True Story by Danielle J. Lindemann PhD

Author:Danielle J. Lindemann, PhD
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

(THIS IS NOT AN ARGUMENT ABOUT) THE POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION

When people of color do appear on reality TV, are these portrayals ultimately more harmful or valuable? Where are we, the viewers, in all of this? When we tune in, are we morally culpable of perpetuating controlling images?

While these are not the questions on which I am focused, they are nonetheless important questions, and they have nuanced answers. Other authors have written extensively about the politics of representation on these shows. Some have critiqued these programs for bringing marginalized populations to the fore only to perpetuate their marginalization.73 Others have observed that the fact that reality TV is presented as “reality” may give these stereotypes particular life.74 But rather than, say, boycotting the negative portrayals of Black women on Love & Hip Hop, some have suggested that we can still consume these programs, albeit critically, applying an “oppositional gaze.”75

Others still, while acknowledging the problematic stereotyping on these shows, point out the potentially liberating qualities of some of these portrayals.76 They point out how Black women on reality TV, for instance, have been able to work within these stereotypical categories to earn money and to render themselves culturally visible.77 We’ve seen how Cardi B has used the category of “ratchet” to facilitate her superstardom. Shereé, to a lesser extent, has capitalized on “Who gon’ check me, boo?”; for example, she incorporated the catchphrase alongside an image of her own face on a T-shirt for her clothing line, SHE by Shereé. One of the few Asian American males on reality TV, William Hung from season three of American Idol, was able to capitalize on his public persona of the dorky Asian male who is clueless about his terrible singing. He parlayed the exposure into a successful, albeit brief, music career; his first album, Inspiration, sold about two hundred thousand copies.78

As reality stars become savvier about the ways these shows are produced and packaged, some become adept at working in and around intersectional stereotypes. One key example from Dance Moms is Holly Hatcher-Frazier, an African American former school principal. On the series, Abby Lee variously asked Holly’s daughter Nia (the only Black girl in that cast) to wear a dog collar, to twerk, and to don a leopard-print outfit and Afro wig for a solo dance about a pimp character named “LaQueefa.” Holly registered nearly no emotion, even though she was arguably goaded into acting in accordance with the Angry Black Woman stereotype. Not only did Holly express her objections coolly, but she was a marked contrast to the white moms on the show who repeatedly got into heated confrontations with Abby Lee.

Holly appeared acutely aware of the burden of representation. This was true throughout her time on the series but particularly during season two, when the show briefly introduced another mother, whose name was Kaya but who went by “Black Patsy” and who aligned more closely with the Black Bitch archetype (and, indeed, appeared to be consciously working within this categorization). On the

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