By: Helina Samson
Growing up, I idolized the few shows that portrayed characters that looked somewhat like me, The Proud Family was one of those shows. I could connect with Penny Proud, being a black woman in a seemingly diverse neighborhood, I looked up to Penny and found community within her struggles. I never realized why I felt so connected to Penny but not anyone else in the show, until I learned what the term colorism meant. Colorism is defined as “discrimination or prejudice towards individuals with a darker skin tone”, and is sadly prevalent in today’s society. I didn’t realize that the show was created in a way that allowed Penny to benefit from positive characteristics by consequently instilling negative stereotypes into the darker-skinned characters. I felt connected to Penny because I was supposed to feel connected to Penny, who is portrayed as beautiful with eurocentric features and a down to earth personality.
The article Pride and Prejudice: Pervasiveness of Colorism and the Animated Series Proud Family by Caroline Knight Steele exposes the colorist agenda seen in The Proud Family by contrasting Penny Proud to the Gross sisters and Dijonay, both dark-skinned characters with afrocentric features that are portrayed as loud, aggressive and over-sexualized teenagers. Knight begins her analysis by discussing the way in which the Gross sisters are portrayed in the show. Starting from their color, The Gross sisters are “so black they’re blue” (Knight, 2016), literally they’re characters are a deep shade of blue which corresponds to the derogatory insult so often used towards dark-skinned individuals. Even their name implies negative characteristics and so does the fact that every time they come on screen, they are either stealing someone’s lunch money or bullying students at their high school, only further emphasizing these negative stereotypes. The show’s director frames these characters as people you don't want to be, and people that deviate from everyday societal "norms". Not only are the Gross sisters subjugated to colorism, but so is Dijonay, Penny’s sidekick. As Penny’s best friend, Dijonay is portrayed as over the top, angry and never receiving attention from the boys she loves. Dijonay is also always seen wearing a crop top, short skirt and in a constant state of seeking affection.
 |
| top: the Gross sisters bottom: Dijonay (left), Penny (right) |
Throughout all of these negative depictions, Penny Proud somehow rises as the most developed character. Penny is light skinned, comes from an educated family, and even wears conservative clothing. She is seen as the character with the most depth, and beautiful features. The audience was made to feel attracted to her because she most fits the eurocentric mold, we as an audience, are so accustomed to feel most comfortable with.
The Proud Family subtly perpetuates racist and colorist stereotypes, especially in regards to female beauty standards. A show made by a black man, for a black audience is feeding into the continuous system of colorism which effects our perceptions on black women. Shows like this allow for children to subconsciously internalize its ideas and themes and grow up fueling colorism within the black community and even beyond. In the article, Knight emphasizes how mediated images of characters of color become ingrained in our minds because of how powerful of a tool media is. Media and the framing of media is so powerful that it shapes the way we view the world, especially in terms of colorism and beauty. This is why throughout history, we see a greater value of light-skin bodies in comparison to darker complexion. Due to the blatant colorism, the audience’s reception will only further cultivate stereotypes as well as support the hegemonic control of the majority population, all via a children’s show.
References
Steele, C. K. (2016). Pride and prejudice: pervasiveness of colorism and the animated series proud family. Howard Journal of Communications, 27(1), 53–67.
Word Count: 603
Helina, this is another solid post. I have several suggestions as we wrap up the semester and you take your studies further.
ReplyDeleteFirst, please work on your punctuation. You have a fine writing voice and your prose is clear and concise. All good. But punctuation errors undermine your efforts. My strong suggestion is to take this short essay to the writing center and work through some of these issues. Do this BEFORE the end of the semester. This way you're prepared to improve your excellent writing in subsequent course work.
Second, I really like your opening strategy. Your first few paragraphs highlight a valuable insight we've considered all semester long: the relationship between popular culture and personal/collective identity is complex, frequently contradictory, and enormously consequential. In other words, we should take popular culture seriously.
Third, you've located and summarized a relevant piece of literature that explores the notion of colorisim in a popular and acclaimed animated TV show. To your credit, you relate this article's analysis in clear and succinct fashion. This is one of the aims of this assignment.
Finally, moving forward, take these research and writing skills to the next level. That is, begin to apply some of these concepts to other cultural objects, institutions, and practices. In other words, I encourage you to develop original analyses of media and popular culture: it is clear to me you are up to the task.
28 pts.