Responses to Julia
Discuss the range of viewer responses to Julia described by Bodrohkozy's article. Based on your viewing of the pilot and our discussion of television and race in the 1960s, why do you think the show was interpreted so many different ways?
Julia, in immediate retrospect, appears to be a progressive show because of its representation of African Americans on TV, with a single-woman as the lead, in a time of civil unrest. However, not everyone was so keen on Julia. People often argued that Julia was an unrealistic representation of African Americans (and even African-American women- however these arguments weren’t as prominent, yet). Many white viewers praised the show for showing “the good side” of the black population and how they have “feelings and habits just as the White’s have” (Bodrohkozy, 149). This is where controversy starts—Bodrohkozy observes that these viewers, though they had good intentions, consider normal to be white and “bad” or other to be anything other than tradition white norms.
ReplyDeleteBlack viewers spoke out in letters to the show, calling out that the characters, though physically black, acted “white.” As one writer put it, “everybody has a white mentality, that is, their expressions are all that of white people” (152). Many thought that the show, specifically Julia’s luxurious flat, showed very little culture, further minimizing true black representation on TV. Julia, the character, some letter writers noted, was not real- “the show does not portray the life of the typical probing Black woman, it is rather the story of a white widow with a black face” (159).
It appears that the show was interpreted based on the racial background the letters and reviews came from. White viewers either saw Julia as progressive or an attack on the typical housewife, black viewers saw Julia as an unrealistic representation of their lives.
Julia was not expected to be a success from the very beginning. However, the show grew to be one of the most popular of it times. Despite this success there were a lot controversy and mixed feelings surrounding the show. This was largely due to the main character, Julia.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, Julia was a black women, due to the Civil Rights Movements and general stereotyping of the times this was a point of conflict. There had not been a black main role since Amos 'n Andy. Therefore this show was noted with progressive ideas about race. However, Julia lived a well off life in a lavish home. Many whites believed that Julia was not a true representation of the black community and it gave false hopes about what the black community is and what it could be (Bodrohkozy, 144). Additionally many black viewers believed that Julia did not represent their community and was white in personality (152).No matter who the viewer was or what race they were, there was much controversy whether the character Julia, her actions, and her home was a true portrayal of reality.
Second of all Julia was a single women. Through the 1950s and 1960s there was large ideals placed on the nuclear family and living the patriarchal american dream. Julia directly defies this social norm. Therefore this show was seen as more progressive by displaying this alternative family life. For some viewers progressive ideals were taken well and for other viewers the liberalness was seen as more of an attack of societal norms and customs.
Overall, Julia was liberal for its time. It dealt with two large, uncomfortable issues of its time: race and family/marital status causing much debate. Yet despite the controversy and mixed feelings, it was still a success.
Julia is a situation comedy about the life of an African American woman, raising her son as a single parent in Los Angeles, after her husband died in the Vietnam War. The show has been hailed as a groundbreaking sitcom, since there were very few representations of African Americans on television other than in the isolated case of Amos and Andy. Julia was a black woman playing a lead role and holds a middle class job as a nurse. This was in many ways pioneering, and well-received. On the flip side, some viewers criticized the show as unrealistic. Firstly, women who are single parents often find themselves the topic of gossip or ostracism, since the traditional family structure of a mother and a father was the norm. Julia's neighbors act completely ignorant to this fact. They also appear to have completely not noticed that Julia is black. In addition, Julia and her son's lifestyles do not accurately reflect the hardship African Americans experience. She is always fabulously, perhaps even lavishly dressed. They reside in a very nice apartment building. These were seen as luxuries average African Americans at that time do not get opportunities to experience. Lastly, the show is constructed in such a way that it is very easy for the average white American audience at that time to look past the fact that Julia is black and enjoy the show as a form of entertainment, since Julia does not behave in a typical "black" manner. Everything about her is white except for the fact that she is not, racially. Even her apartment is furnished in a very typical way that is devoid of any African American culture. Therefore, while the show was hailed as groundbreaking in its casting of an African American female as lead, many still criticized it for its unrealistic portrayals.
ReplyDeleteThe show Julia was initially viewed as a progressive move towards an increase in black representation on television. However, the show received criticisms regarding cultural representation. According to Bodroghkozy, although the black race was finally represented in a main role on television, Julia's character was culturally very "white" and thus did little to progress representation beyond visual appearance. Bodroghkozy makes an interesting argument that this lack in cultural representation may derive from "a denial of the 'otherness' of black people in an attempt to reduce white anxiety about racial difference." Although the United States was making clear progression towards racial equality at the time, the studios and networks were still headed by white men who may have ignorantly considered this total representation (149).
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting point about Julia's character is that not only was she a black female, but she was also a single, widowed mother. During the 1950s, the suburban, nuclear family was highly represented in media, as it encouraged families to pursue similar lifestyles. Julia's alternative lifestyle was very innovative for all female representation on television. However, placing Julia outside of the conventional family sitcom might have arguably segregated Julia from other female leads on television. Therefore, while her leading role on a television sitcom may have been a major step in diversified media representation, placing Julia outside the conventional norm for the time may have created an adverse affect in separating her from the rest of female leads in sitcoms.
Julia premiered during the late 60s, a heated cultural transition period in which race was a huge topic of conversation. Julia, as argued in Bodrohkozy’s article, was both controversial and progressive. Julia as an intelligent female character was leaps and bounds ahead of characters like Amos and Andy and Beulah. The conflicts within the episodes of those these earlier shows were either mocking the characters or centered on the conflicts of white people, with the African American characters on the outskirts of the “real problems.” Julia, on the other hand, was an intelligent, single mother living in middle class California.
ReplyDeleteWhile some people praised the show for being progressive, others criticized it for normalizing Julia to be like us. The “us” in the context of the discussion at the time refers to “white people.” This usage of the pronoun shows the skewed mindset of Caucasian people setting the standard for what is right and acceptable in society. Lack of other lead African Americans in the show understandably raises an issue as to what the show is trying to accomplish, furthering this normalization into whiteness.
Aside from the context of the late 60s, by nature of being the first show of its kind with these characters, it was going to be harshly critiqued. There is not one way to provide a solution to the show. Adding in additional African American cultural elements and characters may have helped, but during this time period, through white authorship, and as a new show, Julia was harshly critiqued, leading to a variety of interpretations.
Julia was, as mentioned previously, controversial due to the situation that Julia, an African American woman, finds herself. The show’s primary debates regarded race and status, an issue that was the basis of African American Civil rights at the time. Julia finds herself as a relatively well off citizen who enjoys the what is seen as the life and status of a white American.
ReplyDeleteBodrohkozy’s article mentions that white citizens and African American citizens alike did not see her as a fair representation of society. The “white” argument was that the show unfairly portrayed status based on her race while the “black” concern was that she wasn’t relatable or representative of the general African American population and that Julia “would not recognize a ghetto if she stumbled into it” (150).
I think Julia’s interpretation was so up in the air because of all the current Civil Rights issues that America was dealing with sparked debate overall. The fact that Julia was living in the same way as white middle class seems to be what the goal of the civil rights movement represented. Although, the arguments that spoke a giants the show for this portrayal seems to undermine that message entirely.
This show meant a lot of different things to different people. This is evidenced by the multitude of responses, always changing because of the backgrounds of people they were sent from. A large response from white viewers that approved of the show was that they actually liked Julia even though they were white. She was a “normal” person, in this context “normal” refers to white. These people were trying to be tolerant, but unfortunately not in the best way possible. On the other side of this argument were the people that said that Julia was not “telling it like it is”. Many people thought that Julia should be placed in a ghetto, but this was another problem with racial stereotyping. Both sides were trying to reach towards the “right” view of the show, but neither were completely free of prejudice. Diahann Carroll’s response to all of the criticism was that this show was just supposed to be “a drama-comedy; it isn’t politically oriented”. From my viewing of this show, I can see her point. Everyone wanted this show to be groundbreaking and deal with all of the problems it could, but some issues of this time may have not allowed that. In this I mean that the people supplying the money for the shows, the networks, were trying to make shows that were different to attract viewers, but not too different to scare off any of these viewers. I think that Julia did what it could for its time period, but people took it in so many different ways because of its almost neutrality. Because it only had slightly different views, anyone with stronger opinions could take the show as wrong to not appeal completely to their side.
ReplyDeleteJulia was a show created by Hal Kanter that focused on the main character played by Diahann Carrol. She was a strong, independent woman who worked as a nurse and lived in an integrated apartment complex. This evoked a wide range of responses from viewers at the time. Kanter created this sitcom to portray a positive image of African Americans at the time and some agreed that this was a step forward in portraying African Americans, especially women, in a positive light. However, others were opposed for various reasons to this portrayal.
ReplyDeleteOne reason that the audience was opposed to Julia was the belief that this was an unrealistic illustration of African Americans. Most African Americans at the time did not in fact live in such an idealistic setting with a well-paying job. Thus, they thought Julia represented the idea of a “Super Negro” that embodied a white lifestyle. Thus, this actually acted to isolate the true African American lifestyle at the time. Another argument was against Julia’s lack of a husband. Some argued at the time that this reinforced negative ideals of absentee African American fathers. In Bodrohkozy’s article one analysis even went as far back as to suggest this maternalistic view of African American society could actually be traced back to the times of slavery and demonstrated the incompetence of the African American male.
The actors, actresses, writers and director of the show expressed their efforts to do the best they could at the time. Kanter often responded to letters written in with negative comments. In one he even referred to the African American writers on staff claiming he would speak to them about one audience members concern about lack of African American insight and direction on the show. Much like in Amos n Andy, the actresses and actors on the show saw it as an opportunity to change the industry and create a new pattern of diversity in TV. Thus, because of the charged atmosphere of racial inequality and battles in the 1960’s this show created many controversial and opposing opinions.
The show "Julia" received so many different reactions because of its depiction of blacks. While it was a much different representation from "Amos n Andy" or "Beulah" (read better), it still had many problems. Julia was an independent middle class woman who raised a single child on her own. She was very well-spoken and fit in with all of the people around her (read whites). The problem was that Julia was white-washed. She no longer exhibited anything that made her distinctly black, and for some viewers, this "white negro" approach was a problem. Though for just as many viewers, both blacks and whites, they didn't have a problem with the show's representation. There were still matters of race brought up in the show, such as Cory's friend not being able to go to his birthday party or the argument on Santa being black or white. But while these race issues popped up here and there, they were not the focal points of an episode. They were simply an afterthought. The races of Julia and her son could be changed to any other race, including white, and not much of the show would have changed. Thus some viewers' criticisms of the show: Julia was black on the outside, but white on the inside.
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