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What is the role of ethnicity and race in the way audiences interpret media messages
Portrayal of race in the media
Misrepresentation of minorities in media
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Good evening ladies and gentleman. I have to say it is an honor to be here today in Los Angeles. I am naturally thrilled that so many of you decided to come out today for the premiere, I’m thrilled to find that many of you support the film. I know there are plenty of box-office movie s you could have seen, but that you chose to watch my documentary, it truly means a lot to me.
You know, films are such wonderful creation. I have absolutely loved going to the movies ever since I was a little boy, growing up in Pittsburg. I remember going to the theatre every Saturday with my wonderful grandmother. My mother used to work as a cashier there, so it was a good excuse to take in as many movies as possible. I must have seen hundreds of movies as a child. That probably explains my somewhat obsessive passion and interest for film and television and my fascination with the power media has to shape reality.
When I was a little boy I would catch cartoons on television. But back then I was only 5 or 6 years old, so obviously I didn’t realize the negative stereotyping of Arabs was so common throughout cartoons just for the sake of humor. It wasn’t until I was in my early thirties that I really noticed. At the time my children were watching their daily cartoon shows and they basically said: “Daddy, why are there bad Arabs on TV”. It’s quite sad actually, that is took me that long to notice the trend, but that just shows how harmful racial and ethnical stereotyping can be. The film and television industry has been doing this for so long, even back in the times of silent films; people have become accustomed to it.
They believe that what they see in the screen is a realistic portrayal of Arabs and the Arab world. When I started developing “Reel Bad...
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...ng degraded in the media. Whether this is a good or bad thing, I’m not sure of. However, the overall act of stereotyping a certain group. Not just in films, but in all forms of mass media. There is no appreciation for these people, be they Arabs, African Americans or Asians. Of course, this is not an easy task. But what I want to ask of you, who have come today, is to really think about what you see in the documentary. The first step in eliminating this stereotype is to be informed and educated about the ethnicity being targeted. Only then can we spot and identify bias, stereotyping and inaccurate portrayals of people in the media. IF this film can give you a better understanding of the stereotypes used, and can show you all the harm it has and can cause. Then I say that I have achieved my goal.
Thank you again for coming and I hope you enjoy the film.
...ome to us at an interesting time, before the Revolution, 40 percent of Tehran movie theaters were showing pornography. The function of this office is purification as well as promotion for the arts.” The first part notions the Western stereotype of the Orient since the same as the time when it was discovered, but now the people of the Orient realize the stereotypes and are changing the way they see themselves because of these stereotypes. It is only by correcting these assumptions, stereotypes, and misconceptions of the Orient at the heart of society today, the media can Orientalism be fixed. The Eastern people must be allowed to sympathize in movies and films to humanize them and have intimate interactions. Otherwise, the Orient will be continued to be known incorrectly as a place with people who are without reason, screaming, protesting, and in swarming mobs.
Besides, in cultivation theory, George Gerbner proposes that heavy users of media treat the content of media as a primary source to perceive the world and assert what they see in media is very similar to the reality (Bryant, Thompson and Finklea, 2013), so there is a high possibility that audience will bring the perception of stereotyped portrayals of African-American from media into the real world. Based on the above unhealthy situations, this paper is going to illustrate how the racial stereotypes in media negatively affect people’s perception, attitude and behavior toward African American in the reality....
Movies, one can argue, are one of America’s greatest pastimes. Unfortunately, after 9/11, films have become increasingly prejudiced against American Muslims. In movies Muslims are frequently portrayed negatively. According to James Emery, a professor of Anthropology, Hollywood profits off of “casting individuals associated with specific negative stereotypes”. This is due to the fact that viewers automatically link characters with their clichéd images (Emery). For Muslims, the clichéd image is of the violent fundamentalist, who carried out the terroristic attacks on 9/11. As a result, the main stereotypes involved in movies display Muslims as extremists, villains, thieves, and desert nomads. An example of a movie that has such a negative character role for Muslims in film is Disney’s cartoon Aladdin, depict...
...ent from the silent era of film, overt racism of ethnic minorities was blatantly apparent within the film medium. However, presently this overt racism however has shifted into a more subtle segregation of casting and racial politics within the film medium. It seems that both the problem and the solution lies in the Eurocentric domination within the Hollywood film industry – and it seems that it still remains challenged to this day.
... that media participated in the symbolic eradication of the blacks and Muslims by negatively stereotyping them and usually relegating them to the boundaries of the entertainment media. However, the photographic images demonstrated in media support the perception that individuals with disabilities are helpless and required to people to fulfill their needs, criminal, pity and abnormal people.
... model for how the entertainment and media industries depict black people must change. Despite the progress that blacks have worked toward since the days of slavery, society continues to give in to the monetary benefits of producing self-disparaging entertainment and media. It is not only up to the directors, editors, producers and writers to establish this change, but it should also be the demand of the people, or the consumer. If the images of black people in the media are improved the outlook within the community will improve as well. Not only will positive goals and achievements become more realistic for black people if the media outlets discontinue their practice of equating blacks with aggression, lawlessness and violence, but a greater good will also result for whites, which would be represented by a true autonomy and equality in American society.
Shaheen, Jack. “The Media’s Image of Arabs.” Writing on the River. 3rd ed. Boston: McGraw,
... Muslim people about how this is wrong. Even though they are not all terrorist. The director feels ashamed of some of the people living in Palestine and representing their religion wrong. Also giving the negative view of Muslims people.
Sabbagh, S. J., & American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, W. C. (1990). Sex, Lies, & Stereotypes: The Image of Arabs in American Popular Fiction. ADC Issue Paper No. 23. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
This shows us how white people thought of African Americans as inferior, and they just wanted to dominate the society making no place for other races to express themselves. Even though African Americans were citizens of the state of Mississippi they were still discriminated against. This documentary does a great job of showing us the suffering of these people in hopes to remind everyone, especially the government, to not make the same mistakes and discriminate against citizens no matter what their race is because this will only cause a division to our nation when everyone should be
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.
In conclusion, after view this film, it is clear that one can see how black youth are being viewed as killers and savages. This is not true. There have been many admirable scholars and scientists who come from the African American culture. This movie, though it depicts what goes on in South America, takes the violence committed by black youth too far. One cannot view a film and take it that this is what a race is like. The filmmakers depicted black youth in a harsher light.
Just like any other racial stereotypes, Asian Stereotypes have been and always will be around in our society. The fact that Asians are allowed to be portrayed stereotypically in Media shows the lack of voices of this minority group. Asian stereotypes are taken lightly by others, and yet heavily by the Asian population. Whether one likes it or not, Asian stereotype does not disappear eternally. As individuals of intellectual specie, we have to acknowledge the power of a racial stereotype and the possibilities of it remaining to be an eternal issue. To allocate such problem to another perspective, we must aim to become aware of them, by viewing these Asian Stereotypical films of what your average American watches on TV or at the movies. Although when Asian characters seem harmless (Jackie Chan in “Rush Hour” series) or humorous...
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...
The answer is beautifully summarized by Academy Award winner actor Jack Nicholsen, in one of his speech during Oscar award ceremony, “… they entertain us; they offer hopes (and) give traumas; they take us places, we never been, just even for few moments; they can take us away, when we want to get away; Movies inspire us; they challenge us and despite our differences, they are (the) common link to humanity, in all of us.” In my opinion, this statement is the true reflection of the reason, why people love to watch movies. Movies allow us to escape. But there is a value in this escapism, its more than simple eluding.