by Daisia Smith ’22

Let’s rewind back to around six years ago, coming home after a long day of counting to a hundred and adding and subtracting fractions to flop onto bed to enjoy a nice episode of Jessie. What could be more relaxing and enjoyable for a middle-schooler back then? However, as the Gen Z that includes me grows older and rewatches these same episodes we once did, it is clear that such shows have hurt us in ways we didn’t recognize back then.  

As children and preadolescents, we were very impressionable. We became infatuated with these characters who are clearly based on harmful stereotypes and that can be extremely detrimental to a child’s self esteem. We just didn’t know it then at that impressionable age. Children need to grow up viewing the little boys and girls that resemble themselves on screen in a positive light, and I wish I would have gotten this opportunity. When society already projects a certain stereotype based on the color of your skin, watching it on T.V. does not make it any better. It is very important to acknowledge that the increasing representation of POC in media and entertainment is a positive … or at least it should be; however it is also important to realize that it is wrong that younger children and preteens have to watch the only characters that look like them being limited to nothing more than overused, unfunny jokes. Such depictions halt progress instead of furthering it. 

 As the years progress and we begin watching these shows more attentively, it is clear that the impact of a show like Jessie has been quite universal, displaying the black girl as bratty and aggressive (especially when told no), casting an Indian-American actor to fake an offensively inaccurate Indian accent which was harmful to many Indian-Americans in reviews found on Commonsensemedia.org, and implementing the pretty dumb blonde girl that gets all the male attention just feeds into the narrative that society and Hollywood loves to promote.

After Jessie received some hate comments and even constructive criticism, the creators still decided to further the show’s plot with a spin-off called Bunk’d continuing their play on characters of different races and ethnicities. The only latino boy is depicted as dumb, messy, and unintelligent. The Asian-American girl with an extremely strict mother has a personality based around not having a social life beyond her studies and a violin who she called her friend. It is hard to believe this blatantly unapologetic show made it this far along with a successful spin-off including four initial seasons with an additional five. It is disappointing that they are continuing to spread these harmful character depictions even when critics beg them not to. It is not okay for children of color to only see themselves as the butt of the joke and this must be stopped. Even as a black young woman who is growing and learning how to express myself, I can admit that as a child Zuri did have a huge impression on me because she was the only little girl I could identify with on my favorite network. Disrespecting my parents, teachers and friends just because that was all I saw from the only character that looked like me was not right. So many other POC can make that connection too as they grow older, and we must put a stop to this as a society.