Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Everybody Loves Raven

There was once a time when the town's doctor was the most respected man in any town.
His education and relative wealth were seen as proof of his superiority.
But today there are many professions which generate more income than being an M.D..
When I asked whether The Cosby Show would still be seen as a "white show" if produced today - I was really talking about the perception of today's children and the effect the show would have on their own expectations in life.

In the young family of That's So Raven, Raven's mother is in law school and her father becomes the executive chef to the president.
By the time this family's children reach the age of Cosby's Cassandra, they should be even more acculturated and assimilated into the perceived mainstream.
I asked a group of young children whether Raven was a "white show" or not.
All of the kids said "No", but that the family was just (relatively) rich.

When I asked the same group of children the same question about The Cosby Show the answer was the same.
Maybe today's kids have seen enough episodes of MTV Cribs and seen a more broad representation of minorities within popular media to understand that being Black is not limited to being hood.
(And all of these kids were straight hood.)

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