|
|
| Childrens' TV: Report Card |
|
|
Childrens' TV: Report Card
> School-Age
> Cory in the House
|
<< Return
|
Cory in the House
|
| NAME: | Cory in the House
| | NETWORK: | Disney Channel
| | GENRE: | Sitcom | | SHOW DESCRIPTION: | Cory in the House centers upon Cory Baxter who lives in the White House with his dad, the official White House chef. The show also features Cory's best friends, Newt and Meena, as well as the President and his daughter Sophie.
|
| |
Appearance/Body Types | How characters are portrayed in terms of their bodies—weight, hair, breasts, muscles, etc. Is there a broad range of sizes or are all characters featured in similar, stereotypical ways? | |
Interpersonal/Emotional Style | How characters are portrayed in terms of their communication styles and interactions with other characters. Do they display characteristics such as assertiveness, confidence, sensitivity, kindness, adventurousness, etc.? | |
Leadership & Independence | How characters are portrayed as leaders or followers. Do they act independently, initiate conversations and actions, show respect for others, etc.? | |
Activities | How characters are portrayed in terms of their activities and physicality. Are characters portrayed doing only stereotypical activities (girls cheerleading and boys playing sports, for example) or are there a broad range of activities for each? | |
Self Image/Self Worth | How characters are portrayed in terms of valuing themselves. Are characters too focused on, or worried about, their appearance? Are characters overly concerned with attracting potential romantic partners or behaving differently when they're around? | |
Skills & Intelligence | How characters are portrayed in terms of their intelligence and abilities. Do they show aptitude with science, technology or math as well as art, dance or music? | |
TRUECHILD SAYS: Cory in the House, a spinoff of That's So Raven, falls short of its predecessor because it loses the essence of what makes Raven so impactful. Raven is such a strong female character - breaking down all of the barriers for female characters in children's television. Cory, led by a male-dominated cast, tends to rely more upon stereotypical character traits and lacks the fresh approach that Raven brought to the air.
The show provides us with some female characters that are all characters we have seen before. Meena is a sweet teenager who recently moved to the US from the fictional Bahavia. She is defying her father's wishes by wearing American clothing and listening to rock music. She is very thin and pretty and, while she is not particularly obsessed with what she looks like, she provided us with a very typical image of a teenage girl -- thin, long hair, make-up and fashionable clothes. Nothing wrong with that but nothing that breaks the mold.
Even more problematic are the two antagonists on the show (girls, of course): Candy who is very cute and preppy and spends most of her time trying to get Cory to like her. She is portrayed as controlling and annoying and, while Cory continually rejects her, she persists until she gets him to agree to go out with her. He then humiliates her by constantly making it clear that he does not really like her. The other antagonist is Sophie, the President's daughter, who, at 9 or 10 years old, is extremely precocious and is often dressing up in outfits far too mature for her age. She is a thorn in Cory's side, constantly getting him in trouble.
The boys in the show do not show any range either. Cory and his best friend Newt are typical boys and, while they sometimes go "outside the box" in terms of their activities, it is typically for a humorous effect rather than a bold character move.
Cory in the House is fun to watch but it is not going to communicate to our kids any images of children that reach very far beyond the stereotypes that exist everywhere else.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
