America, as Seen on TV - by Clara E Rodríguez (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Finalist, 2020 Latino Book Awards, Best Academic Themed Book

The surprising effects of American TV on global viewers

As a dominant cultural export, American television is often the first exposure to American ideals and the English language for many people throughout the world. Yet, American television is flawed, and, it represents race, class, and gender in ways that many find unfair and unrealistic. What happens, then, when people who grew up on American television decide to come to the United States? What do they expect to find, and what do they actually find?

In America, As Seen on TV, Clara E. Rodríguez surveys international college students and foreign nationals working or living in the US to examine the impact of American television on their views of the US and on their expectations of life in the United States. She finds that many were surprised to learn that America is racially and economically diverse, and that it is not the easy-breezy, happy endings culture portrayed in the media, but a work culture. The author also surveys US-millennials about their consumption of US TV and finds that both groups share the sense that American TV does not accurately reflect racial/ethnic relations in the US as they have experienced them. However, the groups differ on how much they think US TV has influenced their views on sex, smoking and drinking.

America, As Seen on TV explores the surprising effects of TV on global viewers and the realities they and US millennials actually experience in the US.

Review Quotes

"All in all, the book presents interesting empirical findings ... It would most certainly be of interest to academics interested in audience research and the role of American TV."--European Journal of Communication

"Clara Rodríguez has produced an incisive and provocative study. Through intensive interviews and a thoughtful examination of scholarly literature on the media, she has provided a revealing examination of American televisions influence on global perceptions of the life and values of the United States.This is a landmark study of televisions role in shaping popular views of our nation, particularly its racial, ethnic, class, and gender diversity."--Carlos E. Cortés, author of The Children Are Watching: How the Media Teach about Diversity

"It may be useful for undergraduate courses in research methodology, particularly for the open and honest introduction that explains Rodriguezs reason for conducting the study in the first place. Rodriguezs expertise as a sociologist comes through here and she is systematic in approach and easy and enjoyable to read in analysis."-- "Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly"

"This book has valuable insights for those studying American soft power but offers even more to students and scholars interested in the impact of the representation of minority groups on television, as Rodríguez emphasizes questions of race, class and gender diversity in American television. Unlike previous studies which have mainly focused on international audiences viewing in their home countries, Rodríguez focuses on how depictions of American life on television can impact immigrants' perceptions and expectations of America before and after arrival."-- "Critical Studies in Television"

"This engaging book provides a nuanced probing of the vast and complex literature on the & soft power of television here and abroad to examine how TV shapes the views of foreign born and U.S. millennials about representations of class, race, ethnicity, and gender in America. Through grounded analysis, the findings reveal not only the influence of viewers social and cultural backgrounds on their reception of American television programs, they also transform our understanding of the cultural embeddedness of the global television industry."--Denise Bielby, author of Global TV: Exporting Television and Culture in the World Market

"This insightful book delves into the influence that watching US TV shows has on the viewers preconceptions and perceptions about race, class, and gender, and to what extent they are aware of this influence[A] timely and important contribution in understanding the global dominance of US TV."-- "Choice"

"This is an interesting and important book, as it provides sorely lacking data on not only viewer impressions of television (rather than the content analyses more common in media studies) but also on those of two populations of viewers; it also provides insight into how foreigners see the United States. This book would be very useful in an introduction to sociology class, as well as classes related to globalization or media studies. It is accessible for an undergraduate or even high school audience."-- "American Journal of Sociology"