Dancing With The Stars, Reality Shows & Minorities

After watching a wide variety of reality shows on television, I have deduced that most reality shows are simply not designed to accommodate minority men and women. What we’re seeing as a country is a very superficial image. Characters aren’t too central to the story line, and most don't incorporate racial and ethnic diversity. Minorities are underrepresented across the whole range of the entertainment media. Yet, just over the past few years, a show has been produced, which seemed to change my opinion and produce significant gains in the television network. Hopefully it will reflect onto other network television programs, encouraging them to incorporate our real life multicultural society into television. 

For those who aren't familiar with Dancing With The Stars, it is a reality show airing on the American Broadcasting Company in the United States. It is a unique series that pairs up celebrities with professional ballroom dancers in what has turned into an intense competition live in front of an audience and the nation. Each season has a select number of celebrity and professional dance pairs. The pairs are then judged by a panel of experts as well as the viewers at home. One team will be eliminated each week, leaving one couple standing, who will be named the winner. 

Each season there is a new group of celebrities which compete for the title and the trophy. The show has featured everyone from rapper Master P to Kelly Osbourne, daughter of Ozzie Osbourne. The contestants vary, which can range from a cast of one minority to a cast of four, five, six, seven, or more minorities per season. Each season is completely unique, ranging from African Americans dancers to Latin contestants. Compared to the white contestants on the program, the minorities are never singled out. All contestants offer broad appeal, wearing dazzling costumes from head to toe. The minorities may even trump white stars and dancers on the program. The world of reality television shows, is winning a lot of praise for keeping it real, reflecting a more diverse America than the scripted prime-time television shows. Reality programs, such as Dancing with the Stars, consistently feature a much broader range of people when it comes to race, age, class, and sexual orientation. Minority contestants have done well in Dancing with the Stars, by winning week after week, these contestants become the shows leading characters.  “We’re looking to create shows that everyday people can relate to, and for that you really need a true representation of the population,” said Dave Broome, executive producer.” When you’re casting for an unscripted show, it’s a much bigger universe and a whole different talent base." It’s real people versus actors.