After seeing the fall finale and reading King’s response to criticism of racial stereotypes we’ve decided to cancel our season pass for 2 Broke Girls.
Recently Michael Patrick King, co-creator and showrunner for 2 Broke Girls, spoke out about the criticism the show faces in regards to its Korean, African American and Ukrainian characters. We have to admit we were surprised but not entirely shocked by his response to the criticism.
King defends 2 Broke Girls
When asked if he had any plans to change 2 Broke Girls to address the complaints in regards to racial stereotypes King responded,”I’m not going to change. No, absolutely not.” He went on to say, ”anyone who’s ever lived in New York has walked through an enormous melting pot of people. So for me, to do a show where you’re not exploring race would be absurd in Brooklyn, N.Y.”
King continued to defend the perceived stereotypes by saying, ”my whole job as a showrunner is just to make the characters more and more and more dimensional, more shaded, more specific, more real (as) individuals rather than an entire race.”
So in conclusion, King does not see a problem. Even in light of the criticism, King has no plans to change his wildly popular show to address concerns about how 2 Broke Girls perpetuates racial stereotypes.
2 Broke Girls breathes new life into stereotypes society has long rejected
2 Broke Girls is guilty of perpetuating racial and ethnic stereotypes. In fact, the show is guilty of perpetuating stereotypes which we thought our society rejected a long time ago. Stereotypes we thought were dead and buried.
It’s not ok during this day in age to have a show where African Americans speak in jive, where Ukrainians are portrayed as sexist pigs and where Koreans are portrayed as clueless people with heavy accents who are simultaneously obsessed with yet ignorant to American culture.
New York is diverse and it’s diversity should be embraced, rather than ignored. However, if a series is going to celebrate diversity it should do it in a responsible way.
2 Broke Girls should create characters who are an accurate reflection of the people they represent in society. They should not resort to racial stereotypes to fill in the gaps while a character is undergoing development.
King’s response to 2 Broke Girls: Ignorance v. Apathy
It’s one thing for Michael Patrick King to employ these racial stereotypes unknowingly. We can somewhat understand why he and the writers of 2 Broke Girls may, as a result of ignorance, accidently develop their characters in a stereotypical and offensive way.
It is yet another thing for Michael Patrick King to be aware of the criticism, hear the concerns, blow them off and commit to continuing on with business as usual.
2 Broke Girls success comes at the cost of minorities
Sure 2 Broke Girls is wildly successful but at whose expense and at what cost? The answer is clear, at the cost and expense of minorities living in America.
Some Americans may realize that the people depicted in the series are not accurately portrayed but not all of them will come to that realization.
And what happens when 2 Broke Girls is viewed by an international audience? Since it’s premiere 2 Broke Girls has received international distribution orders from networks in various countries. This means all around the world people’s perceptions of African Americans, Koreans and Ukranian’s can and in some cases will be shaped by 2 Broke Girls.
In this country and all over the world people will have the opportunity to be influenced by 2 Broke Girls use of stereotypes. The take away from this series is that African American’s talk in jive, which perpetuates the stereotype that African Americans are of low intellect and when they do speak correctly they are “acting white,” that Asian Americans are unable to assimilate, which perpetuates the “perpetual foreigner” stereotype, and Ukrainians are misogynistic, perpetuating the stereotype that men from that region objectify women and at times abuse them.
Study after study proves television influences the way people view minorities. The stereotypes employed by 2 Broke Girl’s ensure the show’s influence will be negative.
No Incentive to Change
We didn’t expect King to come out and say, “yes 2 Broke Girls perpetuates racial stereotypes,” but we expected King to care and commit himself and his staff to doing better.
We can’t say we blame King for burying his head into the sand on this issue. 2 Broke Girls is a ratings gold mine for King and CBS. Most of the critics and fans who have voiced their complaints still support the series through their viewership.
There does not seem to be any incentive, besides a moral one, for King to change 2 Broke Girls. Why should King take the moral high ground when fans and critics who voice complaints are willing to look the other way and keep tuning in?
No Longer Looking the Other Way: 2 Broke Girls lose our DVR pass
Unlike many critics and fans, we cannot look the other way any longer. We gave 2 Broke Girls the entire fall season to change and now that we’ve seen the fall finale and read King’s response to the criticism we’ve realized the show has no intention of reducing it’s reliance on stereotypes.
We cannot berate King and supporting his series at the same time. The mere possibility that a person may confuse reality with the stereotypes perpetuated on the show is enough to justify our decision to cancel our DVR’s season pass for the series.
We applaud King for “exploring race,” however; we believe King can “explore race” without resorting to racial stereotypes that are patently offensive. If King and his writing staff are not committed to doing better than we are no longer committed to reserving a space on our DVR for the series.
