does the cosby show challenge conventional stereotypes of black people in America?

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Does the Cosby Show challenge conventional stereotypes of Black people in America

From 1984 to 1992 , The Cosby Show (starring comedian /actor /author Bill Cosby ) aired on NBC television network . In the storyline , a black doctor and his family (his wife and five children ) lived their everyday entertaining lives . Audiences worldwide watched daily to laugh and admire the African American family at the same time they began to ponder about the well-off family and what this said about the conventional

black family to the world . Two models are most commonly used--- the weak family model ' and the strong family model , says Wynona Bryant -Williams Ph . D Director with nothing in between However it was the weak family model that dominated the social sciences literature until the mid 1980 's (Williams

The Cosby 's set a high standard of the stability and lifestyle of the Black American family . A bold message to send , this also challenged the realism of American culture and how it depicted African Americans and their households . Small-time author Tiffany Frizzel had this to say To be perfectly honest , this show does not show typical life for

the vast majority of this nation 's population . There are not many white children in this nation that have a doctor and a lawyer as parents so that criticism lacks substance and social research . Cosby always kept the show somewhat light-hearted and sometimes shied away from some key issues of the time period , but keep in mind that his name was on the program and everything was written as if the characters were sometimes walking on eggshells

Apparently it was hard to accept that a black family did not have to struggle or stress . Why ? Even though the family still had their household disputes and their lessons to learn , the idea that this particular family of color was doing so well was hard to take and swallow

For many observers , The Cosby Show was unique in other ways as well For example , unlike many situation comedies , the program avoided one-liners , buffoonery and other standard tactics designed to win laughs . Instead , series remained true to Cosby 's vision of finding humor in realistic family situations , in the minutiae of human behavior . Thus episodes generally shunned typical sitcom formulas by featuring , instead , a rather loose story structure and unpredictable pacing . Moreover , the soundtrack was sweetened with jazz , and the Huxtable home prominently featured contemporary African American art Several observers described the result as "classy

This project , of course , was not without its critics . Some observers described the show as a 1980 's version of Father Knows Best , the Huxtables as a white family in blackface . The Huxtables ' affluence , they argued , worked to obscure persistent inequalities in America--especially those faced by blacks and other minority groups--and validate the myth of the American Dream . One audience study suggests that the show "strikes a deal " with white viewers , that it absolves them of responsibility for racial inequality in...