Another character that shows a distinct stereotype held by many Americans is the character of Duayne, Bon Qui Qui's African American crush. His appearance is stereotypical for black men: his shirt is a white wife-beater, his jeans are saggy, and his hair is done in corn rows. I would like to point out that their only interaction consists of rapping and dancing, two activities that people in minorities are renowned for. In addition, in Bon Qui Qui's rap, she mentions the fact that Duayne is on house arrest and already has two strikes; this only bolsters the idea of black men belonging in prison.
A third character that jumps out at me is Bon Qui Qui's boss; he is shown as the subordinate of a white, middle-aged male; why did the producers chose him to be the boss? The answer is that the stereotypical person in power in our culture is indeed a white man in his 40's. However, one should notice that this stereotype does not apply to the most ostentatiously powerful man in America (and the world?), Barack Obama. That stereotype is perhaps not as justified as one might think and it should be adjusted.
My main point is that, while this skit is funny and extremely quotable, it does nothing to help the plight of Mexican Americans or African Americans. It only serves to entrench ideas of traditional stereotypes in the minds of those who do not know any better.
Media does seem to stereotype different races a lot. I know I did a project in high school where I looked at how media portrayed Latin Americans in TV shows. I looked at the show ugly betty and in that show it is really easy to see how they are stereotyping Latin Americans. Based in the articles I read, one of the things they stereotyped was the Betty's older sister. It was implied that she was "over sexed" which I think meant that she was in touch with her sexual side. They were stereotyping that the Latin community is sexual in a sense that can be seen through the way the women dress. The older sister also had a kid with no husband which could be another stereotype they are trying to poke fun at. However, Ugly Betty was the most watched english show by the Latin community. This is pretty crazy to me. I am thinking that because they whole show is based around a Latin American family, other Latin American families can relate to it better than a show about white Americans. Even though shows have racial stereotypes, it still seems to attract people to watch them.
ReplyDeleteHumor is an important part of media because it needs to be able to grasp the users attention however the amount that we exaggerate stereotypes that need the to be changed is too much. Some negative stereotypes that have affected our societies outlook on the entire group can be done in good taste if there has been enough education behind it to show that it is only for the good of the media and not in a distasteful manner.
ReplyDeleteIn our society it seems like the general rule of thumb is that if the funniness outweighs the meanness it is ok. While this video if humorous it perpetuates negative stereotypes that could be hurtful to others from a minority background. I find it sad that for the most part it is the hurtful humor that sells so our media is dominated by things that make some people laugh while having a negative effect on others.
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