Eva Brooks
ENGL:3460
Prof. Deborah Whaley
November 29th, 2023
But
Are They In, Doc?: Modern Black Character Portrayals in Animation
The
racist characters and stereotypes that were a significant part of early
animation are arguably not supported by modern American society. Considerations
to not syndicate racist cartoons like the 12 banned Warner Brothers cartoons
showcase that these racist depictions are discouraged culturally. As such, they
do not often present themselves in modern American animation using old racist
coding, such as character personality or stylization of lips or hair. The few
examples that emulate this, even accidentally, are met with backlash. However,
this raises the question on whether or not portrayals of Black and African
American characters in media has improved significantly since the early days of
animation besides this. While there is an avoidance of the trademarks that researchers
like Rebeca Wanzo note as traditional racist depictions of Black people and
while there are examples of modern portrayals of Black characters in children’s
animation especially, there are pitfalls and stereotypes that modern Black
characters still fall into as representation slowly increases. Representation
of Black characters in modern American animation overall can fall into modern
stereotyping and tokenization that does not result in positive examples of
representation, though there are characters that are able to dodge or combat
this phenomenon.
When
presented with modern animation in movies and television, there is a clear
absence of Black leads and Black characters within media that still exists to
the present day. In a thesis regarding the subject, author Rhani Stewart notes
that “There were few animated series in which a black character played the
lead. Instead, they were relegated to the sidelines as the sidekick or best
friend of a white protagonist.” (Stewart 109). Within the prominent portrayals between
1965 and 2010 Stewart analyzed, only four shows were listed as having Black
leading characters; these are “Little Bill” (1995), “The Proud Family” (2000),
“The Boondocks” (2005), and “The Cleveland Show” (2008). While other examples
may exist, the examples given in comparison to over fifty years worth of new
animation content, especially as it spread to new mediums such as television or
CGI animation, indicates the sheer lack of representation of Black characters
as a whole.
Even
when in supporting roles, Stewart notes that there is a level of tokenization
to these characters that undermines their representation. Often Black
supporting characters are depicted as the best friends of a white leading
character and within that role do not have demonstrated the same level of
complexity or focus on their lives as their peers. They also frequently are
represented with personality traits that turn into stereotypes of Black
supporting characters, often being shown to be “sassy” or “snarky” and often
being solely interested in fashion or pop culture. In an extreme example, the sole
Black female supporting character Libby from “The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron”
is noted in the article to have episodes focusing on her character solely
depict her love of R&B and funk music and her African heritage without any
regard to other interests she could have. These portrayals of Black characters,
especially Black women, stuff these “add on characters” into boxes in terms of
their personality traits. Especially with Black woman and girls as the token
side characters, there are certain traits that are depicted to the point of
stereotyping, such as sassiness, interest in fashion, and a noted role of
providing or helping other characters only. They provide support to the
struggles of white characters, but aren’t given the space to exist as their own
human characters, which lessens the impact their inclusion in media could have
on representations of characters. With these “add on” characters, a term coined
by Yvonne Fulmore, being the main source of Black representation in media, it’s
quick that these pitfalls spread across the whole landscape of animation in
terms of Black representation, impacting even future portrayals.
Outside
of “The Boondocks”, this tokenization is also showcased heavily in adult
animation. “The Cleveland Show” has been studied as a portrayal of Black
characters that attempts to challenge the norm—Stewart notes that the spinoff
of “Family Guy” takes the tokenized Black character Cleveland Brown and allows
him to become a lead character with his own personality and issues at the
forefront. However, rather than deconstructing stereotyping, it frequently is
seen as contributing to issues with tokenization. In an analysis of the work
and Cleveland as a character, Derrias Carter quotes Stuart Hall as saying “‘[popular
culture] is the space of homogenization … where control over narratives and
representations passes into hands of the established cultural bureaucracies…’”
and notes that “The Cleveland Show exemplifies the severity of Hall’s comments
for the show is written by a predominantly white staff with black actors doing
vocal work” (Carter 505) Even characters directly lampooning representations of
Black characters are often voiced by white voice actors, such as child Rallo
Tubbs being noted as a parody of leading male characters in Blacksploitation
films and being voiced by a white man. This not only brings a sense of
inauthenticity, but enforces stereotyping by devolving Black characters to
stereotypes that an actor of any race can emulate. The show is described by
Carter as being a “Family Guy in blackface” (Carter 505) in that the issues
within are tonally similar to Family Guy and these stereotypical Black depictions
are the main difference. Voice acting and writing in “The Boondocks” with a
creative team of Black writers plays with vocalization and race of voice actors
in a very intentional way as demonstrated by characters like Edward
"Ed" Wuncler III, as there is a contrast between voice actors in race
as well as dialect. This is not a level of parody that can be presented in The
Cleveland Show, as since it was showrun and voiced primarily by white creators,
its attempts read as stereotyped depictions.
Other
examples of Black characters that take the spotlight can lead to critique,
despite the representation they can provide. This is shown in the discourse
around “The Princess and the Frog” (2009) as being the first Black Disney
princess. J. L. Barker notes how there was discussion on the representation
Tiana provides both before and after the release of the film. Character traits
of Tiana were dissected as either averting Disney’s previous racist depictions
of Black characters, such as her work ethic and skill, and emulating them
through her transformation into a frog. There is an early classic connection
made, perhaps unintentionally, to cartoons such as “Bosko” that use frogs as a
species to emulate racist depictions of Black people. While these depictions
are absent in the movie itself, it raises the question to how broad the
representation of Tiana is a departure. It also decreases the physical presence
of a Black woman as a lead character, giving her less screentime than her white
princess counterparts. While it is noted that several people, even celebrities
such as Oprah, noted at the time the benefits of portraying a Black woman with
the label of a Disney princess, one associated with a grace and beauty formerly
never afforded to black woman. Since until the year 2023 she was the sole Black
example of a Disney princess, even her portrayal and the movie have been
debated and picked apart as to how much positive representation they provide.
While
the previous examples indicate how representation of Black characters in modern
animation is certainly not without tokenization, stereotyping, or discourse,
there are positive examples that exist in the modern day that would not be
considered previously. This is especially noted in young children’s television
animation. Shows with Black leads in this demographic, such as “Little Bill”
and “The Proud Family” are able to avoid falling into the pitfalls of tokenized
Black side characters by depicting entire families of Black characters, all
with unique personality traits and issues. This also is demonstrated in an
example of a Black lead in “Doc McStuffins” (2012). Doc McStuffins not only
provides a rare example of a Black lead, but she is noted through her role as a
doctor to magical characters to, similar to Tiana, take on an agency formerly
afforded only to white characters. Jobia Keys notes “Doc’s role as the expert
is generally a role assigned to white male characters… The power dynamics
between Doc and the supporting white male characters challenge traditional
portrayals of female and black animated characters.” (Taylor 361) Doc as a
leading character works both to provide representation targeted at young
children, allowing it to be absorbed early on alongside other portrayals, but
works to dismantle the stereotypes of tokenized characters by being a lead.
Doc’s issues and the problems people come to her with are the focus of the
entire show, providing more examples of her issues and countering the slim and
sometimes stereotyped examples from supporting Black characters.
Overall,
while there are obvious positive changes in the portrayal of Black characters
in animated productions, there are also issues regarding a new kind of
stereotyping as demonstrated by often tokenized representations of characters.
According to Zippia, an analyst of different business industries, as of 2020
4.3% of professionals in the animation industry are Black. With the rarity of
black animators in the industry, especially Black showrunners, it demonstrates
how issues of tokenization can arise. Without a space for programming featuring
the perspective of Black people, representation through Black characters such
as “The Cleveland Show” can work towards tokenization instead of against.
Showcasing equal representation is a goal that demands more than just creating
Black characters or Black leads, but requires a careful understanding of past
portrayals in media and active effort to dismantle them.
Bibliography:
Stewart, Rahni C.,
The Evolution of An Artform: An Analysis of Black Characters in Animation from
1920-2010, 2021
Carter, D. Blackness, Animation, and the Politics of
Black Fatherhood in The Cleveland Show, 2010
Keys, Jobia., Doc McStuffins and Dora
the Explorer: representations of gender, race, and class in US
animation, Journal of Children and Media, 2016
Barker, J.L. Hollywood, Black Animation, and the
Problem of Representation in Little Ol’ Bosko and The Princess
and the Frog, 2010
Fulmore, Yvonne., Depiction patterns of young
African-American women in contemporary American animation, 2010
