The mainstream theatre and media have created and perpetuated stereotypes of people of color that have greatly impacted our society as a whole. Stereotyping is embedded so deeply into our society that it is accepted almost everywhere we go, and nobody ever really thinks twice about it. How has it gotten to this point? Well there is a long history of the mainstream media and theatre depicting stereotypes upon people because of race, ethnicity, and culture.
African Americans have been a targeted and stereotyped since the mid 1800s when actors started performing minstrel shows. The minstrel shows which were really white men who painted their faces black and portrayed African Americans as “fun-loving fools, driven by their appetites and instincts” Playwrights of color. These show were just the start, these days we see movies like dolomite where the African American superhero is a pimp and drug dealer.
Stereotypes regarding the Latino culture have also been around since the mid 1800s just after the Mexican American war and are still strongly rooted in our everyday culture. The first thing that comes to mind is the name brand Fritos chips used an amigo as its trademark. Another example is in the movie training day were Latinos were the gang banging bad guys who were going to kill the cop. And how can I forget the stereotype that the book mentioned how Latino women were strong willed and sexually available.
Native Americans are stereotyped as savages and vicious killers who were going to take over and kill the white man. Most westerns that you see are using Native Americans as plot devices so that the cowboys always just barely beat the over powering Native Americans like the show Tomahawk Trail. Another great example is the use of Native Americans as mascots, everyone know the professional baseball and the Cleveland Indians or University of North Dakotas fighting Sioux. These are all examples of how Native American stereotypes are perpetuated in our culture.
Asian Americans were also stereotyped as soon as the first Chinese immigrants came to California. Many plays were created to help form these stereotypes like The Chinese must go, Madame Butterfly, and The Darling of the Gods, all of which depicted Asian Americans as “strange costumed, heathen worshiping, and generally uncivilized”. Actors like Charlie Chan, have helped influence stereotypes of today. For instance Asian Americans are labeled Dog eating, overachieving math geniuses, who all look the same. Clearly these are not true however these are examples of what people think today.
Stereotypes are in every Americans life everyday whether we like it or not and are perpetuated by modern media and theatre. Because they are so common we accept them not realizing how damaging they can be to not only a certain group but as society as a whole.
I agree, Stereotyping is in everyone's lives on a daily basis. Everyone stereotypes every other ethnic group and it is so easy to do this we do not even realize we that we are doing it. It seems like racial jokes are just so common that we say them without thinking of the impact of what we say on their feelings.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting the different stereotypes that have been created. That African Americans are slow-witted and seen as “fun-loving fools, driven by their appetites and instincts.” I really think the stereotype of Native American is interesting. Native Americans are stereotyped as savages and vicious killers who were going to take over and kill the white man. This stereotype was probably developed because white settlers were afraid of the Indians.
People develop stereotypes to fill some weakness or insecurity about themselves. People need to put one another down, is human nature.