TV's Portrayal of Payday Lenders Anything but Dy-No-Mite!

A couple of weeks ago, the new television season of Fall 2008 got under way. September 22 was the night when most of the major networks made their attempts to win back viewers lost during last year's senseless writer's string, rolling out new seasons of returning favorites and first episodes of a few brand new shows.

Just as with any new television season, there are a few new shows that are quite good, some that are pretty bad, then a couple that make you wonder, "What were they thinking?" This is always in addition to the shows from the previous seasons, often picking up from a cliffhanger at the end of the past season.

None of the networks' new offerings are yet to strike my fancy. On the other hand, I definitely am enjoying the new seasons of long-standing favorites Two And a Half Men, The Office and How I Met Your Mother. Furthermore, I can safely say that I've become hopelessly addicted to The Big Bang Theory, a riotously funny sitcom that debuted on CBS last year.

There is a widespread practice that many shows utilize which could be detrimental to our society; stereotyping and/or lack of research. With this in mind, think back to previous hit shows such as Good Times, Sanford and Son, and Will and Grace. Yes, all three of these shows were very popular, as they were highly entertaining. But what they had in gag factor, they definitely lacked in a positive portrayal of minority cultures; in this case, the African American and gay communities.

Sometimes, it is dead obvious that the creators of some shows did little to no research on the featured topic, but merely use established stereotypes as a springboard. Minute qualities of said these stereotyped groups will be blown way out of proportion and sensationalized for the sake of entertainment value. For instance, would you think that all gay men talk with effeminate vocals and are die-hard Cher fans? Of course not, but the directors of Will and Grace played up this stereotype to the max in the interest of making it funny to the majority.

Sadly, our entertainment hasn't made much progress in this respect, still being homogenized in favor of entertaining more than enlightening. The real problem is that people take this entertainment as enlightenment, then assume the mindset that all gay people are Jacks and that all African Americans are of the working class, as was Jimmie Walker's character, James Evans Jr. While you'd think that TV writers would've learned their lesson a long time ago, they're up to their old tricks again, attempting to "portray" no fax payday loan companies through one of the CW's new programs, Easy Money.

Premiering on October 5, one of the network's new dramas, just from the previews, seems to be perpetuating vicious stereotypes from the get-go. In fact, CW's own website describes the main characters as a "family of loan sharks," who "run a high-interest payday loan store."

Now, I'm not trying to imply that people can't think for themselves, but offering up a show as entertainment which only presents one side of an issue is downright dangerous. The consequences could be long-lasting and generally detrimental to our society's common good. To be more specific,

Easy Money could give people false information about the no fax payday loan industry, which could lead to massive support of hurtful measures such as Ohio's HB 545. Therefore, Hollywood would be one of the parties guilty of robbing an entire state of thousands of jobs, millions in tax revenue and a further crippled economy.

So, before watching any such shows, wouldn't you think it would be a good idea to do your homework and research all sides of an issue? Do yourself a favor and do the research that Hollywood doesn't.