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<p>[The</a> hipster racism of reality TV - Salon.com](<a href=“http://www.salon.com/2013/07/16/the_hipster_racism_of_reality_tv/]The”>http://www.salon.com/2013/07/16/the_hipster_racism_of_reality_tv/)</p>
<p>I don’t agree with this. </p>
<p>“Hipster racism”? Come on now.</p>
<p>salon.com!? Nothing sensible is coming out of there…</p>
<p>Reality racism. A mind poison sold to a society addicted to poisons.</p>
<p>I can now offer up one of my favorite pieces of ridiculous research. Some of you may remember David Brudnoy. He was an openly gay, Jewish, conservative talk show host who died of AIDS. He brought up this wonderful paper - I have a copy somewhere - that said there are no actual gay black men, that some black men think they’re gay but that it’s white racism which renders them powerless, so being black and gay is then a perverse outgrowth of white racism on natural black manhood. I dug up the paper because it was so nuts.</p>
<p>Same with the idea that people are buying into racism. The more obvious answer is hinted at in the 2nd quote in the OP, that people say all sorts of crap about others while not holding actually deep negative beliefs. Maybe that is a coarsening of culture, as we’ve become more and more used to casual abuse on the internet. But to say it’s more is silly.</p>
<p>There is a kind of humor in how easily we identify with stereotypes that aren’t about us. If people thought the family in Duck Dynasty were actually weird, no one would watch. It’s the similarities to us as they live rather different lives than us which makes them attractive. Same with Real Housewives: while there’s lots of talk about being Italian on the NJ show, these could be any ethnic group with family troubles and loyalties. </p>
<p>The Long Island Princess shows stand out to a Jewish watcher because these people seem so different from what you know as a Jewish person … but to others watching, they likely seem pretty much like basic people with relationship issues. </p>
<p>I compare Howard on the Big Bang Theory with his Jewish mom/son issues and then look at Joe Gorga and his muscles - does 225lbs bench - and his constant crying. The appeal is these are human stories put in wrappers that make them feel more real.</p>
<p>The show sounds mild compared to All in the Family back in the 70s. </p>
<p>If reality is actually reality, how is it racist? Is being jewish a race? I thought that was a religion?</p>
<p>I can’t fathom why anyone would watch this crap. Even if one is so inclined to rot their brain, who has the time?</p>
<p>I think what it is, is an acknowledgement that most racial stereotypes have some truth to them (which is how they came to exist), but at the same time we are being given the opportunity to delve deeply into the lives of these stereotypical people and learn that we have a lot in common at the core and that good people come in all sorts of silly packages.</p>
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<p>Reality can easily be racist. (Of course, whether “reality TV shows” are reality is a different question entirely.)</p>
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<p>If someone did an accurate reality show on members of the KKK, would showing that be racist or rather would it be that the people on the show are racists?</p>
<p>Humm, think about this: if the text below was not a direct quotation from the linked article, how long would it survive on College Confidential?</p>
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<p>Racism is still a huge problem in the US. And, so is the obnoxious PC-police that attempts to transform most descriptive facets of our EXISTING society into something offensive!</p>
<p>IF you go to other countries, they make fun of themselves. I think a great example is a program in Norway that showed a wood burning fireplace - and which attracted hundreds if not thousands of complaints because people disagreed about how the wood was cut and stacked, etc. The Dutch have a program in which people do stupid things - I think it was called “Look at me”. </p>
<p>Odd thing about the US is we don’t have much of a “US type” to make fun of. We have a bunch of different types but the idea of “one” type went out with Leave it to Beaver pretending everyone was WASP, lived in a neat suburb, etc. </p>
<p>BTW, All in the Family offended me. I know it was intended to say the opposite of the actual words but I had big problems with the cruelty and name calling. I didn’t enjoy that. But in contrast, I loved Don Rickles back when he was relentlessly cruel to people as a joke. He was funny because this was no situation where Archie represented people who actually thought that way. This was a comedian pulling up every stereotype you can name directly to the person involved … and it broke down barriers because it was over-the-top though I expect members of the KKK may also have enjoyed much of it.</p>
<p>I remember young Bill Cosby telling stories about his father and his brother Russell. They were ground breaking too because Cos is black and didn’t act like a black comedian. His stories were mostly indistinguishable from other great material by comedians of all backgrounds. Flip Wilson, who I also loved, played with racial stereotypes directly but Cos said “here I am, a black guy, and guess what I’m more like you than you might believe.” No one could listen to his turtle heads routine and not relate to the young black kids. And hey, hey, hey it’s fat albert was beyond race.</p>
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<p>Same here. I never understood how it could be on TV. I remember seeing people wearing t-shirts stating Archie Bunker for President. They intended it as a joke, obviously, but it gave me the creeps.</p>
<p>You missed the satire in the paradox of Bunker’s bigotry.</p>
<p>As for reality TV, most of it makes me think of the words of author A. Huxley in his book
‘Brave New World;’ Soma, soma. Soma, soma, soma. You know what I mean.</p>
<p>He’s a very interesting take on how to create race problem by immigration policies. [China’s</a> Race Problem - Forbes](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/08/china-race-racism-opinions-columnists-reihan-salam.html]China’s”>China's Race Problem)</p>
<p>As the states with large populations become the minority in the majority, it will be interesting to see if there is any end of “racism” or just a role reversal.</p>
<p>All in the Family was pretty tame compared to Jackie Gleason & the Honeymooners if you are sensitive. I was so sensitive I didnt like to watch Roadrunner cartoons.</p>
<p>Loved Flip Wilson, we never missed his show.</p>
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<p>I know a secret about the Flip Wilson show. Do you remember Geraldine? That was actually Flip Wilson dressed as a women. Please don’t tell anyone that – it’s a secret. :)</p>
<p>shhhhh razor, I know the secret. I played the role of Geraldine in some sort of a group project in junior high - I can’t for the life of me remember what the project was or why for goodness sake that I took on that role. All I remember was putting my hands on my hips and swinging my inflated bust toward the Flip actor. I had a very large pendent necklace that swung with my movement.</p>
<p>cross gender dressing was very popular, don’t you remember Milton Berle?
;)</p>
<p>The Forbes Magazine story is interesting. It brought to mind conversations I had years ago with immigrant friends from Singapore and other Pacific nations where there is a significant ethnic Chinese population that has dominated the natives economically and politically. They said that ethnic Chinese in their nations were quite unloved by the natives.</p>
<p>The same could be said of Indians whom have migrated to Fiji and are now the elite in that country. I’ve heard firsthand accounts of native Fijians being subject no less than “Jim Crow” laws in their own land. And ethnic Chinese who’ve lived in Vietnam for ages also suffer discrimination. I guess racism is relative and perhaps thrives despite modernization in the non-Western world.</p>