 "Photo: Jennifer Mantey")
The media's role in society was the topic at hand as Carlos Cortes spoke at the Ohio Union yesterday as part of the The President and Provost's Diversity Lecture and Cultural Arts Series.
Cortes, professor emeritus at the University of California at Riverside and acclaimed author and analyst, spoke at length about how television and motion pictures influence society, both intentionally and unintentionally.
"(Television and movies) teach society by providing information," Cortes said. "They serve as a 'gatekeeper' for information, deciding what gets out and what doesn't. When Jessica Lynch was captured, so were two other women. One was an American Indian, the other an African-American, but the media only reported on Jessica Lynch."
Another one of Cortes' key points was that the media "disseminates values" on society. "The least racially segregated shows on television are focused around the work place. The most segregated are show that deal with social aspects. (Television programs) are in turn saying 'diversity is good, but I want to hang out with my own.'"
Cortes also spoke of the media's inconsistency with race relations. He pointed out that in 1930, the Motion Picture Production Code had a rule stating "sex relations between blacks and whites in motion pictures is not permissible." He then outlined "the four interracial buddy movies," detailing motion pictures that have politically incorrect relationships.
"We've all seen the 'Buddies for Life' movies," Cortes said. "One example is 'Lethal Weapon,' starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. It tries to prove whites and blacks can get along, but turns them into comical characters."
Another category of "interracial buddy movies" cited by Cortes was "The Brother Always Dies First," movies where a person of ethnic decent dies before the Caucasian person. An example given was the "Dirty Harry" series.
Cortes went on to outline "Ethnic Adviser Movies," movies in which a white person is tutored by a non-white, and "Magical Negro Movies," in which certain African-Americans are portrayed as god-like. Examples of these are "The Legend of Bagger Vance" and "Bruce Almighty".
He also described how television is "modeling behavior" in society. One example given was that minority celebrities can make fun of their own race using racial expletives, but people of other races cannot.
Cortes went on to talk of sportscasters' reluctance to talk about race. "If race plays a role in the historical significance of the event, such as Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier, then it's newsworthy," Cortes said.
"I thought he was great," said Claudia Cruz, a first-year law student at OSU who was in attendance. "I like the way he presents information in a way that you normally don't think about, like UPN being 'The Black Channel.'"
Christine Ballengee-Morris, director of the Multicultural Center at Ohio State, was involved in bringing Cortes to OSU. "Each year we select a theme for (the diversity lectures), and this year's theme is 'What are Freedoms and What are Americans?' Dr. Cortes' scholarship falls right in line with that."
Cortes has written several books dealing with multiculturalism and the media's role in society, including "The Children are Watching: How the Media Teach About Diversity".
The next event scheduled for the Diversity Lecture and Cultural Arts Series is a lecture by Debra Rolison, a research chemist for the Naval Research Institute. The topic is women in science and engineering.
3 comments
You spelt nice wrong.
Try N-I-C-E not N-I-S-E... :(