Everybody Hates Chris, a TV Show
Amy M. Lazar
SOC315
November 29, 2010
Kurt Konda

Everybody Hates Chris, a TV Show
Everybody Hates Chris is an American situation comedy inspired by the teenage experiences of comedian Chris Rock while growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York from 1985 to 1989. Motivated by his childhood experiences, Emmy comedian Chris Rock narrates this very hilarious and touching story of a teenager growing up as the oldest of three children in Brooklyn, New York during the early 1980s. Uprooted to a neighborhood and bused into a primarily white middle school two hours away by his strict, hard-working parents. This writer will show how this TV show attempted to address diversity in the American and how. In addition, how the show relied on stereotypes when depicting certain groups. Finally, this writer will provide her opinion to whether or not she believes this show fostered a better understanding of diversity and multiculturalism.
This show revolves around the everyday life of Chris. Chris is a 13-year-old seventh grade student. The writers on this show along with Chris Rock attempted to address diversity or the lack there of by pulling no punches and apologizing for nothing, no culture or race was safe. They rely heavily on humor and narration provided by Chris Rock himself. He takes on that “inner voice” per say and says aloud what one would usually keep to themselves. The show takes place in the late 1980’s and the groups of characters that, in Chris’s point of view, act as if they are out to get him provide plenty of material. Living in a low-income predominately Italian community and attending an all-white school in Brooklyn Beach, provides an assortment of circumstances that can leave a viewer doubled over in laughter and speechless. Living among the “Italians”, the show makes several references the “Godfather”. Chris' junior high school is named Corleone, which is named after Vito Corleone and the Corleone family. With his mother and Father wanting a better life for their children they make Chris attend a good school. Chris reluctantly faces multiple bus transfers each day to attend Corleone Junior High School in the Italian neighborhood of South Shore. He becomes an immediate target for bullies and riticule. However, his sharp wit and fast thinking allows him to friends and survive school life

This writer feels that the over exaggeration of stereotypes does a very good job to show just how ridiculous stereo types are. All cultures on the show are portrayed in the fullest stereotypical fashion ever. This constantly supplies situations that are both hilarious and at times very reflective of just how far we have come in a short time.

, Chris struggles to find his place, all while keeping his younger brother & sister in line at home and surmounting the tests of junior high school. This dependable, resilient teen brings a unique, comedic spin to his everyday trials & upsets in "Everybody Hates Chris."
The year that Chris turned 13 was 1982. Filled with dreams that being a teenager would be cool, Chris' entry into adolescence is turning out to be less pleasant. Moved from the projects to the tough "Bed-Stuy" neighborhood of Brooklyn, Chris is still stuck in his big brother role. As the family's "emergency adult," he's accountable for taking care of his younger brother Drew and his younger sister Tonya while his parents are working; Drew, although younger, is taller and more confident than Chris, while Tonya is the baby of the family, who gets all of the attention from his parents.
Chris' rough, cost-conscious father Julius works numerous jobs in order to properly support his family. Meanwhile, his very strict, sassy mother Rochelle who works part-time in a small real estate office, runs the household on a very tight budget, while demanding the best for her children.
As Chris Rock pointedly looks back, his younger self is set to find what his family already knows: Chris' sharp, scrappy character is going to take him places. But first, he's going to have to think, talk or run his way through one growing experience after another at both home and school, and on any number of buses along the way. Reviews for the show are positive. The American Film Institute selected Everybody Hates Chris as one of the best 10 television series of 2007, stating that the show "provides a very real look at growing up in America — a challenge that demands a discussion of race and class often absent from television today. Everybody Hates Chris won an NAACP Image Award for its writing in 2008. It has also been nominated for Golden Globe and Emmy Awards.