Even though we have made monumental progress over the past fifty years toward racial equality and diversity, it is still commonly argued that popular culture lacks a certain form of racial representation. In the United States, the people who live here are very diverse in terms of race and culture, but in the media, people of color are marginalized and stereotyped every day in movies, music, etc. The world of television can either completely hit or miss the mark when it comes to providing its audience with a diverse cast/actors. “Girls” is a new HBO show about young, rich, white New Yorkers in their 20s who struggle to find their place in the post-college world. It's a bad example of racial representation, but the show itself cannot be blamed for the entire problem of racial diversity in media and popular culture. There's been a lot of controversy over the diversity of the show since the first episode, seeing as how it's set in the melting pot of New York and Brooklyn, and yet it's predominantly white. What's shocking is that despite its dating nature, it's very easy to live a segregated social life in New York, especially if you're a wealthy white person. The fact that the show is so white shouldn't seem unusual, but it does because this generation is more willing to see this change happening in pop culture. Not everyone sees it that way and pop culture still doesn't represent races equally or sometimes even accurately. For example, when shows add minorities, they often make them extremely stereotypical of their race. The recurrence of the lack of realistic representation in the series highlights the “whiteness” of stereotypical roles that overshadows actual representation. McIntosh explores the...... middle of paper ...... Latinos and European Americans that goes beyond superficial jokes? It is a contemporary and insightful exploitation of today's diversity issues, but it nevertheless contains a notable exclusion. There are no black lead characters. For a show that addresses diversity issues, this is apparently an elephant in the room. I believe it's because it's easier to write affirmative comedy about gays, Latinos, young people, and old people, but not about racial issues. It would be very difficult to make comedy out of racial issues because white privilege is a very serious thing. Avoiding it altogether shows how race is still a touchy subject in the United States. Pop culture is a backdrop to everyday life, from television and movies to Facebook and music. It has the power to influence how we think and what we think. So why is there still a lack of equal and fair racial representation? ??