Stereotypes in the Media
Edie Rangel
Race and Ethnicity
Professor Herman
October 25, 2010
Over the past couple of decades the usage of offensive stereotypes have played a big role in popular films, TV shows, music videos, and comedy routines today. In fact one can only argue that these offensive stereotypes have increased considerably and will only continue to grow. There are many reasons as to why these stereotypes have only increased and have led to the creators of these films making millions and millions of dollars. The main reason behind this is making fun of race, color, poverty, and other cultures and using straightforward offensive words to do so is humorous to a large part of the US population. Although most of us would feel insulted if these offensive racial stereotypes were directed toward us. The purpose of comedy routines/films was to bring laughter for the media today, which was not the case decades ago. The reason why the media displayed much discrimination and stereotypes in the films was to portray minorities as dangerous, uneducated and unsuccessful. Though now the media has showed much improvement in how they portray minorities, there are many films showing Blacks/Hispanics being the main character and successful such as Will Smith has played the heroic and professional character in many films such as Independence Day, Men in Black, Bad Boys etc. This has helped pave the way for Black’s reputation on the big screen and real life. Antonio Banderas is another actor who has been very successful in his career and received awards and nominations for his roles in movies where he has played famous Latin artists. This is another positive way for minorities to be looked as equal to Whites in the media and not just be portrayed as the stereotypical characters. The media that helped make these diverse programs so successful for many years; the focus is on the entertainment rather than just the diversity and stereotypical views of minority
Race and Ethnicity
Professor Herman
October 25, 2010
Over the past couple of decades the usage of offensive stereotypes have played a big role in popular films, TV shows, music videos, and comedy routines today. In fact one can only argue that these offensive stereotypes have increased considerably and will only continue to grow. There are many reasons as to why these stereotypes have only increased and have led to the creators of these films making millions and millions of dollars. The main reason behind this is making fun of race, color, poverty, and other cultures and using straightforward offensive words to do so is humorous to a large part of the US population. Although most of us would feel insulted if these offensive racial stereotypes were directed toward us. The purpose of comedy routines/films was to bring laughter for the media today, which was not the case decades ago. The reason why the media displayed much discrimination and stereotypes in the films was to portray minorities as dangerous, uneducated and unsuccessful. Though now the media has showed much improvement in how they portray minorities, there are many films showing Blacks/Hispanics being the main character and successful such as Will Smith has played the heroic and professional character in many films such as Independence Day, Men in Black, Bad Boys etc. This has helped pave the way for Black’s reputation on the big screen and real life. Antonio Banderas is another actor who has been very successful in his career and received awards and nominations for his roles in movies where he has played famous Latin artists. This is another positive way for minorities to be looked as equal to Whites in the media and not just be portrayed as the stereotypical characters. The media that helped make these diverse programs so successful for many years; the focus is on the entertainment rather than just the diversity and stereotypical views of minority
Bibliography: 1. Freedom of speech that is protected by the First Amendment to the United States of America and by many state constitutions, state and federal laws ( First Amendment wikipedia 2010 par. 1) 2. Gallager, Charles A. (2008) Rethinking the Color Line: Television and the Politics of Representation, Distorted Reality: Hispanic Characters in TV Entertainment 302-320 3. Riggs, Marlon (1986) Ethnic Notions