Why are there very few/no multiracial families on TV?

[Andarvi]

I am curious as to all of your opinions on the subject. I remember having the thought when I was in college watching TV, talking about it in class, and then kind of putting it on the back burner. Watching football and commercials all day the same question came to me: why don't we see any sort of multiracial families or couples on TV. I cannot off the top of my head think of a show or commercial where the races of the families are not homogenous, and if you have examples I am curious to see them. At the very least the vast majority of the possibilities out there are same race family units.

Why do you think this is? I find it interesting on a personal level being of a white mom and a black dad. When they got together in the early 80s my moms parents told her they wanted nothing to do with them and their offspring (changed once I was born, they were fine). However, I feel like not a lot has changed. The popular imagine is still the homogenous same race families. Do you think it is because having it would bring negative attention? The decision is clearly made consciously by the marketing departments and advertising companies, as well as the studios making television shows, and even movies.

I think that eventhough race relations have superficially made progress it is something that is still very much taboo, and while it is not talked about often, racial mixing is still not close to being embraced by popular culture.

What do you guys think?

[Ishido]

Because shows are targeted at certain audiences and mixed families would probably not be as popular or would limit certain things that writers could do with the scripts.

[Qalbert]

Because shows are targeted at certain audiences and mixed families would probably not be as popular or would limit certain things that writers could do with the scripts.

and we're done

[Kuya]

It was my understanding that all blacks in the US were multiracial at this point and only call themselves black because it simplifies things and is politically conveniant.

[Elvis]

Because shows are targeted at certain audiences and mixed families would probably not be as popular or would limit certain things that writers could do with the scripts.

/thread

entertainment is a commodity

for some random reason, this thread made me think of that TV show about the black slave of Abraham Lincoln and how he was really behind all of Abe's good ideas - it was supposed to be a sitcom...

EDIT:

Here it is, The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer.

A black English nobleman named Desmond Pfeiffer (the "P" is not silent) is kidnapped by his enemies and sent to America on a slave ship. He eventually becomes President Abraham Lincoln's valet. In the show, he serves as the intelligent and erudite backbone of a Civil War-era White House populated by louts and drunkards.

YouTube clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrQRdDui-n4

[Lbelle]

Modern Family has a biracial couple in it. Flash Forward has a biracial relationship. Heroes had a biracial relationship. Lost, House, and probably many more. But like the first response said, entertainment is there to get ratings and make money, not cater to minority groups.

Companies like Nielson spend a TON of research hours trying to see who is watching what, in what demographics are shows most popular, etc.

[Not Kuno]

Sounds like something from this:

[Kwijiboe]

It's only interracial if a black person is involved, helloooo.

[Apelila]

That was only acceptable because it was black and white and you couldn't tell he was brown.

Kidding aside, I think a factor might also be there would be more of a visual difference between the cast members. With homogeneous families all you have to do is get the hair colors right, and half the time people don't notice that unless the parents are both dark haired and the kids are blond. With heterogeneous families, the kids being mixed race suddenly makes any inconsistencies with one or both parents much more noticable.

But as was already said, people want to be entertained and to do that effectively certain audiences are targeted.

[Abandon]

Because why guys don't wanna see us niggas giving the dick to their coveted white womenz.

[Kuya]

But they can't keep their bitches.

[Abandon]

Don't want em.

[Kuya]

It's not about wanting them, but about making the white man angry.

[Kuya]

Wouldn't you be mad if someone stuck a darkness black coal penis into your bowl of milk?

[Priran]

It's not about wanting them, but about making the white man angry.

kuya would know, he and his mexican compadres make lou dobbs rage for an hour every night

[Colenzo]

STAY AWAY FROM MY WHITE WOMEN!

[Kuya]

STAY AWAY FROM THE SUMMONER

[Brill Weave]

Only multiracial family I remember on tv was the one on Fat Albert that taught us about jungle fever.

[Valkrish]

STAY AWAY FROM THE SUMMONER

=D

best post ever btw.

[Beckwin]

It was my understanding that all blacks in the US were multiracial at this point and only call themselves black because it simplifies things and is politically conveniant.

all blacks being black has a lot to do with centuries of a "one drop" policy in America/the colonies. if your were gonna be enslaved/discriminated against for being 10% or 100% black african, it only makes sense to band together to oppose that. not to mention the one drop policy literally forced all of those people to live together/in the same conditions... the manifestation of black culture and identity becomes very predictable. and then you have to consider that culturally it might feel wrong to abandon the shared experiences just because you might be a little lighter or darker than whatever the average is.

and I feel calling it "politically convenient" is slightly derogatory toward mass movements that blacks created. maybe that's not your intent but "political convenience" kind of carries a negative connotation.

as for television shows, it's definitely marketing, as others have noted. it would turn off a lot of racists, or strike others as trying too hard (which I guess is just somewhat less racist people getting turned off to the idea).