Question

The technology and the media have played increasingly larger roles that may have affected our interpretation of physical development and perceptions Please share your thoughts regarding how television shows portray physical characteristics across the lifespan. Select a current television show that you are familiar with and share your reflection about how the show portrays: children, adolescents, young adults, adults or older adults. Also, explain how our rapid changes in technology may have affected this portrayal over the last thirty years. Give specific examples of biological, psychological, or sociocultural factors that you see demonstrated in this show.

Answer 1

Portrayal of Physical Characteristics on Television Shows:

According to the several researches media can show both positive and negative effects on the present society. Day by day technology has becoming advanced and simultaneously negative things portraying are also increasing in the media due to their competitions. Our general understanding regarding the portrayal of older adults on prime T.V. has grown considerably for the past thirty years. Typical research shows that older adults were both negatively portrayed and underrepresented. For example, most researchers saw that older adults were often portrayed as eccentric and foolish. These adult portrayals lacked close personal relationships and depth of emotion with other characters. The underrepresentation of the older adults is also seen extensively in advertisement. A positive representation of older adults is only evident in family-oriented prime-time television shows. Characters below 18 years old are also underrepresented with those between 25-45 years being over represented (Nussbaum, 2017).

With the rapid changes in technology over the past thirty years, TV shows have continually been striving to achieve a balanced portrayal of individuals from across all age groups. Black-ish is a current television show which has so far excelled at this goal. The show features two adults, Andre (Dre) Johnson and his wife Rainbow, their three children, aged ten and sixteen, and their grandparents. The show, therefore portrays individuals from all age groups: children, adolescents, adults, or older adults

A major biological factor evident in the show Black-ish is the aggression that is evident among individuals of different age groups. The children always want to be right when dealing with the parents whereas the parents (especially) Bow, strives to gain her right over her mother-in-law. The fact that Dre’s mother chooses to live with his family, overtaking almost every household duty has had a negative impact on Bow. Race is social construct that revolves around the show Black-ish. The show satirizes the black people, how they do their thing and also how differently the Whites and the African-Americans viewed the Martin Luther King Day. It also shows the differences in various generations and their use of the N-word.

References:

Nussbaum, E. (2017). “Black-ish” Transforms the Family Sitcom. The New Yorker. Retrieved 26 January 2017, from http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/04/25/black-ish-transforms-the-family-sitcom