The U.S. Public Broadcasting System has a persistent habit of presenting excellent documentaries during the summer television doldrums. This situation is either an oasis in the programming desert or an annoyance depending on one's proximity to a VCR during the broadcast.
On June 15 of 1992, as part of the P.O.V. series, a showcase for independent documentary filmmakers, PBS presented Color Adjustment, a survey of television's changing portrayal of Afro-Americans for the past 40 years. Lavishly illustrated with program excerpts, this 90-minute documentary was written, produced and directed by Marlon T. Riggs.
Color Adjustment features interviews with many creative artists involved with the programs cited including several white broadcasters who were, of course, the gatekeepers of the industry when these shows were being produced. The good intentions of these liberal broadcasters are effectively contrasted with interviews of black social commentators who reflect on the personal impact of these programs while they were growing up and the painful realization that these shows were all that were available to them at the time.
A particularly effective technique used by Riggs is the juxtaposition of program excerpts with actual news clips highlighting reportage of the American civil rights movement and other social upheavals of the time. This technique is especially poignant when contrasted with the banality of almost all television programs that were scoring large ratings points at the time. The excerpts used by Riggs amply demonstrate this point.
Many of television's most recognizable black artists are interviewed in the show. Esther Rolle, who played Florida Evans in CBS's Good Times, a spinoff of Maude, claims that she wouldn't play the part unless the producers agreed not to perpetuate the myth of the absentee black father. John Amos's portrayal of James Sr. was subsequently written into the show. Rolle's battles with CBS continued, especially over the character of J.J., her son, played by Jimmy Walker (Dy-No-Mite!), who ironically became the most popular actor on the show. Rolle felt that J.J. represented a poor role model for young black males, with Walker's over-the-top "jive-talking," woman-chasing, less-than-honest portrayal.
Color Adjustment covers the history of the medium, from Amos n' Andy to The Cosby Show and many of television's sacred cows come in for some insightful analysis. Roots, the highest rated mini-series ever presented on television, is described by Riggs thusly, "television's profoundly conservative bias was again underscored. Prime time has selectively reframed history, transforming a national disgrace into a triumph of the family and the American Dream." What distinguishes Rigg's documentary from so many similar programs is his willingness to confront ideological issues head on. For 40 years, black characters on prime time have had to conform to a white, middle-class, consumer-oriented mindset. The Cosby Show stands as the quintessential prototype of what this formula had evolved into by the 1980's.
Diahann Carroll, the star of Julia, recalls that, at the time, other blacks viewed her character as "a sellout, an Oreo cookie." Yet this was the first show with a leading black character in a prestige role, who did not function as a domestic or comic second banana. It's hard to appreciate just how radical this notion was in 1968, as excerpts from the show will have all but the most strident bigots cringing in embarrassment. Rigg's willingness to generously back up his thesis with ample evidence from the programs under scrutiny is one of his documentary's most distinguishing features.
The program's weaknesses include an overemphasis on historical issues rather than on the contemporary. For over thirty minutes the show focuses on Amos n' Andy, Beulah and other historical anachronisms that will be of little interest to any but aficionados of TV history or zealots looking for the worst examples of TV stereotyping. This unwillingness to deal with the contemporary seems to be a symptom of PBS programming whenever the network tests the waters of media analysis. For instance, several years ago when they presented the sanitized "American" version of the excellent 13-part British documentary on the global impact of television, they left out everything from the original program that was global, or controversial, or specifically critical of contemporary television. I wonder how much of Color Adjustment was edited to conform to PBS "standards" which seem to include a loathing of ever offending the network's corporate sponsors.
As already indicated, Color Adjustment, in its historical survey, jumps from Roots (mid- 70's) to Cosby (mid-80's) and leaves the impression that there wasn't a positive black presence on television for over a decade. In its only concession to contemporary television other than Cosby, Riggs cites Frank's Place as an excellent example of a black-themed situation comedy that could not survive the network ratings battles. If the stridency of the Frank's Place excerpts presented in Riggs' documentary is typical of what this show had to offer, then it is little wonder that the program had difficulty securing a mass audience. Situation comedies that are even mildly ideological also have to be funny if they are to survive.
In the September 7, 1992 issue of Variety, several black broadcasters commented on the fact that blacks on American network TV are primarily seen in situation comedies. "Like the buffoons in Shakespeare, we are not regarded as interesting enough for drama." A producer of Cosby says, "At nine o'clock, our people disappear."
Years ago, another PBS program devoted to black issues, Tony Brown's Journal, tried a similar approach with considerably less success. I tried using the show in class but students were so turned off by the show's stridency and lack of production values that I discontinued its use.
What is remarkable is that it has taken so long to produce a show dealing with this subject matter. The format of this program provides a prototype for all future programs dealing with topics of representation in media images. This format could easily be applied to an analysis of any television stereotype or to the many social issues that concern media educators such as violence, sexuality, and gender roles.
Color Adjustment is highly recommended for senior high school students and above. Younger students can also use the program but its length would require some judicious selection of excerpts by the teacher.
Videotapes of Color Adjustment are available from:
California Newsreel
149 9th St.
Suite 420
San Francisco, CA
94103
or can be ordered from the California Newsreel Web site at http://www.newsreel.org/films/coloradj.htm