Stereotypes In Hollywood

The media plays such an integral role in all of our daily lives, but the driving forces that create it are just as important. For years, the production aspect of it has intrigued many — with fans of films or television fascinated by behind-the-scenes footage, or in a more recent example, the president of the United States questioning certain outlets and their storytelling processes. But to what degree do those working in media production affect the actual media, and how much is attributed to their backgrounds? How varied are they, and how can their personal experiences and cultural understandings influence what news stories get pushed through to the audience — as well as in what way they are communicated? How is the entertainment we consume
This cultural precedent in Hollywood lends to minorities continually being met with a pattern of obstacles in the form of perpetuated stereotypes and thus, an inherent lack of meaningful representation. When Hollywood has such massive global reach and the ability to impact so many, this becomes an issue of inequality; the voices of minorities are quieted, and their opportunities are lesser. Numerical representation, one of the three types of representation in cultural production, centers around “a group’s presence or absence on-screen or behind-the-scenes,” whereas quality of representation and centrality of representation both embody the multi-dimensionality (whether they are subject to stereotypes or typecasting), relevance and value (how central a group is to the core of production, or if they reside on the fringes) of the roles minorities then play. As it stands, Latinos make up only five percent of acting roles, and are apparently the “most underrepresented, comprising over 16 percent of the 2010 population in the U.S. but slightly less than five percent of speaking characters.” (Erigha,
Just as race and ethnicity influence Hollywood and its widespread influential entertainment, they too play a part in local news in terms of what stories are picked up and how often, how they are assigned and framed, as well as what sources are then pulled from to tell them. With “56% of Americans [watching] local television news regularly,” (Poindexter, Smith & Heider, 2003), that process becomes a powerful tool in changing or shaping a significant population’s perceptions of certain groups, particularly minorities. Enlisting the concept of framing, or “selecting some aspects of a perceived reality and making them more salient in a communicating text” (Poindexter, Smith & Heider, 2003), a phenomenon referred to as “second-level agenda-setting” comes into play, emphasizing the shift of salience from the media’s to the public’s agendas — whereas “first-level” focuses more on the actual subject of a story. This marriage of concepts goes on to form the general public’s opinion of whichever minority is being covered based upon how frequently they are visible in the news, in what capacity, and then with what tone or imagery they are portrayed in or with. “The framing of stories can influence how non-blacks feel about equality, fair play, or affirmative action,” (Poindexter, Smith & Heider, 2003) and though this article primarily focuses on the perception of African Americans, it isn’t a stretch to apply it to