Wednesday 18 September 2013

New Girl - Race


New Girl is a sitcom based around four people who live in an apartment together - Jess, Nick, Schmidt and Winston. Winson is African-American, and is the only person from this race in the show. This is not a negative representation of race, though, because the show also has a character called Cece who is Indian, and Schmidt who is Jewish. The show's purpose is not to bring together different races and religions, but the audience can tell that the cast has been carefully selected.

It can be said that the stereotype of an African-American man is that he enjoys sport (e.g. basketball, soccer), he can attract women easily, and he has a big appetite. Winston's character, however, doesn't have a lot of luck with women, as we can see in the clip where he's trying to talk to a girl, and the food stereotype never really comes into the show. Winston used to be a basketball player in another country, but returned to the U.S. after a while. He fits the main stereotype of loving sport, but that's about it. There's not a lot said about Winston's race, and the stereotypes that come from this aren't major at all.


This is a very positive representation of African-Americans. The show has tried to prove the point that racial stereotypes shouldn't amount to anything. It could be said that his lack of African-American stereotypes brings more humour to the show, and I agree with this to a certain extent, but the show hasn't tried to stick to the stereotypes really, so overall, a positive representation of African Americans has been portrayed in New Girl.

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