The Parkers was
an African-American sitcom about a single mother named Nikki; played by Mo’Nique, who
decided to go back to college; community school, along with her very
pretty, but not entirely smart daughter Kim; played by Countess Vaughn.
Throughout the episode the pleasantly plump Nikki chased fiendishly after a
handsome professor named Stanley Oglevee; played by Dorian Wilson. I watched
the series finale episode named “At Last” and it ended in the most obvious way.
Nikki Parker had grown tired of the constant chasing and rejection by Oglevee,
so towards the end of the series she had learned to open her heart to a man
that wanted her the same way she wanted him. The guy proposed and she planned
her wedding as normal, while reality set on Oglevee that he would never find a
female who would love him the way Nikki did. Just as she was literally about to
say “I do” at the altar, Oglevee storms in and proclaims his love for Nikki.
She puts up a slight rejection, but in the end Nikki give in and she marries
Oglevee on the spot.
I believe the parkers fit both categories
of the Universalizing and Minoritizing discourses. In discussing Minoritizing,
I feel that throughout the airing of The Parkers that the generic norm of a man
dating a socially acceptable; modelesque, woman was over used to get their
point across. They would also focus on Oglevee to courting a very attractive woman;
in my opinion is centering a norm, and then have the episode based around Nikki
messing up his plans or ruining his date so that he can notice her;
incorporating an outside normative, which is a woman trying to court a
man. In subtle ways, the episode also
embodied the approved way of “women should always go that extra mile to please
their man”, because Nikki went above and beyond to seek the gratification,
love, and respect from Oglevee. The
thing that caught my eye was that in the finale, Professor Oglevee only found
the strength to say his true feelings for her after she had moved on and had
gotten dressed up to a socially acceptable level; in which society would think
she was beautiful.
In discussing Universalizing
discourses, Nikki Parker is a very attractive plus size woman and she took into
her own hands to pursue a man she has strong feelings for. She is a very
confident and mature black woman who is trying to make a change in her life by
returning back to school and not having any shame in saying she messed up when
she was younger. This a constant theme of African-American shows nowadays, but
I believe that The Parkers were one of the few shows that help launched it.
Yes, overall a lot of the things she did in reality would seem a bit drastic
all for a man who shows no interest, but the show also gave secret strength to
woman who have similar problems and need a less drastic way about showing their
interest in a guy without finding it repulsive or out of line. It let women;
especially African-American women, know that there is no need to wait for a man
to make the first move, if you want him, you chase him till one of you get
tired of running.
In reference to Mayne , “Generations
of female film viewers discovered that movies had provided them with lessons in
how to become an acceptable woman, complete with lessons in how to catch a
man”(pg. 163). I believe that The Parkers was a small training session for
women to not have to depend on any man to be the cause to their action. The
show was filled with a lot of Mayne’s idea that concentrated with the thought
that some cinemas provided tangible fantasies of women being able do and be
anything they want. In a sense, the show also represented the function of both
reinforcing oppressive standards of feminine behavior and to imagine
possibilities not typically available to every woman (Mayne, Pg. 163). It
provided comedic relief out of what women should not do in public to a man, but
it also gave women a possibility in something that they could do just in a
different way.
In my opinion, The Parkers was and
still is a great show. With a lot more knowledge about the way the world works,
I believe this show had such a huge following because women in 1999 were still
seeking a voice of respect and still trying to be acknowledged as equal human
beings. Though, laws were passed way before this show aired, women still had to
fight the stereotypical image of how a woman should act, think and look like.
This show was also a stand taken for full figured women. It provided women with
similar figures to see themselves as beautiful and allowed men to break out of
the “thin is always in” mind frame.
Judith.
"Women, Representation and Culture." Reading Women's Lives:
161-65.
Print.
It is great that you point out the opposing view of universalizing discourses in this particular episode, or the entirety of the show, in regards to Nikki chasing Professor Oglevee and how it empowers women to take a step forward in chasing what she wants. However, one cannot ignore how the show simultaneously degrades women because of the idea of a working class, single African-American mother and an educated black man is not meant to be (because of socioeconomic differences). Professor Oglevee has clearly demonstrated to not have interest in Nikki and her final way of showing her desperation is by in the attempt to marry someone else, she ends up leaving her husband-to-be for the professor. The central representation here shows that working class African-American women would go for extremes to be with people who do not have any respect for them whatsoever.
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