Diversity in the World of Media

Unless you’re a male between the ages of 18 and 35 years of age that watches Adult Swim, you probably haven’t heard of the new series, Rick and Morty… yet.

Rick and Morty is a fairly new series that first aired on December 2nd, 2013 on Adult Swim.  The show details the life of Morty Smith and his alcoholic/genius grandfather, Rick Sanchez, as they go on multi-dimensional misadventures (for the name of science, of course).  Creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon made sure to fill this series with large amounts of dark humor that almost makes you feel guilty to laugh at.  The show easily fits in with other hit shows that thrive off of dark humor such as South Park, Jackass, and Family Guy.  

The raunchy vulgarity of the show can be off-putting to many audiences, but it is one of the rising hits among young men.  Rick and Morty uses dark comedy to appease to one of the largest demographics in television, men between 18 and 35.  According to Time Warner Cable, the parent company to Adult Swim, the demographic is made up vastly larger numbers of men compared to women.  For example, with an index score of 100 being the national average for a consumer’s probability of watching a certain network (and the index always comparing the target percentage to the base), the score for men was 133, while women only scored 69.

Of those men in the targeted audience, the racial make up is predominately white, with 62% of the target audience being Caucasian, 27% being African American, and just the remainder 11% being made up of multiple ethnicities.

After Rick and Morty‘s debut season, the show has earned rather high ratings, especially for an adult animated television series.  Metacritic gives the series an 85, saying the show is of “Universal Acclaim.”  It was able to earn such wonderful and successful reviews due to the fact it fits in so perfectly with current comedy series, while still bringing some fresh and funny ideas to the table.  Dark humor has been brought to the mainstream in recent years, which allows for shows such these to prosper.  The gritty animations and jaw dropping vulgarity of Rick and Morty allows for to target and appease to such a niche audience, especially since it is airing on Adult Swim, a channel made specifically to humor the young men demographic.

Numerous diversity theories taught in class could be applied to this unique show, however, we are just going to look at one of the theories that is most prominent in Rick and Morty.  Developed by Donald Mosher in 1984, the idea of hypermasculinity is the idea that male characteristics are portrayed in exaggerated stereotypes of men.  Factors of this theory such as the belief that violence in manly or that danger is exciting can be seen in every episode.  Rick is constantly putting Morty in harms way, leaving violence as the only way out of the situation.

After seeing this clip, it’s easy to see how this is targeted towards the younger males.  They show only one solution to any of these issues, and that’s violence.  Is this necessarily a bad thing to do?  It’s a matter of personal opinion, seeing that this show is intended to be comedy.  The viewer has the option to choose to watch this program, which makes it easy to avoid if need be.  For a dark comedy, it is actually on the lighter side of the spectrum.  The show doesn’t stray from controversial subjects, but it does take caution in handling the delivery of the jokes seeing that it’s on national television.

The creators are made sure to create a diverse cast of characters, main or simply reoccurring.  There is no shortage of diverse animations, whether it comes to the skin color of humans, or the infinite number of alien characters they bring in.  The show itself is diverse, using next to zero stereotypes to portray different ethnicities.  Rick, Morty, and their family is white, however there are multiple African American characters that reoccur throughout the whole series.  The show can appeal to many ethnicities with these characteristics.  The lack of exaggerated stereotypes really helps with making the show appeal to anyone, no matter the ethnicity.

Even though they are targeting an ethnically diverse audience, that doesn’t mean it appeals to all sexes.  The show though is heavily geared towards male audience members.  Rick and Morty never misses out on a genital joke, especially if it makes fun of women.

This episode is seemingly a social critique on radical feminism, making fun of both radical feminists and the stereotypes of men.  With the racy story line of this episode, it’s no wonder the demographic makeup of the audience is mostly men.

Even though the show is not afraid of throwing comedic punches towards the sexes, does that make it a bad show?  It’s a matter of personal opinion when it comes to comedy.  In this day an age, dark humor is increasing in popularity at a high rate.  Men of all races between the ages of 18 and 35 is also one of the largest and most marketable demographics.  No one is safe from a comedians joke, so it’s up to the specific viewers interest as to whether or not they watch their shows.

So now we’re back to our original question.  Does Rick and Morty target a diverse audience?  Yes, and no.  Numerous ethnicities are within the target demographic, and are welcomed viewers.  However, this show is targeted towards men, and can come off as offensive to some women.  That doesn’t mean there are not any women who enjoy the show or men who despise it.  The majority of their target audience is enjoying the program, and they have the ratings to back them up.

Bibliography

“Adult Swim.”  National TV Spots.  n.p.  2014.  Web.  25 Nov. 2014.  <http://www.nationaltvspots.com/images/DemographicGrids/NetworkDemographicsDetail/AdultSwim-Demo-Details.jpg&gt;.

“Adult Swim.”  Time Warner Cable.  Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC, 2014.  Web.  25 Nov. 2014.  <http://www.twcmedia.com/TWC/CT/Network.aspx?id=490&gt;.

“Rick and Morty.” IMDb.  IMDb.com, Inc., 2014.  Web.  25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2861424/&gt;.

“Rick and Morty:  Season 1.”  Metacritic.  CBS Interactive, Inc., 2014.  Web.  25 Nov. 2014.  <http://www.metacritic.com/tv/rick-morty/details&gt;.

“Weekly Ratings Notes for Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, TBS, TNT & NBA TV:  ‘The Boondocks’, NBA Playoffs, ‘ Rick & Morty’ & More.”  Zap2it.  Tribune Digital Venture, 2014.  Web. 25 Nov. 2014.  <http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/04/29/weekly-ratings-notes-for-adult-swim-cartoon-network-tbs-tnt-nba-tv-the-boondocks-nba-playoffs-rick-morty-more/258826/&gt;.

If you watch any television now days, it would be near impossible to miss seeing any commercial that didn’t poke fun at the elderly.  Whether it be in a big pharma commercial or a commercial taking advantage of the their situation in a humorous way,  the elderly are clumped together in stereotypes that describe them as being feeble, absent-minded, stubborn, and helpless.

Ageism is a prevalent form of stereotyping that is consistently looked over and disregarded.  It essentially shows senior citizens as being useless members of society.  They are portrayed as a burden to younger generations.  Advertisements that are targeted towards them typically fit in with the stereotypes.  Ads for medicine, adult diapers, insurance, and mobility products are typically what you see.  Ads typically show them as being clueless, destroying property with their cars and just their general lack of knowledge.

None of these ads hold true to everyone in the elderly population.  They are humans who can get by on their own.  Like with stereotypes, they are exaggerated qualities that are more than likely not true.

However, ageism in the media is almost never used as demeaningly compared to other forms of racism and sexism.  Many companies will use ageism in advertisements for the humor aspect of it.  It slips by many viewers as being negative because of the twist of humor added to it, but that doesn’t mean that they are not morally wrong.  Because of the general acceptance of ageism, I don’t see it leaving the media anytime in the near future, but companies should begin to strive for less demeaning ads that showcase or are geared towards the elderly.

Certain areas of the media are absolutely homophobic, no questions asked.  Being openly gay is still filled with its trials and tribulations, whether in the media or not.  Not everyone in the States is accepting of homosexuals.  Because of this, it is still very much taboo on many mediums to portray the romantic and social aspects of homosexuality.  The landscape has been and continues to change.  With the numerous pieces of legislation being passed, it’s obvious that the population is heavily shifting for pro gay rights, as it should.  As the legislation begins to change, so does the idea of homosexuality in the media.

Over the past decade, more and more celebrities, leaders, and familiar faces in the media have been coming out to the public and announcing that they are homosexual.  For instance, Anderson Cooper of CNN and Tim Cook of Apple have both recently came out.  The fact that icons such as them are positive everyday household names shows that homosexuality is becoming more accepted amongst the population.

Just because homosexuality is becoming more accepted, that doesn’t mean that the media is going to portray it accurately or appropriately.  And that’s if the media shows it in a form other than news content.

How many shows on cable do you know of that show homosexuals as main characters?  It wasn’t until this past decade that homosexual characters became apparent in television on shows such as The Office and Glee.  This is progress for the LGBT community, but full equality still isn’t there because of cables reluctancy to display it.

With LGBT rights still a hot topic in politics, many big cable companies are still receiving flak from non-supporters when they do air shows that involve homosexuality.  There is also the problem of industry leaders not agreeing with homosexuality themselves, thereby pushing away from airing it.

At the end of the day, the homosexual community is making their presence known in the media, but it is not at its full potential.  The media is still homophobic, but it is trying to make television equal.  It’ll take time, but as long as legislation continues to get passed, the media will become more accepting.

If you look at the cast of the Today Show, it seems as though the media is diverse when it comes to gender.

And then you realize that this is a morning news program that is viewed by millions.  Of course they are going to try their best to represent their audience.  In fact, I don’t need to waste a blog post about whether or not gender bias exists in television (more specifically news stations).  We know it does, and we know that workers and consumers are striving to change that.  But what about other forms of media, such as music and video games?

Let’s look at music for example.  If you look at Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, you might notice that 9 of the top 10 artists are men or bands with only men, such as Muddy Waters.  When you go to the Billboard Hot 100, it seems to be dominated by female pop artists, like Meghan Trainor.  Many people, such as myself, would see something like this and just think of it as a coincidence.  Many of the most influential musicians of all time were men because of the gender roles of yesteryear, and the Hot 100 is full of female pop singers because, well, that’s what is hot right now.

So yes, this could all be just a big coincidence, but may also show a lack of representation for everyone in this subset of the media.  When I look at music, I see multiple genres of music.  I believe as a whole, the music industry is rather diverse.  News stations could learn a thing or two from them.  But when you get into niche genres, there is certainly bias.  For example, how many prominent female rappers do you know, or how many female rockers are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?  What about men singing poppy love songs?  Audiences tend to lean towards to certain genders for certain genres of music.  We all do it.  I personally prefer listening to male rock and blues artists, such as Jack White.

But I also can never get enough Katy Perry when I’m in a pop mood.  I’m positive many of you would agree you expect a certain type of voice for a particular style of music.  This is bias.  Though it is not necessarily the conventional form of being unfair, it still puts genders at a disadvantage.  Imagine trying to be a women in a rock band.  Trying to break out into the mainstream is even far more difficult because of this bias.  This is a huge reason as to why many people can only name a handful of women rock stars such as Joan Jett.

There are numerous female rockers out there, such as Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells.  Women are gradually making their way into the rock and roll spot light, making for a breath of fresh air in the rock scene.

So, there is bias in the world of music.  But what about in video games, another media format that tends to be looked over?  Many of the biggest names in the video game industry are putting out games aimed towards their target audience (young adult men).  From a marketing standpoint, there is nothing wrong with this.  The primary consumers for video games, regardless of console choice, are young men.  Take a look at any one of the video games recently released, such as Destiny or Watch Dogs.  Many games default you into being a male character.  As of recently, the standard has been to allow players to choose whether they want to play as a male or female character, but many are geared more towards being the male option.

  As usual, many of these games are full of violence, fast cars, or vulgar language, definitely geared for the typical young male stereotype.  It’s pretty obvious just after noting what most video games consist of that there is a gender bias in the world of video games.  There are plenty of women out there playing along with men.  But from a business viewpoint, why would you target a small niche community of female gamers, when the population is dominated by young men?  It’s the smart choice for businesses, but obviously unfair for the female video game players out there.  Companies such as Nintendo seem to be leading the way, with many games that are more “unisex,” something the other companies out there should consider exploring.

So again, does gender bias exist in the media today?  Absolutely.  It is still very prominent in the world of television, film, and journalism.  Music formats and video games seem to be bias free at first glance, but bias is still evident once you dig past the surface.

Judging by this theater poster, The Birth of a Nation seems like an inconspicuous movie.  However, this movie is monumental in the world of film.  This movie set in place the African American stereotype we see in films today.  Birth of a Nation is widely considered one of the greatest/most important films of all time, despite the controversial subject matter that is blatantly obvious to the viewer of modern times.  Let’s look at another aspect of this movie that hides in the shadow of racial stereotypes.  Gender stereotypes are just as prominent in the storyline of D. W. Griffith’s film, for both black and white males.

When you think of the typical man, of past or present time, what typically comes to mind?  The words “strong,” “rugged,” and “power” probably are the first qualities you would associate with a man.  When we speak in stereotypes, women want their man to be the dominant force in their lives.  She isn’t going to be chopping fire wood or going to the office.  She’s going to make her heroic husband breakfast, do his laundry, and please him with her body.  All of this falls under the stereotype of “being a manly man.”

Now, what comes to mind when you think of specifically African American men and Caucasian men?  This is where Birth of a Nation comes into play.  This movie practically invented the stereotypes that we, the audience, see in visual media formats for these men.

The movie focuses on powerful families, the Stonemans from the North, and the Camerons in the South.  Both of these white families fit the stereotype.  The men are obviously the head of the household, as well as intelligent, ladies men, and natural leaders.  When the Civil war breaks out, the men answer their nation’s call and join their respective allegiance’s armies.  This scenario is one that we see all throughout film history.  The perfect and powerful white family.

Now the the African American men.  For the most part, African Americans in this film were actually played by white men in black face.  Because of this, the already stereotypical qualities they depicted are even more extremely exaggerated.  The scene that seems to best sum up the depiction of African American men in this movie (which sets the tone for future stereotypes) is the legislation scene.

The scene shows African American men as lazy drunkards, with the majority of the reconstruction legislature drinking liquor and avoiding work.  This scene is the precursor to the “lazy African American male” stereotype seen in television for years to come.

Both of these stereotypes existed before the release of Birth of a Nation, there is no doubt about it.  But this was essentially the manly stereotype’s big screen debut, for both white and black men.

Men come in all shapes and sizes.  There is no such thing as a stereotypical “manly man.”  But after the release of The Birth of a Nation, the stereotypes of white and black men in film and television were set in stone.

When you see this iconic still from Mike Judge’s “Beavis and Butt-Head”, the first thing that probably pops into your head is that these kids are far from normal, which it should.  This duo is as awkward and vulgar as they come.  Beavis and Butt-Head are those other guys, and you probably know some people who are fairly similar to them.  If you don’t know who these guys are or what the show is about, here’s the lowdown.  The show (which I might add was created by a physicist) focuses on two unruly teens as they go through their days of critiquing music videos and getting into trouble at work and at school.  Just a heads up, the following video is a tad vulgar, but it is a perfect example of the general basis of the show.

So now that we are all on the same page as to what Beavis and Butt-Head is about, you’re probably wondering what this show has to do with the other in the media.  There is more to media than just television, so how do other media formats fall in?  For those who don’t know, when I say the other, I am referring to a group that is different from the norm or the majority.

To start, Beavis and Butt-Head are the epitome of the other in the sense that they are representative of a certain stereotype:  The unintelligent teen.  It’s obvious that they don’t belong among their peers.  Mike Judge even made sure they physically didn’t fit in with the norm by drawing them to show the extremes in the stereotype.  The rest of the characters in the series interact with Beavis and Butt-Head as though they were sub-human or animals even.  If you were not already aware of it, high school is full of cliques and different groups of friends.  Beavis and Butt-Head are seen as the “metalhead” outcasts in school that nobody wants to hang out with because of the numerous outlandish activities they partake in.  They don’t fit in with anyone aside from each other.

 

So we can can come to the conclusion that Beavis and Butt-Head are seen as extreme versions of a well known stereotype.  This is the same way any media format portrays the other.  By using grotesque stereotypes that either make us laugh or make us feel superior, the media can feature anything different from the norm in whatever way they choose to.  Commercials can make us laugh over seemingly harmless stereotypes.

The media can also make us cringe with horrific stereotypes of people different from ourselves.

 

By using these exaggerated stereotypes, the media portray the other in numerous ways depending on what they want the end outcome to be.  In the case with “Beavis and Butt-Head,” the final outcome is to make an audience laugh with crude and stereotypical humor which then generates MTV, Mike Judge, and their partners a profit.  Numerous television shows, movies, and other forms of media use humor derived from a far-fetched stereotype.  It’s ok for us to admit that we watch shows and movies like this, because we all do.  “Beavis and Butt-Head” happens to be one of my favorite shows to this day, despite the raunchiness.  I’m sure a number of you readers are fans of shows such as “Family Guy” and “Jersey Shore.”  The media captures our attention, and keeps us hooked by airing these types of programs and commercials.  The other fascinates the general audience, especially when stereotypes are embellished.

So to answer the question of how the other is portrayed in the media, one can conclude that it is portrayed in exaggeration to capture the audience’s attention for many different possible outcomes a media outlet could want.  When it comes to “Beavis and Butt-Head” and most other forms of media, they are showing the other as an inferior part of society for the norm to critique.