Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2008 July 11

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July 11

BLACK PEOPLE IN MEDIA

Hi. I want to why black people are presented a lot in american television and movies. African Americans make up about 13% of the American population, and 13% is not a high percentage. Sonic99 (talk) 02:37, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

For the same reason that practically every movie and television show has at least one openly gay character (usually male). The producers want the media to be of interest to the highest number of people possible. So, they ensure that every niche market is included. Then, to cover up the fact that it is just for the money, they claim it is done for equal opportunity. -- kainaw™ 02:40, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

13% is one-in-eight. So based on that percentage alone, you would expect to see one black main character for every film that has eight main characters. Or one black main character for every two films with four main characters. I don't think that's very far off from what we see. A more interesting question might be why we see so few Hispanics in films. They ought to be one-in-seven. APL (talk) 04:06, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

With the Hispanics, it's likely that 13% of characters are of that ethnicity, at least in part, but just don't "look Hispanic". For instance, Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, and Martin Sheen are Hispanic (to my knowledge) but don't look stereotypically Hispanic. Dismas|^(talk) 04:15, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

Good point. APL (talk) 06:04, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

I've noticed the same thing with Scots people in the UK. Not only in films but in TV and radio presentation there seems to be a disproportional representation. Richard Avery (talk) 07:26, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

Sample size may be an issue here. Although the number of black people in America and the number of characters in the media are both large numbers, the size of any given cast is much smaller. The jump from underrepresentation to overrepresentation of black people (or Scots) in your cast can be very small, and the downside to underrepresentation (see kainaw's answer) may be greater than the downside to overrepresentation (if any). AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 12:46, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

Its also due to production companies wishing to seen as politically correct, as there is a great deal of press about how under-represented minorities are in televison in the US. Too many shows have swung the other way and are 90% minority. But when such shows attempts to portray minorities only as stereotypes, it acts as a dis-service to everyone. Michael Q. Schmidt (talk) 21:39, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

Where are all the Indian actors? Name two. Apu from The Simpsons doesn't count. Plasticup ^T/C 13:16, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Additionally it's important to remember the context of popular shows. Something like The Fresh Prince of Bel-air was popular and didn't have a great deal of white characters. Fair enough, the show was set around a household of blacks so wouldn't feature many. Similarly a show set in say the 1950/60s and the upper/middle class sector (e.g. say Madmen) that has very few black characters. I suspect this is nothing to do with ratings and all to do with the context of where/when the show is set. Certainly things such as Big Brother seem to have a policy of appeasing political-correctness by ensuring a very set mix of nationalities in their series. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 14:09, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Heroes does a good job with multiculturism even though it's largely US-centric. In addition to the two Indian characters (Chandra and Mohinder Suresh), you have black people, Mexican people, Haitians, a few Irish people (with crappy accents). Sceptre ^(talk) 14:18, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

The question is less connected to the demographics of the whole population than it is connected to the percentage of Xs (black / gay / whatever) people amongst people going to the movies. I suspect that the statistics of movie goers by age / gender / ethnicity may differ significantly from the x / y / z% of these groups in the populace at large. So, if 13% of US residents are African Americans but 25% (I got no idea, this is just a number) of the audience in a picture theatre is black, then casting will reflect this distribution. Of course, it will also depend on the type of movie being produced, as each genre has its own type of audience. The composition of these various audiences is well researched. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 21:24, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Family Guy

If anyone has time.....just wondering on the Family Guy Season releases (AUSTRALIA) as to what is on each disc set.....After much research I've found this.

anyone with information or have the DVD's SEASON ONE D1: Death has a shadow-Brian portrait of a dog D2: Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater - The King is dead SEASON TWO D1: I am peter hear me roar- Dammit Janet D2: There's something about Paulie - Fore, father SEASON THREE D1: The thin white line - lethal weapons D2: The kiss seen around the world - Peter griffen: husband, father, brother? D3: Ready, willing and disabled- when you wish upon a weinstein SEASON FOUR D1: North by north Quahog - Don't make me over D2: The cleveland-loretta quagmire - 8 simple rules for buying my teenager daughter D3: Breaking out is hard to do- Jungle love SEASON FIVE D1: PTV - The father, the son, the holy fonz D2: Brian sings and swings - Deep throats D3: Peterotica - Griffeb Family history SEASON SIX D1: Stewie loves Lois - Prick up your ears D2: Chick cancer - Bill and peter's bogus journey —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.214.86.115 (talk) 05:49, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

I don't quite follow, which of the following do you want:

1) To verify that the episodes you've listed are on the discs listed.

2) To tell us that the episodes you've listed are on the discs listed. StuRat (talk) 13:34, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

To confirm that the episodes listed are on the discs listed. To verify the first and last episodes of each disc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.171.155.113 (talk) 23:47, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

Talk show appearances

When a celebrity appears on a talk show or late-night show (say, Letterman or the Daily Show), does any money change hands, or is it understood that the publicity benefits both the show and the celebrity? What if it's a band performance, such as on SNL? jeffjon (talk) 19:04, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

I know that all performers on the Letterman show get paid every time the show airs. This includes audience members who are brought on stage. -- kainaw™ 19:19, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

Just so for all talk shows, unless there is a contractual tit-for-tat where compensation for such an appearance is made in other ways. Michael Q. Schmidt (talk) 21:41, 11 July 2008 (UTC)