Rachel
Thomas
A
Content Analysis on Entertainment Media:
How
to Get Away With Murder
How to Get Away
With Murder first aired on ABC in 2014 and received instant praise from viewers
and critics for not only having a suspenseful and interesting plot, but for
simultaneously pushing racial and sexual boundaries in a fearless and
unapologetic way. Since its time on television HTGAWM has won several awards
like: A Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, An
AFI Award for TV Program of the Year, GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama
Series, and Image Awards for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Actress in a
Drama Series, and Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series. It was also nominated
for a Golden Globe Award, BET Award, Critics Choice Television Award, Gay and
Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (GALECA), People’s Choice Award, TV
Guide Award, and a Television Critics Association Award. With all of the hype
about this new wildly progressive show, and this project coming up, I decided
to watch HTGAWM Pilot episode and do my content analysis over the very first
glimpse of the show that viewers got. Because I am only doing the analysis over
the first episode, I understand that some of my observations may be challenged
in later episodes and may not hold true throughout the seasons.
The critics raving
about the progressiveness of this show were not exaggerating. In the first
episode alone there are racial and sexual themes that we do not see in most
American TV. First, a black actress plays the leading role of the smart,
independent, and respected criminal attorney and law school professor. Usually,
in media, the people who hold these positions are white and male. She also is
married to a white man in the show, breaking the media standard of same-race
relationships.
Sexually the Pilot
episode was very progressive in the way it portrayed women, and relationships.
The leading character, although in an interracial marriage, was cheating on her
husband with a black character. Although this feeds in to negative stereotypes,
which I will touch on later, it does allow a female character to have sexual
power and desire just like we often see only portrayed in male characters. The
show also allows female students to be portrayed as hard working and
intelligent, even more so, than their boy colleagues. This breaks the norm of
white men being smart and the only ones in the corporate world. Also, in the
first episode, a male points out that successful women are only successful for
a time until they have a baby and quit being successful. Quickly, this view is
shut down and pointed out as misogynistic and a backwards way of thinking,
proving that HTGAWM not only goes against the media norm passively through
non-stereotypical character roles and scenes, but also actively though making
specific points going against the norms. Another way that the show challenges
the norms of sexuality and relationships is the way it portrays gay
relationships and sex. In the first episode alone, a scene unfolds between two
males where they meet in a bar, flirt, go home together, and engage in a very
suggestive sexual encounter. This is a normal scene for a same sex couple on a
TV show, but I had never seen anything this suggestive or this drawn out
between a same sex couple before.
The implications
of these findings are mostly positive, in my opinion. Finally, black women are
being portrayed as the strong and successful women that they can be, and are,
in today’s society. Women are being portrayed as independent, smart,
successful, and sexual without being objectified. This is how women and people of color deserve
to be portrayed, because it is how we are in our every day lives. Many people
love the fact that HTGAWM shows gay relationships, but many people are also uncomfortable
with the amount of gay sexuality shown in the show. I think that this is why it
needs to be shown. The fact that scenes of two gay men having a healthy sexual
encounter makes people more uncomfortable than a scene of a opposite-sex sexual
encounter where one party is cheating on his/her wife, then I think we have an
issue. While the content is different than normal and may make viewers
uncomfortable, it is portraying real life and needs to be shown in the media so
people can become less biased, racist, sexist, and ignorant to real life racial
and social content. This show paves a way for other forward-thinking shows to
follow.
Although
the show was very progressive and had modern ideas and themes, I couldn’t help
but notice that it was still following some stereotypical and media norms.
Firstly, the main characters interracial marriage was not working. It appeared
that both parties were cheating. This means we still don’t have many successful
interracial marriages in the media that people can look up to or identify with.
Also this hold true to the stereotype that many rich couples who seem to have
the world are actually unhappy in their lives and marriage, and are cheating or
having issues on the side. This is another common theme throughout Hollywood.
Second, all of the black women in the show, although holding leading roles,
were very sassy. It was as if every single statement said by a black woman was
packed with a little sass, punch, or entitlement. Throughout most of media, attitude
is portrayed differently between black and white characters. Another common theme
that we see in media that the first episode completely agreed with was the
portrayal of college as one big hectic party. In the very first scene there was
a bonfire, and jocks and cheerleaders screaming, and a rowdy crowd binge
drinking and wrecking things, while couples were hooking up in the back to loud
music. In other scenes, while some students were portrayed as being prepared
and good students, most others were portrayed to be lazy, gothic,
misunderstood, dumb, weird, nerdy, or full-of-themselves. This third theme in
media: college is never shown as a place of study, hard work, or a
life-changing journey; it is always the party phase, or adventure phase. The
implications of these observations are that people will continue to hold
negative stereotypes about college students, women, relationships, the wealthy
classes, and the political system because these are common themes and ideas
that the media are not challenging.
I
wanted to see what the reviews for the show were saying, and what common themes
were sticking out to other viewers, so I checked out the reviews on Netflix,
where I watched the series, and created a chart based on my findings. Of the 50
reviews that I read, only 9 talked about the sexual aspects of the show; 5
reviews said that the show was too sexual and 4 reviews stuck-up for the show
saying it was all part of character development. 26 reviews touched on
character and character development, and 17 of them were positive, and 14 made
sure to point out the main character specifically. However, the thing that most
viewers were drawn to, was not the characters or social stances. According to the
reviews, people said that what they were most drawn to the drama and suspense
of the TV show.
The
implications of these findings show that while the progressiveness of this show
has critics and viewers impressed, and speaks up for the unrepresented minorities
in TV and other media, that it is mostly a diverse cast, and fantastic writing
and drama that has viewers hooked. Overall, this creates a positive viewers
experience while promoting forward-thinking ideas and themes through portrayal
of an integrated and diversified American society.
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