Stereotypes Analysis

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Recommended: Racial stereotypes in television

Antonio Beldie
English 101
5/3/14

FINAL PAPER: TELEVISION ANALYSIS

For many years, the mass media are known to use racial and ethnic stereotypes to negatively portray minority groups. Stereotypes are deeply embedded in every society in numerous ways. A stereotype is a widely known and fixed idea about a person or thing, they are usually oversimplified. Stereotyping is a technique that attempts to install things such as fear and hate towards individuals. But what is really the true purpose of these negative stereotypes? I believe that by satirizing negative stereotypes and taking them to absurd levels, actors and writers can challenge them. Shows’ like The George Lopez Show and I Love Lucy are entertaining and provocative but it challenges every stereotype while portraying the lives of groups of individuals that go way beyond ethnicity to show how ludicrous those misconceptions are.
Stereotypes are in everyday life, and always will be. Whether it’s a good stereotype or a bad stereotype we hear them constantly. To challenge stereotypes is to question their validity usually by providing examples that counter the stereotype and show’s like I Love Lucy have stereotypical characters for the sole purpose of challenging them and breaking the tension about certain stereotypes. Desi Arnaz plays Ricky Ricardo, Lucille Ball's husband on I Love Lucy. On the show he was a Cuban nightclub owner and Lucille Ball played the wife that stayed at home and always wanted to be in Ricky's world. The two stereotypes that are imbedded in I Love Lucy are as follow; hot temper that all Latino men supposedly had and broken English that is displayed when he is angry because he couldn’t fully express himself in English. Ricardo...

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...o show that these stereotypes shouldn’t be taken seriously because they aren’t true and you will only embarrass yourself (like the co-manager did) in those situations.
In conclusion, the media uses the extremes of stereotypes to represent the idea of the cultures of our society. Having shows like George Lopez and I Love Lucy are good because it gives viewers a different look on how ridiculous and silly those misconceptions are, ridiculous enough that they make us laugh. They show that all of those stereotypes are not true and most of the times are the exact opposite. These kinds of shows are played on TV to silence the negative stereotypes that society has. They are entertaining and provocative but challenge every stereotype while portraying the lives of groups of individuals. By laughing at our mistakes and faults we can start changing those dispositions.

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