The Portrayals of Minority Characters in Entertaining Animated Children's
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2004 The portrayals of minority characters in entertaining animated children's programs Siobhan Elizabeth Smith Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Mass Communication Commons Recommended Citation Smith, Siobhan Elizabeth, "The portrayals of minority characters in entertaining animated children's programs" (2004). LSU Master's Theses. 389. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/389 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE PORTRAYALS OF MINORITY CHARACTERS IN ENTERTAINING ANIMATED CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Mass Communication In The Manship School of Mass Communication By Siobhan Elizabeth Smith B.A., Xavier University of Louisiana, 2002 August 2004 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is the result of two and a half years of hard work. During this time, I have received support and encouragement from many people; now I have the chance to tell them how much I appreciate them. First, I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Lori Boyer and Dr. David Kurpius. Dr. Boyer always encouraged me with a smile and the promise, “Don’t worry, you’re going to get out of here!” I want to thank Dr. Kurpius for being so kind, and yet so very demanding. It brings the best out in me. Second, I’d like to thank my coders, Alan (and Lesa) Majors and Damiane (and Terry) Ricks for being crazy enough to sign on to this. They were so dedicated and so attentive to details, that they actually made data entry fun. I’d also like to thank them for never getting tired of seeing me on a daily basis as I chased them down for coding sheets. Third, I’d like to thank Dr. Renita Coleman, my “coach,” my mentor, and most of all, my friend, for always being so honest, and yet always so full of faith. Lots of hugs and kisses for helping me understand how to interpret SPSS data and for reading pages upon pages of (unedited!) Siobhan-ish. You were always helpful and kind, even when you didn’t have the time. (Promise me you’ll rest sometime?) I owe you, and I’ll miss you. Fourth, I want to thank my father for telling me I could do it, my mother for always being on my case, and my sister for giving me time away from it. Thank you to my friends, for constantly encouraging and supporting me. I wouldn’t be here without you. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..............................................................................................ii LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................v ABSTRACT......................................................................................................................vi CHAPTER 1:INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................1 Purpose and Rationale of This Study...........................................................1 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE..............................................................4 Theoretical Framework: Schema Theory.....................................................4 What Is a Stereotype?..................................................................................8 Racial Stereotypes and Empirical Research................................................9 Cartoons: A Brief History..........................................................................11 Animated Children’s Programs: Issues and Effects...................................13 Television and Racial Stereotyping.....................................................14 Cartoons, Violence, and Other Negative Behaviors............................15 Cartoons and Prosocial Behaviors.......................................................17 Defining Children’s Entertaining and Educational Cartoons..............18 Children’s Entertaining Cartoons...................................................18 Children’s Educational Cartoons....................................................18 Hybrid Programming.....................................................................18 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH QUESTIONS........................................................................20 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY.....................................................................................21 About the Cartoons....................................................................................21 Qualitative Analysis...................................................................................24 Quantitative Analysis.................................................................................27 Procedure.......................................................................................27 Sample............................................................................................28 Coding Sheet..................................................................................29 Indices Creation.............................................................................32 Coders............................................................................................32 Coder Training...............................................................................33 iii CHAPTER 5: RESULTS...................................................................................................34 Qualitative Analysis...................................................................................34 The Proud Family................................................................................34 Introduction Analysis.....................................................................34 Character Analysis.........................................................................35 Oscar Proud, the Minstrel Show........................................35 Wizard Kelly, the Black Athlete........................................39 Dijonay, the “Ghetto Girl”.................................................41 BeBe and CeCe, Modern-day Pickaninnies.......................43 Miscellaneous Racial Stereotypes......................................43 Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids............................................................44 Mushmouth’s Speech.....................................................................45 Dumb Donald’s Ski Mask..............................................................45 The Struts.......................................................................................46 Quantitative Analysis.................................................................................47 CHAPTER 6: DISCUSSION.............................................................................................51 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSIONS........................................................................................58 Summary of Findings.................................................................................58 Future Studies............................................................................................59 Implications Beyond this Study.................................................................60 REFERENCES..................................................................................................................61 APPENDIX I: CODING SHEETS....................................................................................68 Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Coding Sheet............................................68 The Proud Family Coding Sheet................................................................70 APPENDIX II: CODER INSTRUCTION SHEET...........................................................72 VITA..................................................................................................................................77 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Character Behaviors...........................................48 Table 2: The Proud Family Character Behaviors..............................................................48 Table 3: Primary Characters’ Percentage of Stereotypical Behavior................................50 Table 4: Secondary Characters’ Percentage of Stereotypical Behavior............................50 v ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to note, categorize, and discuss the stereotypes of African Americans in animated children’s cartoons. The purpose is also to compare them to see how they changed. A content analysis of two cartoons finds that characters do act in stereotypical ways. A quantitative analysis of 76 cartoons supports these findings. Overall, The Proud Family, a cartoon of the 21st century, is more stereotypical than Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, a cartoon from 30 years ago. Though primary characters display the same amount of stereotypical behavior, secondary characters show an increase in the amount of stereotypical behavior. This study extends the amount of research in the entertainment media field by focusing upon animated children’s cartoons. This approach will add to our understanding of stereotypes and the manner in which