again as a ‘ sassy’  and outspoken mother figure.  In the show she served as comedic relief and provided guidance to the other characters. This is not a critique on each of these individual shows, instead a demonstration of how often this stereotype of black women is portrayed in Media.  While individually it seems like a good representation it can often Infuse Prejudice into people. 

Another example of this is the phenomenon of the “gay best friend”. This Trope was originally created to introduce gay men to the public eye and make being gay more normalized.  However, because of this trope many gay people are characterized as being flamboyant or liking fashion or makeup because that's how all of these gay characters were and are in Media. An example of this is Titus Andromedon in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Titus was portrayed as a flamboyant and melodramatic actor. He was there to provide comedic relief and emotional support to Kimmy. Another example is Jack McFarland in Will & Grace.  Jack is Will's fun buoyant eccentric best friend. He was there to add comedic relief to the show with outrageous Antics and the love of theater and fashion. I also think it's interesting that Will Truman in Will & Grace is also gay. While at first you might be thinking oh well he's in the name meaning he won't be the same Trope right?  No.  Will is characterized as a gay lawyer who is best friends with Grace,  a straight interior designer.  Well not being as eccentric and flamboyant as Jack still has a lot of those characteristics and main purpose is to provide support and guidance to Grace while navigating his own love life. While Will is definitely a better representation than we got a lot of the time in this kind of media it is still important to point out that he is still a stereotype. Lastly, I'd like to mention Stanley “Stan”  Walker  in the TV show Ugly Betty.  Stan is also characterized as a flamboyant man He is used ,again, to provide comedic relief to the show and also a moral support for Betty. You can see similar to the black best friend these characters are always providing emotional support or comedic relief to the main straight protagonist.  Another point to mention is how a lot of these characters are always characterized as being flamboyant and are often not shown in a sexual light on their given TV shows as that could make some viewers “uncomfortable”  and would not be as marketable to ratings. A show that does provide a look into the sexuality of gay men is the popular reality TV competition show RuPaul's Drag Race.  However, all of these men are typically flamboyant as well and are often directed to act more flamboyant according to many stars that I've left the show.  Their sexualities are often used to over sexualize the cast. For example the use of “ the pit crew”  who are a group of assistants who are all muscular and wear very small pieces of underwear. As well as very sexual mini challenges.  It's sad and disheartening that it's really hard to find a middle ground between these two things. Either these characters are not shown as sexual at all and are only support and flamboyant or they're still shown as flamboyant only over sexualized 

 All of this ties back to money, it ties back to ratings and it ties back to profitability.  shows like this have primarily white audiences and therefore play into these stereotypes to make them more “digestible”  for these audiences. The problem with the gay best friend just like the problem with the black best friend archetype is that it's only really showing one version of these characters. Since tropes only show this one version of these groups of people, these people who are supposed to be being “represented” often are assumed to act like whatever their stereotype is on TV. although that's not how most people act as people. We are all humans and aren't stereotypes or characters on TV.  It's important to understand that this is not all TV shows but it's enough and it's been going on for enough time for it to just be a topic to discuss and to talk about. It also shows a lot about the industry as a whole and its focus on profit over people.