Page 82 - Middle Georgia State University - Knighted 2019

shows the struggles and heartache a recovering addict goes through to get back on track, even
years after their recovery. While these statistics are disproportional, the ideas of struggling to
pull oneself out of such as pit is displayed in a tasteful way that gets those important ideas
across. In character portrayal, the struggle of substance abuse showed a character’s weakness and
eventual redemption.

Overall this program tells the viewer a tear-jerking story that gets across many powerful
ideas like equality and brotherhood, or family and strength of character. The proportionality of
race in this television program, as well as the portrayals of each character are positive and only
seem to grow the more you watch, leading to potential for future study. This makes a program
that is a great example of how to write a script and tackle topics like racism and stereotyping
while at the same time breaking through those stereotypes. Dramatic stories like This Is Us ride
on the backs of their characters, and creating powerful or complex characters like the creators of
this program did make a story that is just the same. The information collected above is what
helps storytellers create those complex characters and these things have allowed This Is Us to set
itself apart from others. Through creating complex characters of many races and ethnicities, of
different struggles and backgrounds, we will move towards inclusive media, and This Is Us took
a major step.

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