The rise of the Digital Age is something rather complex. It opened up a wide range of communication and expanded from newspapers and eventually to the internet-era for all to consume and produce. “As developing technologies they offered new ways to frame stories, and as the “new media” of their era they sparked both extravagant hopes and extravagant fears in their time” (Campbell et al., 2014, p. 3). With good things come some conflicts of interest such as representation within the digital age. There are three different media forms: Media technologies, democracy, and capitalism. Though these are used together in the media setting capitalism seems to take the cake when discussing how money influences representation. I ask that you look back on the TV shows you use to watch as a kid. When I do this exercise I remember seeing mostly white people in the shows. Yes, that person does look like me, white. You may ask where I am going with this. If you are a white person looking back on your favorite TV shows from when you were growing you could probably agree that the white presence was dominant. What about people of color? Are they represented? If they are, it is a small amount, maybe one or two to fit a quota. That is not representation, but rather misrepresentation. In Media in Society it explains that, “ sometimes we closely identify with the representations conjured up by the mass media, while other times we resist representations that don’t capture the essence of who we are, how we behave, or how we experience and make sense of the world” (Campbell et al., 2014, p. 221). We also learn what we identify with various images and different codes within the media, thus leading us to form ideologies that help us make valuable “judgements about the world” (Campbell et al., 2014, p. 223). This is what the media has looked liked for years thanks to those in power, the hegemonic elite. The Beulah Show is one example of misrepresentation in the past. This show first aired on television in the 1950s. Though it was one of the first shows to have a Black actress the show misrepresented the Black women. Because of this time period most black women were limited for jobs. Some became maids and some were able to break the entrapment of staying low income. Hollywood lack women were misrepresented in this show by white people saying something along the lines that everyone wanted a Beulah, since she was such an ideal maid for the average white family. The show made it seem like these Black women wanted to work these jobs and that the work environment was happy and cheerful, but it was not. When reviewing the film Color Adjustment, one of the interviewees stated, “I have known housekeepers and how those housekeepers had to explain to their children that they did not want the same for them. She described it beautifully as nobility (Newsreel, 2016). You see the history or representation other than the white hetero-normative was tragic. Minorities were not seen or heard, but rather portrayed a fictitious narrative that again supports white privilege and how white people seemed superior. Another example of how film misrepresented Black and Brown people was in The Birth of a Nation. This show outright displayed racism and white supremacy in just about each frame. From white people portraying Black people by using 'blackface' to showing how involved the KKK was during this time period says it all. Many believe that the production of this film "revived" the KKK (Clark, 2018). For Black men were thought to all be rapist and killers who targeted the 'fair skin' white woman. In the film it shows a blackface white male chasing a woman off a cliff. She jumped because she would rather die than to be rapped by a Black man. You see the history or representation other than the white hetero-normative was tragic. Minorities were not seen or heard, but rather portrayed a fictitious narrative that again supports white privilege and how white people seemed superior. Resources: Campbell, R., Fabos, B., Frechette, J., Gomery, D., & Jensen, J. (2014). Media in society.Boston: Bedford/St. Martins. Clark, A. (2018, August 14). How 'The Birth of a Nation' Revived the Ku Klux Klan. Retrieved December 05, 2020, fromhttps://www.history.com/news/kkk -birth-of-a-nation-film Newsreel, C. (2016, July 6). Retrieved November 15 , 2020, from https://vimeo.com/ ondemand/coloradjustment
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