I've been noticing lately how prevalent stereotypes are. I'm not talking about the standard ones concerning race or gender or religion or the like. I'm talking about the more common, marketing-oriented ones. These are much more hilarious (and in some ways, much more telling about how the human race will NEVER get past stereotyping/profiling, EVER). Let's explore just a few, shall we?
First, let's talk radio. Listen to your typical "smooth jazz" station. You typically get a breathy-talking baritone who sounds slightly African-American, whether he is or not. Now turn over to your local NPR/public radio/classical music station. You're probably hearing a white guy or gal, perhaps talking with a faint Boston or even British accent. If it's a guy he's probably also a baritone or even a deep, rich bass. Now let's ease on over to your local adult contemporary/easy-listening station. You probably are hearing a soft-spoken woman who is striving to sound easy-going and whose day is made by a wonderful, heartfelt dedication by a man to his loving wife. If you have Delilah After Dark (a syndicated show I know is played both here in Denver and also back home in Tulsa), you know exactly what I'm talking about. Then, head over to your classic rock station and see what you get. A gravelly-voiced man (or woman) who talks with great fervor about the Dead, the Eagles, Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, and The Who, but still in a very low-key kind of way. They probably also sound like someone you'd like to party with. Every radio format has it. I love driving through eastern Kansas on my way to/from Oklahoma and hearing the farm reports. The voices always sound the same, a standard Midwestern farmer voice, sometimes with a slight twang.
At this point you're all saying, "Chris, you're HORRIBLE!! It's not always like that!" Oh really? Try it. Just once. I've lived in and visited many media markets, both large and small. And in every market, these sounds hold true. Let's look at some others.
1. Mug shots -- I know these are never on the subject's best day, so this might be a little unfair. However, you always see these on the news, and the subject is always, ALWAYS affecting one of two looks: a) "I'm drunk/stoned out of my mind," or b) "I'm an ultra bad-a** and don't you forget it". It's exceedingly rare that you don't see one of these looks in a mugshot.
2. Journalist's byline photos -- These might all be really nice folks and excellent journalists, or they might be opinionated dirtbag rabble-rousers, but the pics are almost always the same. You typically get the subject trying his/her best to look like a street-smart wise-a**, usually with a slight smirk. It's the "I seen everything and done it twice, and I'm here to tell you your opinion." Doesn't care what area the journalist covers: politics, gossip, sports, local specialties, food, business...the look in the pic is almost always the same. For a good example of this, check out Randy Hill over at Fox Sports. I enjoy his stuff but his pic always stands out as a prime example of this.
(I find this one even more humorous when I look at the pic attached above to my blog profile. I'm not trying to look like anything, really; it was the best picture of me alone that I had at the time. I don't take a lot of pictures of myself, you see.)
3. Celebrity media photos -- You zimply MUST look vun of two vays, darlink...like you are zoooo zexy in your cute outfit zat everyvun vants you, or zat you are simply bored to tears by ze entire affair. Increasingly common is the "I care more about the person I'm yakking on the cell phone with than I care about any of you" that we get with the younger, hipper Britney/Paris/Nicole crowd. This whole category isn't quite as prevalent as some of the others I mention, but these looks still appear with regularity. Go check out some of the red carpet pics over at IMDB to see what I'm talking about.This
4. Football profile photos -- You know the ones, the pictures they show at the beginning of the game when they're introducing the starters at each position. These are always very similar to the b) type of mugshot above. There are two other variants, though: the ones who look like they hate cameras and would rather never have their picture taken, and the ones who show that their momma taught 'em right and they ALWAYS smile big for the picture. I like those last ones best, because it makes them seem real. I say this because in media photos, it's exceedingly rare just to see someone look into the camera and smile, like we were always taught to do as kids.
These pictures and voices always strike me, because they prove that appearances are still very important. They also prove that we as media consumers always have expectations of what we get. We expect to see journalists as street-smart wise-a**es. We expect our football players to be ultra bad-a**es. We expect the guy talking Mozart on our local NPR station to sound British. Put Delilah in his place and you'd probably be laughing, or at least know something was up. Have Eva Longoria put on her best "I'm an ultra bad-a**" look for a red-carpet shot at next year's Emmys, and watch the local photogs (and the rest of us, via People's assuredly hilarious caption) crack up.
I know there are other examples. Can you think of any more? Thanks for reading along.
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