The Pjs: TV Show Feature Characters By Eddie Murphy

Even though the media’s main purpose is to entertain people many times it does more than that. The media will often reflect what we already see in society and like the reflection theory suggests it also strengthens and perpetuate those norms, values, and beliefs. One show that does this very well is The PJs. The PJs is a stop motion cartoon created by Eddie Murphy. The main location of the show is the Hilton Jacobs Projects which is modeled after the Cabrini-Green housing projects in Chicago. The show feature characters with different ethnicities, African-American, Cuban, Haitian and Korean, and portrayed what life was like was like living in urban public housing projects. The lack of rich families in the television show help show how segregated

Only after realizing that his raisin bran cereal was actually corn flakes with roaches he decides to get roach spray from the United States Government Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) center. A sign above the HUD center doors says “Keeping You In the Projects Since 1965.” At the center when Thurgood asks the lady behind the counter for directions on how to operate the fumigation tanks she replies, “Walk over there, pick up the tank, leave.” Both the sign and the lady’s quick dismissal of Thurgood represents how even though places like HUD where designed to help the poor it typically doesn’t. Inside those places inadvertently causes the poor to remain in poverty. Before spraying the apartments, Thurgood tells the kids that they have to kill the queen roach because she can have up to 2,000 offspring. When asked if they know why Calvin says the reason is so she can get more government assistance. This is a representation of the culture of poverty theory in that women in low income neighborhoods continuously have children in order to get more assistance from the government. After spraying the other apartments, he gets trapped inside of Ms. Avery apartment. While there, he assumes