Response Media and Minorities 1-5

These were my favorite readings that we have done all semester. I really appreciate getting such an expansive overview of America’s history of racist portrayals in the media. Too often, things we read about negative depictions of stereotypes or what the book called “controlling images” deal with negative portrayals. I like that this book also spent a lot of time discussing how supposedly “positive” portrayals can also be problematic. For example, Sidney Poitier’s roles in the 50’s and 60’s aren’t negative stereotypes. Then again, they portray a version of African-Americans that supports the popular narratives of the “American Dream” and are not truly representative of many African Americans’ experience. I also agreed with the book’s contention regarding some of Whoopi Goldberg’s roles, in which she appears to be a “tan” character, but even “tan” is somehow put into the background. I know that in my life, family members and friends always are willing to point out that such portrayals aren’t truly negative, because they’re not “making fun” of a group; positive stereotypes can be just as harmful, and I’m glad this book covered that topic in detail.

I was quite impressed that the book devoted entire chapters to depictions of Asians and Native-Americans. When most people think of “racism” or “stereotypes,” these groups are not ones that come to mind. In fact, I think I have already referenced several times on this blog that negative depictions of Asians are something rarely talked about. I think the book was correct in saying that the most common role for an Asian woman in films and television is the “nameless prostitute.” These characters are often hypersexualized, a trope that continues in Hollywood even today. I can even recall seeing this a couple of weeks ago in the Ben Stiller movie The Watch where this stereotype is brought in for seemingly comedic reasons, yet is totally irrelevant to the plot. Most audiences tend to not even realize this undercurrent. I recall listening to a hip-hop radio show in Miami where the host, in discussing the football player Tiki Barber divorcing his then eight-month pregnant Asian wife said “maybe he just got sick of eating all that rice.” It seems to me that if he had made this statement about almost any other group, he could get fired or fined. After this incident, I looked up to see whether the host had gotten any time of reprimand about it; as far as I know, none occurred. I’m glad that the book brings awareness to the issue of stereotypes and jokes about Asians; the smart/nerdy “Model Minority” Asian stereotype is another that I’ve seen again and again in the media. When I bring this stuff up with people, they tend to deny that these things are problematic, because they either deny that the problem exists across eras and mediums (they view each incident as unique), or they refuse to believe these stereotypes are negative. It’s important to read through these types of things, because it helps remind us that these media portrayals are ubiquitous and harmful.

It was also rather interesting to read about how these different groups protested or exerted political influence to attempt to change these media representations. While many such attempts were ineffective, I was surprised to learn that the NAACP had successfully campaigned to stop films shown in the 1920’s-30’s. It reminds me that being critical of these portrayals is extremely important. While we might not be able to change the way media works, eventually critically examining media in this way will, I hope, lead to some changes in industry practices.