Analysis Of The PBS Series 'Breaking Barriers'

Television since its start has developed a diverse set of viewers, however the cast was not. When television first came out in the 1940’s is was uncommon to see a person of color, the cast was just about completely White. There were few minorities on television and when they were the character was highly stereotypical. Yet PBS special “Breaking Barriers” explored how television developed into what it is today, a diverse depiction of America. In the PBS special “Breaking Barriers “they establishing the differences between television in the 40’s and today. The special use’s different examples of actual television shows where the cast was entirely White, or if they horned to have a person of color them would resemble the stereotypes placed upon the race. For example, ‘Mexican banditos of “The Cisco Kid”’, or when there would be Native American characters they would play servants. They also gave recognition to many of the first for people of color such as Julia. Julia was the first African American woman “with a college degree thriving in a professional position” (Breaking Barriers). By using these examples PBS exampled the factual aspect of their program, but also did it in a more artistic way than just writing down the information. “Breaking Barrier” is television program that explains the
However a distracting aspect is one of the focal actors of the program, Bill Cosby. After the events regarding Bill Cosby people have been caught in a crossroad between continuing to give him recognition for the impact he made on both modern day TV and sitcoms in general. With Bill Cosby being so controversial many viewers even question watching the show or the network because they chose to continue to air programs regarding him. In fact Dr Dorries even questioned whether or not it would be appropriate to show his class the video since it showed Bill