Hannah Montana

The part of this clip I'm referring to is the character "Roxy". She is the body guard of the main character in the popular TV show Hannah Montana. Not being a regular viewer of the program I am a bit fuzzy on many of the details surrounding the relationship of Roxy and others on the show but from the few episodes I've seen that feature Roxy she seems to play the role of mammy to Hannah and the other kids that appear in the show.

Much like what was explained in the video, Ethnic Notions, that we viewed in class Roxy is given the role of the children's mother. She is obviously not any relation to any of the other characters. She is classic mammy, she cares for the children and the absents of any other mother figure on the show leaves ample room for Roxy to be de-sexualized and to become the mammy of the children. She is very classic in appearance as well, she is a larger women who often is betrayed as being from the south. In the clip that I provided she also presents another stereotype, she is aggressive much like the blacks were made out to be after emancipation. In this clip she says she is a "puma" which furthers the thought that she is "wild" or "uncivilized".

I think that this character is very normally seen is programs for children and these show are so often successful that others try to replicate that success by making the characters in their new show like the ones in the program that has had success. I don't think that the makers of this show places the character Roxy in the script because they wanted to include a stereotyped black women, but maybe because they need a mother figure and this actress just fit the part.