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Media's impact on racism
Dominant Ideology And The Media
Media's impact on racism
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Many people believe and argue that the content of mass media is ideological in nature, meaning that it teaches us the norms and values of the dominant features of society. For example, the ruling class concerning Marxism and patriarchy according to Feminists. This is because the media will only portray the ideologies of the dominant group that it is owned by. As ideology is a term most commonly linked to Marxism it is a good starting point, alongside Karl Marx’s ideas of ideologies. This will continue onto the power of the media and the monopoly that the ‘big 6’ have over the mass media. Thirdly, Antonio Gramsci’s theory of hegemony will be linked to ideology and mass media, followed by Louis Althusser’s ideas of ideological state apparatuses …show more content…
It is possible to see racist ideologies in mass media when focussing on film. Characters usually played by black actors are either; a slave figure, traditional, usually cunning but therefore untrustworthy; a native, displaying a savage usually working against or in the way of the white male hero character; or the ‘clown’ character, unintelligent, there for a comic relief, expressive and emotional (Reading Guide to …, No Date). This portrayal of black people in mainstream mass media is a clear example of racist ideologies that are prevalent frequently, especially in film. However, it is not just film where we see the racist ideologies be portrayed. Mainstream television programs such as F.R.I.E.N.D.S, which is probably one of the most popular television sitcoms ever made, is a cast of 6 white actors living in New York. There is not a single black character as a lead or main role in the series, which is true of a lot of television sitcoms i.e. Will and Grace (Complex Magazine, 2013). In an even more current perspective you could consider the portrayal of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, United States. All the public know about the event is what they find out through social media or through the mainstream mass media. This leaves scope for racist ideologies to become prevalent and emerge. Depending on where the news is sourced could have an influence on how much of the content it ideological in nature, but in this situation, most media tells the facts of the situation and remains mostly ‘on the fence’, but the Fox News (2014) article could be seen as defending the actions and thereby creating a controversial news story with racially ideological
Over the past decades, Hollywood movies have brought out the representations of racial inequality through out various themes of racism and stereotypical ways. One frequent type of racial inequality is that there is a culture or race that is belittled, under-privilege and inferior while the other is superior and high in order. In “The Offensive Movie Cliché That Won’t Die” by Matt Zoller Seitz, He identifies the term “magical negro” as: “a saintly African American character who acts as a mentor to a questing white hero, who seems to be disconnected from the community that he adores so much, and who often seems to have an uncanny ability to say and do exactly what needs to be said or done in order to keep the story chugging along in the hero’s favor” (408) and in Mitu Sengupta “ Race Relations Light Years from the Earth” the author examines the movie Avatar as a racist film, and focuses on how it resembles the “white messiah” stereotype. The term “white messiah” is known as a white individual who hold superior power, according to David Brooks of the New York Times, “a stereotype that white people are rationalistic and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic, and that nonwhites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades” (Sengupta 213). Both articles dwell and explain the two terms and how it portrays the themes of racism and stereotypes through two elements, known as author’s purpose and main idea. These elements effectively convey the theme because it prevents our thoughts from being scattered by a broad spectrum of ideas and instead, it tells you exactly what is going to be discussed throughout the article.
Over past decades, Hollywood movies have brought out the representations of racial inequality through out various themes of racism and stereotypical ways. One frequent type of racial inequality is that there is a culture or race that is belittled, under-privilege and inferior while the other is superior and high in order. In “The Offensive Movie Cliché That Won’t Die” by Matt Zoller Seitz, He identifies the term “magical negro” as: “a saintly African American character who acts as a mentor to a questing white hero, who seems to be disconnected from the community that he adores so much, and who often seems to have an uncanny ability to say and do exactly what needs to be said or done in order to keep the story chugging along in the hero’s favor” (408) and in Mitu Sengupta “ Race Relations Light Years from the Earth” the author examines the movie Avatar as a racist film, and focuses on how it resembles the “white messiah” stereotype. The term “white messiah” is known as a white individual who hold superior power, according to David Brooks of the New York Times, “a stereotype that white people are rationalistic and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic, and that nonwhites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades” (Sengupta 213). Both articles dwell and explain the two terms and how it portrays the themes of racism and stereotypes through two elements, known as author’s purpose and main idea. These elements effectively convey the theme because it prevents our thoughts from being scattered by a broad spectrum of ideas and instead, it tells you exactly what is going to be discussed throughout the article.
Media such as movies, video games and television, in general, are all created to support some form of social context. This helps with generating popularity because people are able to relate to the form of media. In Greg Smith’s book What Media Classes Really Want to Discuss, he describes 6 different representational strategies that justifies people’s way of thinking. The trope that I will be amplifying is the white savior tactic. In addition, I will connect this strategy to the movie The Blind Side. There are clear examples throughout the film where racism and low-income cultures exist in which the white family is there to help. The Tuohy family from the movie “The Blind Side” serves as the white savior for the progression of Michael
Marlon T. Riggs’ video, Color Adjustment, offers the viewer an exciting trip though the history of television, focusing on the representation, or lack thereof, of African-Americans. A perfectly chosen combination of television producers, actors, sociologists, and cultural critics join forces to offer insight and professional opinion about the status of African-Americans in television since the inception of television itself. As Color Adjustment traces the history of television shows from Amos n’ Andy and Julia to "ghetto sitcoms" and The Cosby Show, the cast of television professionals and cultural critics discuss the impacts those representations have on both the African-American community and our society as a whole. Color Adjustment continually asks the question: "Are these images positive?" This video raises the viewer’s awareness about issues of positive images for African-Americans on television.
Many people in America like to think that racial stereotyping and racism is a thing of the past, but racial stereotyping is still prominent in America. Although racial stereotyping and racism significantly slowed down, it still remains a major factor in American society. In “The End of Post-Identity Television,” Aymar Jean Christian argues the fact that race is not a major factor in casting characters in a television series or a movie, he reveals that race is not relevant anymore. In Michael Omi’s “In Living Color: Race and American Culture,” he argues how racial stereotyping and racism still exist in America. The Cosby Show seeked to change racial stereotyping in television by portraying an upper-middle class African American family. The Cosby Show attempted to break barriers for African Americans in television and did so by paving the way for other major African American based sitcoms. “The End of Post-Identity
The White Savior Complex is a damaging subconscious underlay of the Hollywood system, and more broadly all of western society. It is used to further separate the notions of “us” and “other” by creating a firm separation fueled by self-righteousness, and a sense of entitlement. Hollywood attempts to address race relations, but fails because of this trope. Kingsle, from the article “Does My Hero Look White In This?” described that both racism and colonialism are acknowledged, but not without reassuring that not only were white people against the system of racist power dynamics, but also were actively fighting against it in leadership roles (2013). In the remainder of my essay I will be commenting on many modern films and their use on this trope, and why subscribing to this filmmaking strategy is problematic.
For example, the show Everybody Hates Chris portrays an African-American family living in Bed-Sty, Brooklyn. The family is shown as living from paycheck to paycheck and trying to better their lives. Yet, the neighborhood around them influences many of their decisions. Many of the minor characters are portrayed as African-American people who will do anything in order to survive, such as murder or steal. It also shows the Caucasian persons as being superior and “better”.
...ent from the silent era of film, overt racism of ethnic minorities was blatantly apparent within the film medium. However, presently this overt racism however has shifted into a more subtle segregation of casting and racial politics within the film medium. It seems that both the problem and the solution lies in the Eurocentric domination within the Hollywood film industry – and it seems that it still remains challenged to this day.
... model for how the entertainment and media industries depict black people must change. Despite the progress that blacks have worked toward since the days of slavery, society continues to give in to the monetary benefits of producing self-disparaging entertainment and media. It is not only up to the directors, editors, producers and writers to establish this change, but it should also be the demand of the people, or the consumer. If the images of black people in the media are improved the outlook within the community will improve as well. Not only will positive goals and achievements become more realistic for black people if the media outlets discontinue their practice of equating blacks with aggression, lawlessness and violence, but a greater good will also result for whites, which would be represented by a true autonomy and equality in American society.
The media, including television programming, cartoons, film, the news, as well as literature and magazines, is a very powerful and pervasive medium for expression. It can reach a large number of people and convey ideas, cultural norms, stereotypic roles, power relationships, ethics, and values. Through these messages, the mass media may have a strong influence on individual behavior, views, and values, as well as in shaping national character and culture. Although there is a great potential for the media to have a positive and affirming effect on the public and society at large, there may be important negative consequences when the messages conveyed are harmful, destructive, or violent.
Often racial injustice goes unnoticed. Television tries to influence the mind of their viewers that blacks and whites get along by putting them on the screen to act as if interracial relationships has been accepted or existent. “At the movies these days, questions about racial injustice have been amicably resolved (Harper,1995). Demott stresses that the entertainment industry put forth much effort to persuade their audience that African Americans and Caucasians are interacting and forming friendships with one another that is ideal enough for them to die for one another. In the text, Demott states “A moment later he charges the black with being a racist--with not liking whites as much as the white man likes blacks--and the two talk frankly about their racial prejudices. Near the end of the film, the men have grown so close that each volunteer to die for the other” (Harper,1995). Film after film exposes a deeper connection amongst different races. In the text, Demott states “Day after day the nation 's corporate ministries of culture churn out images of racial harmony” (Harper, 1995). Time and time again movies and television shows bring forth characters to prove to the world that racial injustice has passed on and justice is now received. Though on-screen moments are noticed by many people in the world it does not mean that a writer/ director has done their
Antonio Gramsci was founder of the Italian Communist Party in the 1920’s whose seminal publication “The Prison Notebooks” has proven to be one of the most influential leftist texts of the 20th Century. Echoing aspects of Marxist-Leninist thought, Gramsci was primarily concerned with the dominance of a small ruling elite upon society, both on a national and international scale. Arguably the foundational concept of Gramsci’s vision is that of hegemony, as this concept forms the basis from which the majority of Gramscian ideas evolve. It is essential to distinguish the Gramscian notion of hegemony from its traditional understanding within dominant International Relations theories such as neo-realism. Within such theories, the term refers to a state’s hard and soft power capacity to attain dominance over other sovereign states within the international system. For instance, the neo-realist hegemonic stability theory suggests that stability is achieved in a unilateral system whereby a single state attains sufficient dominance as to act as a hegemonic power within the international arena (Bieler and Morton, 2003). In contrast, a Gramscian vision of hegemony involves the domination of an elite minority over the majority of the population, and is achieved and maintained via the mechanisms of both coercion and consent. In this sense, the Gramscian understanding of the term is far broader than the realist conception as it involves both internal and external elements and is not restricted to the unit of the state.
Early on before the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s, blacks were presented on screen as a stereotype of a servant/slave and were represented as being uneducated. In recent years with the success of actors such as Idris Elba, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman etc., in various roles have proven sometimes that black characters in film and television don’t have to be “stock” types. However, there are many negative representations of black people in recent years such as the archetypical “African-American gangsta” and because of this, these kind of portrayals seem purposely created to spark the fear and hatred of other
O’Shaughnessy, M., Stadler, J. (2009)Media and Society: An introduction. Dominant Ideology and Hegemony. London: Oxford.
What is ideology? And how can it help our understanding of media? There are many different theories as to what ideology is, from being about people’s beliefs and how people see themselves in the world. In this essay I shall be looking at different theorists and how each of their theories helps us to understand what ideology is, and how ideology can help us to understand media.