Module 5 Example: Race and Ethnicity Under Six Feet

Prompt
Given what we have covered this week in regards to race and ethnicity in popular culture, find a strong example within popular culture of a character that breaks racial or ethnic stereotypes.  In your post, you should

• Identity the popular culture (if it is a show or film, include maybe a relevant clip from YouTube; if it is a comic, maybe show a panel or two).
• Explain the character you are exploring and how the show presents the character as a complex character.
• Compare the character's portrayal with the potrayal of a racial or ethnic minority in one of the readings/views of the course. 

For this assignments, students should steer clear of European ethnicities and races and focus more on non-Western ethnicities and races.  This is not to say there are not stereotypes of Western peoples, but that with regard to American popular culture these groups and peoples tend to have a richer and more diverse representation.  

Relevant Tags:  Race, ethnicity, [specific popular culture being explore]

Example:  Race and Ethnicity Under Six Feet

For me, one of the most fascinating depictions of African American has been Keith from the series, Six Feet Under.  The show is a bit older and some may not be familiar with it, but it is a fantastic show in general.  The show provides with the character, Keith, an African-American gay male who is romantically involved with and eventually married to one of the main family members that the show focuses on.  In many ways, the show presents Keith as multi-faceted and explores it in interesting ways.  We learn early that he is a police officer, who is not only out but also part of a community of out and open police officers.  He goes to church regularly and expresses emotions in varying degrees about his life and his relationship with David.  Though there are elements of his life that could be stereotypical (his sister is an addict), these plot devices serve to make Keith more human in how he deals with them.  He recognizes the problem and tries to find support for the sister while taking care of his niece.  He has anger issues but works to overcome them rather than give into them.  Historically, Keith could have been easily rendered as an Uncle Tom or Buck type character but the show makes him a much more dynamic and interesting character.

The show also explores Latino identity in the character, Federico.  Hereto, they play with audiences' perceptions of stereotypes around Federico's background, his language abilities, his sexuality and such.  Often, the show sets up one of the Fishers (the main family) to make the assumption about Federico and leave Federico to explain or show wherein their assumptions are wrong.  It provides many moments of enlightenment and understanding.  In both cases, the show doesn't always represent the subordinate group perfectly, but many times, they show these characters as real people with complex lives.