Sixteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

With the rise of technology’s integration into our daily lives, the industry behind its genius is indispensable. Silicon Valley is at the heart of this innovation. Sadly, the race gap can’t keep up with the ever-evolving and ever-modernizing tech we have. This research aims to scrutinize how this dilemma is portrayed in the HBO show Silicon Valley. The workplace company about tech startups in Palo Alto shows a homogeneity of white folks who run the tech world. From venture capitalists to executives, the industry is predominantly white and male. But because the show is satirical, the creators want it to be as close to reality as possible. They made the majority of the characters white and male, making up 70% of the recurring cast. And in the process of (in)accurately portraying the current technosphere of the real Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley perpetuates racial norms and stereotypes that feed into public discourse, promoting racist remarks to their audience of two million. In this study, I focus on the “minorities” of the tech industry: a Black stripper, a Pakistani programmer, and a Chinese immigrant. I scrutinize how their characters are written and what stereotypes they embodied in the show. This research aims to raise awareness to this problematic media representation and how institutionalized racism still exists inside the most modern of industries.