Social Class- The P.J.'s

  Social class is present in most television shows today.  Sometimes, it is hidden while other times it is rather obvious.  Some of these shows depiction of class might even be considered offensive.  One such show that might be considered an offensive portrayal of social class is “The PJ’s” which used to air on FOX.

  Taking place in the projects in an unnamed city, “The PJ’s” ran for three seasons.  The show was done in a stop –motion animation, and took a long time just to make one episode.  The show had a pretty straight forward premise in the first few episodes.  An African American family faced the challenges of living in the projects, while trying to work their way up in society and move into a better area in the city.  As the show went on, however, the creators decided that the two main characters, Thurgood and Muriel Stubbs, should focus on being more comedic and less about moving out of the projects.  

 

  Above is the main character, Thurgood.  He was stereotypical superintendent of a project building as is always demanding rent, and doing virtually nothing to improve the flaws that were present in the building.  He would also act politically incorrect by behaving inappropriately, and not being afraid to admit that he was not well educated.  He would also say random names of famous African American people to express his emotion.  For example, he once said, “Sweet Macy Gray,” to express being surprised.  He is contradicted, in appearance and behavior by his wife, Muriel.

 

  Above is Muriel Stubbs.  While she looks like a typical African American woman from the projects, she is much more down to Earth than her husband.  She was able attended a privet school that was made up of mostly white students, due to her good academics.  When she graduated high school, she settled for what she could get, and married Thurgood, fully aware that he was just a superintendent of the local projects.  She has, however, shown that she can be just as dimwitted as Thurgood and the rest of the characters on more than one occasion.

  While I was a fan of the show when it aired, I always felt bad for laughing at it.  I understand that it was done for humor, but people I talked to at school about it seemed as if it was a touchy subject.  African American people showed great resistance to this show until it was eventually cancelled.  Eddie Murphy, who voiced Thurgood for most of the run of the series, left the show for a while, as the producers would not listen to any suggestions that he made to help make the show less offensive.  Even though it was all done in the name of comedy, FOX should have taken the views of the public into consideration. 

The PJ's. (2007, May). The PJ's. Retrieved November 2011, from tripod.com: http://tspwr.tripod.com/characters.html

The PJ's. ( 2011 , July 5). The PJ's. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_PJs