Stereotypes In Shrek

Skyenne Soriano

Mrs. Mendoza

IB English and Literature

Part 1 Written Task Topic # 3

13 September 2015

Language Stereotypes

Language is a powerful tool and manner on how we, as people, live and socialize. It is a gateway to communication and how to interpret things. As humans, we often distinguish ourselves as individuals through language, creating a sort of identity through linguistics among our fellow peers. In present times, it is just as significant how we say things as to what we say. It has become the norm to categorize others based off how they speak. This act of divergence is powerful, the judging prematurely of and setting standards to certain social groups leads to stereotyping and cultural bias. Linguistic determinism

has divided people for the worst. We degrade and abase people by their dialects, accents and vernacular.

Language is used everyday and exists all around us. It is blatant to state that we are constantly influenced and reflected by media and culture. TV and movies have a prominent impact and are a source of language norms. The usage of language is intriguing and how Hollywood movies have a figurative representation of it, being used to mark identity and emphasize features of the movie characters. However, this representation can be very misleading, demeaning, and misinterpreted of the social group and minorities being portrayed.

Popular movies have poisoned the concept of linguistic determinism and the Sapir- Whorf hypothesis. They have developed and formed generalized ideas towards whole nations, races, and social groups. An example of this is in the Disney movie Atlantis: The Lost Empire, when the character Gaetan “Mole” Moliere is first introduced as the geologist with a very heavy French accent who loves anything to do with dirt and digging. Gaetan is portrayed as a man who despises being clean and even hisses and backs away from a bar soap when it is showed to him, his reaction of body language and response is a subtle reference to the stereotype “dirty French.” Another character from Atlantis portrayed stereotypically, is Joshua Sweet, the physician. Joshua is the movie’s only black character and is clearly educated, however; he still speaks with grammatical errors, a stereotype that all African descents are a minority and not educated enough.

This is similar to the stereotype in the film Forrest Gump, the way Bubba talked was not grammatically correct, but spoke Southern American English. As for Forest, it clear that he had a learning disability and his intellectual capacity was limited. He is presented with a stereotypical child-like innocent persona that is shown through how he spoke, always referring to “Momma always said…,” and for taking everything literal. For example, when Jenny Curran asks;

"Have you ever been with a girl, Forrest?"

Forest responds with; "I sit next to them in my Home Economics class all the time” (Zemeckis, Forrest Gump).

Another instance is when Lieutenant Daniel asks Forrest if he has “found Jesus yet,”

Forest replies with; "I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, sir" (Zemeckis, Forrest Gump).

This is the common stereotype that “people with disabilities, especially cognitive impairments, are holy innocents endowed with special grace, with the function of inspiring others to value life. The person with a disability will be compensated for his/her lack by greater abilities and strengths in other areas -- abilities that are sometimes beyond the ordinary” (Block 1). Forrest lacked intellectually, but it is apparent he makes up for it physically and emotionally. Also in this movie, there are the stereotypical southern accents, southern culture, and “redneckery”.

It is ever so often that certain accents are stereotyped as being less intelligent. The impact of the media is influencing societal perception about accents. The recent comedy movie Hot Pursuit is about an uptight, by-the-book cop (Reese Witherspoon) escorting the widow and witness, Daniella Rivas (Sofia Vergara), to testify against a drug lord, but when all goes wrong and misunderstood, they end up as refugees. Throughout the movie, there is the constant mention and reminder of Vergara’s character’s ethnicity and accent. In the beginning of the movie, Witherspoon’s character states she cannot understand Daniella because of her accent, Witherspoon’s character obviously does not think Vergara’s character is intelligent and expects nothing of her. Vergara’s character even makes the statement “What? The brown lady can’t read a book?” when Witherspoon has trouble understanding something herself (Fletcher, Hot Pursuit). Vergara’s character is debased because of her accent and language.

In the movie Shrek, the main female character Fiona is portrayed as the traditional typical fairytale princess, waiting for her knight in shining armor. For example in the first scene she’s introduced in;

Shrek: ‘“Wake up!”

Fiona: “What?”

Shrek: “Are you Princess Fiona?”

Fiona: “I am, awaiting a knight so bold as to rescue me.”

Shrek: “Oh, that’s nice. Now let’s go!”

Fiona: “But wait, Sir Knight.

This be-ith our first meeting. Should it not be a wonderful, romantic moment?”

Shrek: “Yeah, sorry, lady. There’s no time.”

Fiona: “Hey, wait. What are you doing? You should sweep me off my feet out yonder window and down a rope onto your valiant steed.”

Shrek: “You've had a lot of time to plan this, haven't you?”’ (Adamson and Jenson, Shrek).

Fiona is the stereotypical damsel in distress, unable to accomplish anything without a man. Her language is misogynic, stereotypes woman, and glorifies gender roles.

In conclusion, media is a very major influence on stereotypes. It is popular, and has a widespread global connection that misleads how a social group really is. Stereotypes never fit a whole group, but generalize them. Stereotypes never actually fit anyone and are a danger leading to prejudice and racism. They are harmful labels dividing and segregating people. This is a setback, stopping many from succeeding and having missed opportunities. We, as people are far from ridding the world of stereotypes and judging others, but we are slowly making progress.

Work Cited

Block, Laurie. "Education: Essay." Disability History Museum. Straight Ahead Pictures, Inc., n.d. Web. 14 Sept.

2015.

Forrest Gump. Dir. Robert Zemeckis. Perf. Tom Hanks, Robin Wright. Paramount Pictures, 1994. Film.

Hot Pursuit. Dir. Anne Fletcher. Perf. Reese Witherspoon, Sofia Vegara. Warner Bros. Entertainment, 2015. Film.
Shrek. Dir. Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson. Perf. Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz. Dreamworks Pictures, 2001. Film.