Improving Television

Saturday, February 23, 2008

It's really easy to rail against television for any number of reasons. If you're not white and upper class, you're not likely to see folks like yourself, if you identify as anything other than straight you're most likely to be the butt of a joke, and if you're a woman or a girl-child, if you're there at all, it will be as a simpering romantic with no identity.

And of course, the wretched box will just plain rot your brain....

Many people have started to realize that the 3rd example is really bad, especially if you're a parent trying to raise a strong, patriarchy-challenging daughter (or son, I suppose). What I found yesterday, though, is that one celebrity (and mom) is taking on the issue of depictions of women and girls in TV. Geena Davis has started a group that will study gender in media, with the goal of equalizing depictions of female characters in TV and movies.


I don't know why it surprised me that it's Geena Davis who is spearheading this group. I suppose I've only seen a couple of her movies, and haven't been terribly impressed with her acting. A mediocre actress does not a bad person make, however, so yay! Good for her.

Check out the website. It seems like a new group, and the website is not terribly complete, but it lays down the goals for the group.

http://www.thegeenadavisinstitute.org/home.php