Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Representation of minorities in american cinema
Media and ethical responsibilities
Media and ethical responsibilities
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Representation of minorities in american cinema
Thesis Statement It is unethical for film market to whitewash the characters of the story. If you take a close look at the films that have been aired, many character’s ethnicity was ignored and replaced by white actors. In addition, it is almost impossible to see POC (person of colours) to take in lead roles in the film market in Canada or USA. This brings up a question: is it ethical to ignore the character’s ethnicity and present false image to the audience due to an influence of the whitewashed film market? Ethics There are two completely separated viewpoints on this ethical issue. One stands on one side saying that ethnicity and the cultural background of the character are not important traits to consider. Pure story is what defines the film itself, not the traits …show more content…
It will also include whitewashed film that targeted different audience – from children to adults. This will also be presented in a way that can outline the oldest to newest occurrence: how it has improved and how the problem still stands. After outlining unethical part of the issue, it will expand on the negative consequences. The research material of past whitewashed film, aside with Dragon Ball and Mulan examples will be helpful. Margaret Cho, that protested ‘whitewashing’ of Hollywood will be mentioned. Dragon Ball movie will address that the main character is white and the helper character is Asian. Mulan will discuss the reality the world currently faces, with the reference to the petition that is established. With further discussion on the petition, the reasoning behind why it is unethical for film market to whitewash everything will be expanded. In this case, the research materials collected from the new articles will be helpful. Perception of the stakeholder, customers in this case, will be addressed the most. In addition, the opportunities for the POC in the film market may be
Before we get into the movie specifically, we should first talk about representation and how race is represented in the media in general. Representation is defined as the assigning of meaning through language and in culture. (CITE) Representation isn't reality, but rather a mere construction of reality and the meaning behind it. (CITE) Through representation we are able to shape how people are seen by others. Race is an aspect of people which is often represented in the media in different ways. Race itself is not a category of nature, but rather...
The majority of today’s films starring Asian actors and actresses often contain numerous stereotypes. They cater to the biased views that most non-Asians have of Asian ethnicity and culture. What they do not know they make up for in ignorance and ridicule in one of today’s top forms of mass media. By using a widespread style of media in today’s pop culture, more and more people are being displayed the fabricated stereotypes of Asians.
As Bill Hug remarks in his writing on the film, “Conventions governing the ethnicity or race of western heroes and villains are bluntly contradicted. Racist Whites become the bad guys; Blacks, an ethnic group not seen before in westerns before the 1960s, are now their victims.” By breaking this traditional view, Brooks is effectively setting an example for the brighter future that he sees. Rather than going along with typical and expected roles, he switches them, creating what we can interpret as the diverse, optimistic, future of film. Hug also makes the conclusion that no other genre would have served this role better, seeing as the western represents Anglo-American supremacy. Taking a classically white dominated genre and twisting it to include an otherwise overlooked subset of the population (in terms of film at least), Brooks adequately sets his film apart. This setting apart gets viewers’ attention and forces them to think on the changing social dynamic around
Ever since the establishment of cinema in the early 1900s, Hollywood has continuously recreated elements of history to reenact for its future generations. In order to clearly broadcast a specific theme or message to relay to viewers around the world, Hollywood executives tend to embellish real life events, in order to provide a “fairytale” aspect to a seemingly not so “happily- ever-after” story from history. As part of this “fairytale” aspect, Hollywood tends to delegitimize as well as provide a more disrespectful and more comical version of societies and cultures in the specific time frame that the film is being set. Through the art of story telling, the movies Mulan and Kung Fu Panda, depict the two sides of Hollywood, the falsifying and mockery making of Chinese people, their society, beliefs and true events of history and that of an accurate portrayal.
The media and is directors producers or anyone who has the responsibility of casting directing or anything that will be shown to the masses have a huge responsibility to every group of people to represent them in light that is not stereotyped in a negative manner. All the films discussed all show some form of stereotype each ethnic group has held over their heads. Ask yourself if we didn’t have film would we still have these stereotypes? In order to get over this racial profiling in film they should start showing what else these groups have accomplished not just the negative side. For example they could make a film of Madam C. J. Walker who was African American and also the first self-made female millionaire. Directors hold a huge responsibility and they owe it society to portray each ethnic group in fair
In Shohat and Stam’s article, Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the media (2013), they discuss the issue of racism within the media and entertainment industry, such as Hollywood films. More importantly, Shohat and Stam’s discuss the assertion of racial politics in casting within the Hollywood films industry. The interesting idea to their argument is that they suggest that for a film to become financially successful, the casting of the protagonist must consist of a white star as they are seen to be ethnically universal (Shohat & Stam, 190). They further suggest that the ethnic minority have been limited to designated roles which ultimately perpetuate their ethnic stereotype (Shohat & Stam, 190). They concern this issue by critically analysing and contrasting western Hollywood films against other ethnic films.
I gave several examples where Asian Americans were used to play very simple characters. These roles were defined by stereotypes that exist in America. I also researched instances on counter actions taken by Asian Americans to protest against these negative images. My research also has examples of Asians that have succeeded in breaking through the racial barriers in the media.
African American representation in the film industry has always been a topic for discussion. Whether talking about character types and roles, the actors being cast or not cast, and the lack of diversity in front of and behind the camera. ‘The contemporary status of race in mainstream American culture is intimately bound to the process of representation within and through the mass media.’ (Rocchio, 2000, p. 4). Any role that was to be played by an African American kept in with the dominant stereotypes of the time of production; incompetent, child like, hyper-sexualised or criminal.
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
However, as degrading the stereotypes may be, some directors use these stereotypes to communicate the reality of the situation. For example, when the premise of the plot relates to history of Asian Americans, the inclusion of culture-specific attitudes and accents transforms the movie or TV show in an unidealized perspective of the world. Rather than shying away from what is considered racist, the directors stays true to what is part of society. Therefore, the ethical responsibility is to display these negative stereotypes.
While watching movies, have you ever noticed that the villains in almost every single Hollywood film are of Middle Eastern or European descent? In a reoccurring theme of Hollywood, the villains in these films are almost always foreigners or people of color. This is a stereotype. On the other side of the spectrum, we often see that the heroes of these films are most often than not white males. This is another stereotype. Within the last few years, we’ve seen actors such as Will Smith, Morgan Freeman, and Zoe Saldana take the lead roles, so it can’t be said that there are no non-white heroes, but there certainly isn’t many. Hollywood action movies, moreover than other genres, are typically loaded with an abundance of stereotypes. The way these movies are composed and structured can tell us a great deal about the views held within the American psyche and who holds the social power. The harsh reality is that the media ultimately sets the tone for societal standards, moralities, and images of our culture. Many consumers of media have never encountered some of the minorities or people of color shown on screen, so they subsequently depend on the media and wholeheartedly believe that the degrading stereotypes represented on the big screen are based on fact and not fiction. Mary Beltran said it best when she stated in her “Fast and Bilingual: Fast & Furious and the Latinization of Racelessness” article, “ultimately, Fast & Furious mobilizes notions of race in contradictory ways. It reinforces Hollywood traditions of white centrism, reinforcing notions of white male master while also dramatizing the figurative borders crossed daily by culturally competent global youth – both Latino and non-Latino” (77). This paper will specifically look...
Roth, Chris. “Three Decades of Film Censorship…right before your eyes”. The Humanist. Vol. 60, No. 1. January/February 2000.
As cited by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of controversy is a discussion marked specifically by the expression of opposing views. The controversy I will analyze is the racial erasure in contemporary media; specifically against Asian Americans. The central claim that I will offer about the racial controversy is that networks are more concerned about the ratings than the representation of race within the cinematic world. Furthermore, the current racial and gender controversy has a tumultuous relationship with social attitudes about human identity because negative Asian stereotypes and whitewashing have been prevalent since the Classical Hollywood Era.
With the popularity of film culture experiencing a drastic increase, a large amount of what happens on screen is mirrored in our society. Movies can evoke thoughts and emotions that shape the average man’s ideals, sometimes even stirring up propaganda that pressures governments to create new laws.
During the early stages of mainstream film and media, it could be analyzed that the information that were available to viewers could directly impact their beliefs, emotions, and behaviors towards the film’s intended message. This can be evidently seen through the movie, Tarzan, the Ape Man, from 1932, where its’ narrative will always epitomize the history of racist demonization of African Americans as ‘savage, ignorant, thieves, and rapists’. This shows how this film is one of many that directly contributed to the rampant racial prejudice that exists today. So, the harmful depiction of African Americans were problematic, because these films were successful and as a result, provided a segregated society where film was the only outlook that provided white Americans to the distorted life of African