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Stereotypes and their effects
Racial Stereotypes and their Effects
Stereotypes and their effects
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In today’s society, a minstrel show would unquestionably be pointed out as a racist act. However, if stereotypes were used in comedic TV shows it becomes more uncertain as to whether or not it is appropriate. With the popular use of satire in the current pop culture, the line between racism and harmless satire is harder to define. Shows like Family Guy play on a lot of racial stereotypes but do not always receive attention on those jokes. The show is often written off as just a raunchy animated show, so people expect the outrageous humor and take the jokes less seriously. Racist jokes has been muddled with satire by putting it in a comical context and in a different medium such as animation. There needs to be a more defined line between what is satirical and what is racist because it has become easier to play off a racist remark as a joke. Continuing to accept the excuse of stereotypical characterizations as plain humor still contributes to the perpetuation of racist stereotypes.
When Family Guy satirizes racial stereotypes it is taken as a lighthearted joke but the creators do not realize that it is still damaging to the reputation of those the show makes fun of. In a paper written by Lacroix, a professor at the College of Charleston, she discusses an episode of Family Guy where the family goes to a casino that was owned by Native Americans. Lacroix states that “Though visual exaggeration may be argued to be a feature of the genre, the tone of these satirization is plainly patronizing” (Lacroix). The Native Americans’ were portrayed in a nonsensical manner. Lacroix mentions there were multiple jokes made about the intelligence of the Native Americans as well as characters with absurd names such as “Running Bear” and “Watches Y...
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.... The cutaway gags that are usually shown are not for the progression of the plot of an episode. Some jokes made about races, like the Asian stereotype mentioned prior, are just included in an episode for the sake of making a joke. It is difficult to claim that the stereotypes portrayed on Family Guy are harmful to the people it makes fun of because the argument of it satirizing something greater will always be a defense. In a paper written by Michael Cundall, a professor from North Carolina Agricultural and State University, stated that “any complaint should be made against the society and not against the joke or the teller” (Cundall). This presents the idea that the ethnic jokes are only harmful because society has set it up to be with the racial stereotypes. The jokes are the product of racism rather than the cause of it therefore it cannot be proven as harmful.
It was hilarious whenever Fred Sanford of the hit series Sanford and Son used to fake his heart attack saying that famous phrase, “I’m coming Elizabeth” or what about him telling Aunt Ester how ugly she was. No one took that type of comedy to the heart and it was intended to hurt no one. It was all for a laugh. Now in today’s time there are new shows on television such as The Chapelle Show, which is hosted and directed by the comedian Dave Chapelle. The object of this show seems to be how much fun he can make of a different race. Times have changed and so have peoples’ since of humor. People went from the laid-back type sitcoms such as Sanford and Son, The Three Stooges, and The Little Rascals, which are all types of shows that people can watch with their entire family, to shows even adults feel turned away from. Some examples include The Chapelle Show and In Living Color.
helping. Television is making the shows out to seem like one race is better than another. For
The YouTube clip titled “Native Americans” on Seinfeld depicts how Jerry, the Chinese man, Winona and other characters simply become victims of social errors and biases either by their choice of words or culture. The clip began with Jerry Seinfeld coming over to Elaine’s place. As she is hangs out with friends, Jerry’s
People tend to base characteristics and personalities of people pretty quickly. Most people base their opinions on stereotypes. Reginald Rose and his play “12 Angry Men” demonstrate how people are quick to judge other people based on looks. In the movie all twelve jurors must decide if a young boy is guilty or innocent. At the beginning of the movie/play-write, only one juror, juror eight, decides the boy is innocent. Based on the evidence gathered from the case everyone agrees the boy is innocent except one man, juror three. He eventually breaks down and tells the truth. The viewers can tell that this movie/play is full of emotions. Each of these emotions can be described as something more than what comes to the eye.
Similarly, the popular tv series Parks and Recreation, does the same in the episode “Harvest Festival” by exposing how easy we stereotype certain groups. In both portrayals of Native Americans, they make obvious how easy it is to stereotype and believe a stereotype of a specific group without noticing it or even noticing the other qualities a certain group possesses.
Like many satirical writings, Everybody Hates Chris shows an exaggerated form of racial stereotypes to reaffirm their political stance against stereotypes. If an issue is made to be so ridiculous as to be a joke, one may see it's ridiculousness in normal functioning society. These satirical tactics are used as tools to solidify the show’s stance of the difference in class and the continuing stereotypes. Chris’s experiences are fictional and over exaggerated, but are used in the show as light hearted comedic issues that are actually being used address topics otherwise taboo to reach a large audience, such as the mistreatment and stereotyping of black Americans.
For years’ black comedians have been stereotyped by black humor using racial slurs in their jokes to communicate with audience an about the social and political issues in the black communities. Although a diverse audience might catch on to most of the contents in a joke that have black humor, some people in American may take it in a harmful and unintended way to avoid controversy with the audience so people need to understand how to identify what is humorous and what is offensive in racial and ethnic humor. I will attempt to prove that living in such a diverse society with the freedom of speech it does not always mean using the word Nigga is a racist thing to say in comedy.
The usage of media is huge in nowadays. People rely on different kinds of media to receive information in their everyday life because they are thirsty for the diverse and informative content. However, inaccurate portrayals of people from different races always appear in the media and audience will exaggerate those portrayals by their inflexible beliefs and expectations about the characteristics or behaviors of the portrayals’ cultural groups without considering individual variation (Ting-Toomey and Chung, 2012); in fact, it is also called as stereotypes. According to a study by the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism at San Francisco State University (Stein, 2012), racial stereotyping continues to occur in media and the mainstream media's coverage of different cultural groups is full of biased reporting, offensive terminology and old stereotypes of American society. It specifically emphasizes that majority of the stereotyped characters in media will only bring out the dark side of their cultural groups which many of them might not be true, especially for the portrayals of black community: African American.
There are many ways that we can communicate our message to the world. One particular way is through humor. Comedy has an effect on the human experience. It can cause discomfort, joy, shock, confusion and so on. Sometimes it can stir up two emotions at once like anger and regret. Humor can also be used to bring light to issues that are occurring in today’s society. Throughout, this essay I will be examining the use of humor, especially, in the Native American culture. One main issue that Native Americans face in today’s society is that they’re being stereotyped.
This short video demonstrates everyday scenarios. The video takes the State Farm Insurance commercial and adds a twist to it. It starts with a white man and black man in an office having a normal conversation. The white man starts making racist comments without realizing it. The black man naturally points out the white mans offensive comments and the white man becomes uncomfortable and scared. The white man then panics and sings “Oops I was racist black guy come here” (“Dear White People”). He sings the words in the style of the State Farm Insurance Jingle and a well dressed black man appears only to back up the white man by saying the white mans comments were not meant to be racist. After the “Racism Agent” argues for the white mans case the black man agrees the white man was all right and the agent disappears. This video is clearly parody because of the State Farm Insurance jingle and the commercial concept. From the man singing the jingle his own way, to the “Racism Agent” showing up to meet the needs of the white man, it is exactly the same. This video is undoubtedly a horatian piece because it is extremely laughable. It also demonstrates how people can be racist by saying simple things without even realizing it. This also demonstrates that people should be more careful about what they say and how they say it. The message in the video needs to register in people’s minds not only because the video is funny but because of how the video is
For many years, racial and ethnic stereotypes have been portrayed on multiple television programs. These stereotypes are still illustrated on a day-to-day basis even though times have changed. Racial or ethnic stereotypes should not be perpetuated on certain television programs. These stereotypes provide false information about groups, do not account for every person, allow older generations to influence younger generations, create tension between groups, and affect people in many ways.
The “Shaquille O’Neal Motors” episode from the series “Fresh off the Boat” shows an immigrant family and how they’ve come to live and adapt to living in America. Fresh off the Boat depicts an Asian-American family with 3 kids. The mother and father seem to be careful with what they spend their money on. The kids seem to be happy with each other however they do want expensive items they’re parents can’t get them such as the slip and slide hotdog. The mother and father are happy with each other but it is clear that the mother likes to save her money and count her pennies. This is done clearly to make fun of the fact how immigrant families tend to be more frugal. There are other incidents where these parodies of immigrant families are made, such
For example, in the local school, stereotypes such as the image of the ‘wild man’ are consolidated by claiming that there was cannibalism among the indigenous people of the northwest coast (Soper-Jones 2009, 20; Robinson 2010, 68f.). Moreover, native people are still considered to be second-class citizens, which is pointed out by Lisamarie’s aunt Trudy, when she has been harassed by some white guys in a car: “[Y]ou’re a mouthy Indian, and everyone thinks we’re born sluts. Those guys would have said you were asking for it and got off scot-free”
Family Guy, an animated sitcom about a New England family and their everyday dilemmas, is a way for viewers to see the comedic side of a dysfunctional family. The Griffins consist of Peter and Lois, the patriarch and matriarch, and Meg, Chris, and Stewie are the children(Family Guy). Every character is different from the next character. They are also weird in their own way. The television show itself displays feminism, structuralism, and gay and lesbian criticism. Each character in the show also displays those criticisms in a certain fashion. Family Guy can be offensive to viewers with its satire, and the way the show delivers its message can make the family and the other characters in the show seem dysfunctional.
TV shows such as the Simpsons are packed with stereotypes within its half-hour broadcast. The Simpsons contains a large number of audience that watch the show daily as it is broadcasted during prime time. Characters such as Apu are highly discriminated against and stereotyped. On this show Apu is characterized as an Indian immigrant, who prays to Ganesh, and holds a highly noticeable and dissimilar accent. This is a stereotype which is observed by young children and is perceived as humorous; they apply this knowledge towards those they meet in real-life.