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Racism in the media essays
What is the impact of stereotypes in media
Racism in the media essays
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In the essay “White on Rice: Yellowface in American Media” the asian-american author asserts that people of Asian, Hispanic, Latino, Indian, and Native American, but particularly Asians, ethnicity are not only underrepresented, but down right ostracized in the realm of film and television here in the United States through a process known as Yellowfacing, or the misrepresentation of the Asian ethnicity by predominantly white actors. The author uses the movie Massacre of the Christians by the Chinese among other examples of television and film that contain yellowfacing to exemplify the media's outwardly biased discrimination towards the Asian ethnicity. The author’s purpose is to shed light upon the mind of the intended audience, by showing them
how yellowfacing is a practice that damages our cultures effort to advance towards ending discrimination and living harmoniously with one another. Given the strong language used within the paper, alongside of the author’s effort to shed background on the subject using relatively recent history, meaning it was more than likely not intended for an audience that would have already been aware of the events; the intended audience is younger Americans that are growing up and learning to make decisions on how they would like to treat people.
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
Today, American film is among the most internationally supported commodities. Financially, its contributions are enormous: the industry is responsible for the circulation of billions of dollars each year. Since its explosion into the new media markets during the mid-twentieth century, film has produced consistently growing numbers of viewers and critics alike. Sparking debate over the nature of its viewing, film is now being questioned in social, political, and moral arenas for its potential impact on an audience. Critics claim that watching films is a passive activity in which the viewer becomes subconsciously absorbed, and creates a reliance or "addiction" to the medium, and thus can be influenced by any perpetual concepts or images. Advocates, however, argue that viewing such programs is an active process in which audience members are able to choose to what they are exposed, and interpret messages based on their individual needs and background. Perhaps both views are too extreme. Film from the 1950s to present, as will be explored in this essay, is an extremely useful medium, often underestimated within the label of "entertainment"; unfortunately, it may be partially responsible for current socio-cultural problems, too. The critical question, then, is whether film has fostered the progress of a more open-minded America, or rather hindered its development through the perpetuation of antiquated concepts of stereotypes, densensitized violence and breeding of normalcy.
Andre, Judith. “Stereotypes: Conceptual and Normative Considerations.” Multicultural Film: An Anthology. Spring/Summer 2014. Eds. Kathryn Karrh Cashin and Lauren Martilli. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2013.
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.
Woll, Allen L and Randall M Miller. Ethnic and Racial Images in American Film and Television: Historical Essays and Bibliography. n.d. Print.
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.
Public out cry about actors who portray other races has brought attention to the subject and has produced numerous arguments. These actors who portray themselves a different race is something that shouldn’t be viewed as a positive thing that we should continue to do. First of having an actor portray another race usually results in a more stereotypical role. This gives the public a bad image of different ethnicities, which may think that this is that ethnicities normal behavior. Similarly, having an actor portray another ethnicity takes a job away from someone from that race. Actors of other races are under represented in films. By not giving minorities opportunities they can’t prove that they are in fact good actors, limiting them in future roles. By allowing actors to portray a different race we are not respecting minorities as equals.
In the essay " Rice for Thanksgiving " by Jocelyn Fong who is a full american, partial asian young girl is a young girl who admires her untraditional thanksgiving, and meaning. Fong loves thanksgiving, due to her Grand mothers special dish " Rice and Gravy " as said in the essay Her Grandmother always celebrated the American way, She even never got around to teaching Fong's father their native language. " I believe in rice and gravy, I am half Asian and completely American. " by Fong saying that, she completely accepts the mix she is by referring to the mix of food that is a tradition. You should celebrate holidays the way it makes you happy, with your very own culture regardless the fact if it is different.
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...
At the end of the NPR article they discuss the problem between keeping television shows diverse, “without amplifying the problems of stereotyping and prejudice” (Feld). Television shows feel that in order to a successful show with diversity, the people need to be cast-typed or take on every stereotype that is associated with that particular race or gender. The Erigha article discusses how, “many of actors were type-casted, or put in racialized roles, that fit their ethnicity” and some of these people do not necessarily fit that type, “they used Asian Actors as an example, many of the actors that were born in America, were asked to speak in a Chinese accent.”
The motion picture has become the most popular medium of storytelling today, an awe-inspiring idea of fiction that developed just over 110 years ago. The complex characters and engaging storylines allow for film to often impact the audience the same way a direct experience would. Film has allowed people to understand others they never would have met otherwise. Therefore, it is important to many that the people portrayed in film be true to who they represent. The American Jew is no different and has come a long way from the simplistic manifestations of their stereotypes. Jews in America have faced many challenges since their arrival in 1654, with their film representations being an example (Diner 225). Similar to many other ethnic groups, stereotypes
Ethnicity and appearance has become a tremendous problem in the media due to the fact that they try to use it as a power to control creativity of abstaining the truth in media. According to journalist Nishijima, A, she refers to the Oscars and explains that it is very absurd how the media is slowly progression in lacking diversity. This was recognized when watching the Oscars and seeing that based off predominantly white nominees. Nishijima quotes “Boone Isaacs decl...
Have you ever seen big films about Chinese culture or folklore with a Chinese person playing the part besides Jackie Chan? According to the documentary Yellow Face it stated that “However, yellow face endures and is still a commonly accepted practice in Hollywood today” (Yellow Face). Yellow face is a practice film maker’s do that changes a Caucasian into looking like a Chinese or an Asian person. Film makers use make up or editing in the movie to change the appearance of a Caucasian that got the role of the Asian or Chinese person. Hollywood writers and directors do have a social responsibility to avoid stereotyping ethnic characters because they are showing bad stereotypes of ethnic groups often offend people, and children often learn from