Popular Culture:
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show represents to me a part of popular culture. The show represents an image of an American family that completely changed the perspective of how African American families interacted and the culture. The Cosby Show portrayed an upper middle class African American family that showed typical American values. From an African American point of view, this show gave hope that you could achieve levels of new heights in your life. The Cosby Show allowed the world to see African Americans as doctors, and lawyers. We did not see African Americans being portrayed in a role synonymous with economic struggles.
In the seasons this show was on air, and still in syndication, we were able to see positive portrayal of the importance of higher education. We took journeys through African American history to see just how contributions were made to American culture. This show allowed us to see the positivity that came from an ethnic group that opened the door for other ethnic groups to have TV shows.
The Cosby Show gave me the courage to know that I can interact with interact with others in a professional environment. I never had the image that African Americans could be professionals, because I never saw it in my everyday life. This was very important in the development of my future aspirations as a child. Having these dreams was important to begin the development of confidence in working with diverse work groups.
I thought your analysis on the Cosby Show was excellent. As a Black-American, I can identify well with the Cosby Show because I could relate to it with my own experiences growing up. Although my parents were not college educated, they strived to make sure we all had a good education and home life. Out of 8 children 6 of us went to college and earned a degree. Growing up we were always seeing the shows Good Times, Sanford & Son, and others that always protrayed Black-Americans as always at or very near the poverty line and were faced with severe social problems. My siblings and I just couldn't really relate to them very well because my father had a good job, we never went hungry, we always received toys, had a nice house, and never dealt with the social problems that others in our extended family faced. We would often get talked about by other close family members that we were "acting too white" or that we thought we were better then them. However, my parents taught us to ignore this and continue to love them for who they were. When I was stationed in Italy in the 1980's, some of the other troops family members would send VHS tapes of the show to them, and we would pay 5 dollars to watch it because it wasn't offered over there. Although many people (including black people)felt that the Cosby Show was not a true interpretation of Black-Americans at that time, it was for many of us. We woke up, ate a well balanced breakfast, went to school, came home and did our homework, play with our friends, came back in to eat supper, and then waited for our homework to be graded by either my parents or our older peers. We also had white friends that were welcomed into our house (and we were welcomed into theirs) with no questions asked. I can tell you from fact that many of those family members that used to talk about us are now college educated (or have a skilled trade) and they tell us it is because of our influence on them. When we get together, we talk about old times but now we can relate to them and it can get very emotional for all of us. Thanks for your analysis. It took me back!
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