Racism in Hollywood

[Kila]

All Christians are good people, all Muslims are terrorists, and all Atheists are people that have had horrible things happen to them that turned them away from god, and only need a little push back in the right direction

 

Not true, and I haven't seen this in a movie...

 

It's from TV Tropes. They're common stereotype. For them to have a Trope they've been used in video games, books, plays, pretty much everything. Including Hollywood movies. Think about it, Hollywood usually portrays Christians as good people, when in reality there are a lot of Christian extremists. Just like there are Muslim extremists. Or extremists in any group.

 

Cliches and stereotypes are incredibly common in movies. Most can be good when played right. And a lot of the time, some races play right into their stereotype.

 

I'm not defending stereotypes, but there's always a grain of truth to them. Since I ride the bus to get where I need to go, and stop in two major cities (St. Paul and Minneapolis), I see a lot of inner city African Americans who act exactly like Hollywood portrays them. Right down to calling each other the N word and being "gangsta, yo." So don't get mad when a good bit of the population plays right into that stereotype. People often believe what they see. I'm smart enough to know that not all African Americans are like that, but every day when I see them act like Hollywood portrays them, I shake my head, because they're just confirming that stereotype for many, many people.

 

It's not up to Hollywood or any other medium to teach kids right from wrong. It's the parent's job.

[Infinis]

It's not up to Hollywood or any other medium to teach kids right from wrong. It's the parent's job.

^This. You shouldn't believe everything in movies anyhow. >.>

 

This is why I more or less seriously dislike Hollywood movies anymore. They're full of stereotypes and cliche characters. :/ I do think stereotyping is a form of racism, though it's a little more subtle than outright racism, IMO. That doesn't make it right. Maybe Hollywood should start portraying the opposite of the stereotype or just not portraying stereotypes. >.>

 

@Kila: Tell me about it. >.> Isn't there a stereotype out there that Mexicans are lazy or something? The ones around here so often fit that stereotype. (NO I am not against Mexicans. >.>) It annoys me to no end because I see them fitting it.

[RheaZen]

I just go with the flow. Some are just... bad, but it's hard to avoid some sort of stereotype or other.

 

Also, what Kila said.

[Crisis]

It's quite likely that the girl who played Katara, for instance, got her role because her father made a significant financial contribution to the production.

Thjis isn't racist at all.... This is just another instance of a rich family buying what they want...

 

 

EDIT - And you've gotta remember... It's hollywood... They stereotype everything... I'd be labeled a redneck and made fun of in hollywood because I live on a farm. They'd say I'm uneducated, a total hick who dreams of hunting and fishing, and who wants to have sex with his sister.... Hollywood probably one of the largest groups of ignorant people there ever was....

Edited October 19, 2010 by Crisis

[Kila]

But not all stereotypes are bad. I cannot stress that enough. It's a stereotype that people from Wisconsin love beer and cheese. Having been there several times in my life, it's true. Most people from Wisconsin do love cheese and beer.

 

Culture and stereotype should not be confused in the first place, but I digress.

 

Cliches and stereotypes can be played well and really work in literature or film. Like the jock. It's a stereotype we've all seen, and there's no denying that they exist. The same can be said for any stereotype. The problem comes from it being the only stereotype of that particular group being portrayed en mass.

 

Also, in regards to acting, if the role does not require a specific race, it should go to the best actor. If the role requires someone of Indian decent, than someone who's Indian (or from a neighboring country) should probably get the role. Some roles need to be filled by people of certain races. You can make someone look older or a little younger, but making an African American look Chinese is going to be really, really hard.

[ShinyTomato]

As far as Hollywood sterotypes, my worst one would have been "Drag Me To Hell" Seriously, go die in a fire, Sam Raimi.

 

On the small screen, Criminal Minds "Bloodlines". While they tried to cover their arse once, the entire episode was one big racist pile of shite.

 

 

[Kamak]

They do the same thing with nationalities as well as races. There's precious few Hollywood movies where there's an English 'good guy' for example - and even the ones that are supposedly on the 'good' side tend to have slightly rough/evil personalities.

James Bond completely discredits this by itself...

 

And besides the fact, the reason Brits are evil is because it's generally better to have a charismatic and intelligent villain in a movie rather than a bumbling fool, a redneck, or Dr. Doom... and what are the stereotypes for Brits? Well-spoken, snide, witty, smart, authoritative, and commanding. It's a perfect fit (though narcissism rears its ugly head on occasion, though it could just be prideful, and that's usually a trait in ALL villains, not just Brits).

 

Perhaps the reason why Brits aren't as welcome in movies is because Hollywood makes the movies primarily for America, not Britain, and many British leads can come across as very Sue-ish in America when the stereotypes are played straight (one of the reasons I don't like the Bond series... >_>).

 

I'm not defending stereotypes, but there's always a grain of truth to them. Since I ride the bus to get where I need to go, and stop in two major cities (St. Paul and Minneapolis), I see a lot of inner city African Americans who act exactly like Hollywood portrays them. Right down to calling each other the N word and being "gangsta, yo." So don't get mad when a good bit of the population plays right into that stereotype. People often believe what they see. I'm smart enough to know that not all African Americans are like that, but every day when I see them act like Hollywood portrays them, I shake my head, because they're just confirming that stereotype for many, many people.

 

This, so much. There's a reason stereotypes exist in the first place. I don't agree though with people who try to "bust" stereotypes and tell people to stop acting stereotypically ("You want to be a HOUSEWIFE!? Why don't you start planning the names for your 10 kids while you're at it?"). It's not bad to act stereotypically, at least if it's how you really act. If you're black and enjoy fried chicken, that's fine, I'm sure there's as many people of other races that enjoy it as well.

 

The only time stereotypes really go wrong is when people apply them to EVERYONE or when they assume that person X belongs to race Y so they must like Z. And that can be fixed by parents actually being parents for once.

 

-K-

Edited October 20, 2010 by Kamak

[spyro76]

Racism has always been everywhere. It's gotten better, but not entirely and it never will. There are a few college basketball games from the 80s that you could actually hear people chanting JAP. (JAP = Jewish American Princess) Of course they've edited it out now, but back then you could hear it. It was the common thing to do when a girl who appeared to be well off walked past during a game.

 

It doesn't help that half of the books in the english curriculum of my school and the state's requirements have racist themes.

 

If you try to shelter someone against this sort of thing you are only hurting them in the long run. Educate them to not go along with it and you might find minor success. The lack of parenting in the world currently is a largely contributing factor.

[TikindiDragon]

James Bond completely discredits this by itself...

 

And besides the fact, the reason Brits are evil is because it's generally better to have a charismatic and intelligent villain in a movie rather than a bumbling fool, a redneck, or Dr. Doom... and what are the stereotypes for Brits? Well-spoken, snide, witty, smart, authoritative, and commanding. It's a perfect fit (though narcissism rears its ugly head on occasion, though it could just be prideful, and that's usually a trait in ALL villains, not just Brits).

 

Perhaps the reason why Brits aren't as welcome in movies is because Hollywood makes the movies primarily for America, not Britain, and many British leads can come across as very Sue-ish in America when the stereotypes are played straight (one of the reasons I don't like the Bond series... >_>).

The stereotype doesn't apply in British-made movies, obviously, which is what Bond is. Bear in mind that the Bond films series is based on books written by an English author. Harry Potter is the same.

 

See those stereotypse you just listed for Brits... just aren't true. It may be a perfect fit for a villain, but it *isn't* a perfect fit for a Brit. We're not all well spoke (heck the supposed 'British accent' doesn't actualy exist), we're not all snide and witty, we're certainly not all smart and most definitely not all authoritarian and commanding. The British public really aren't that different to the American public, but because of how 'Brits' are portrayed in the American media that's how we're all though of.

 

Because the British are so much like the Americans in many ways there should be no problem having a *normal* character that just happens to be from the UK. But you never see it because Brits in the US media are always required to play the character in a certain way. Heck British actors even have to 'posh up' their accents a lot of the time.

 

Try watching some British films made for a British audience. Dog Soldiers, Trainspotting, The Full Monty, heck even Wallace & Gromit or Chicken Run. You'll see what I mean.

 

Edit: Ugh, typos.

Edited October 20, 2010 by TikindiDragon

[Kamak]

The stereotype doesn't apply in British-made movies, obviously, which is what Bond is. Bear in mind that the Bond films series is based on books written by an English author. Harry Potter is the same.

 

See those stereotypse you just listed for Brits... just aren't true. It may be a perfect fit for a villain, but it *isn't* a perfect fit for a Brit. We're not all well spoke (heck the supposed 'British accent' doesn't actualy exist), we're not all snide and witty, we're certainly not all smart and most definitely not all authoritarian and commanding. The British public really aren't that different to the American public, but because of how 'Brits' are portrayed in the American media that's how we're all though of.

 

Because the British are so much like the Americans in many ways there should be no problem having a *normal* character that just happens to be from the UK. But you never see it because Brits in the US media are always required to play the character in a certain way. Heck British actors even have to 'posh up' their accents a lot of the time.

 

Try watching some British films made for a British audience. Dog Soldiers, Trainspotting, The Full Monty, heck even Wallace & Gromit or Chicken Run. You'll see what I mean.

 

Edit: Ugh, typos.

Ah, I was under the impression that the Bond films were American, at least the way they're marketed seems like the typical "Baysplosion" trailers (and since I really dislike the series, I never fact checked... silly me ). I knew they were based on the books of an English writer, I just thought they were brought across the pond to be made into movies.

 

Anyways, onto the rest of the post...

 

Well, again, the stereotypes fit the role, and many of the stereotypes, while not practical (maybe even at ANY time), did describe what Americans thought/think of the British in the past. Education was usually better in England (or assumed to be), having the luck of not really depending on farmers (like many parts of America) and having an ability to give widespread education without having to deal with the fact that different regions were coming into existence and had such different cultures, making it hard to bring uniform education. The English accent (which does exist... somewhat... it's a bit of a smudge now rather than a cohesive and easy to recognize accent) gave off an air of aristocracy, almost like French and Latin before it (especially with English replacing French as a language used in politics and high society gathering). While it doesn't seem accurate from your perspective, to many Americans, the history kinda helps shape the stereotypes (along with your love of tea ).

 

And the issue with breaking from stereotypes is that you leave the audience wondering about implications ("Why would this director make a Brit utterly stupid? Does this mean that he dislikes Brits?" (ignoring the fact that Brits can be just as dumb as anyone else in the world, -)). If you have a story about a jock, you're expecting to see them focus on making the play-offs or struggling with the fact that their grades are bad, or trying to get that scholarship to college. Meanwhile the fact that they play sports has nothing to do with the story, even though they make it clear that he's a jock. It's a tidbit that is placed into the story with no meaning and doesn't help one understand the character at all (LOST anyone?). You're basically trying to paint a canvas entirely with no framework, and the person is left looking at the character trying to find a nice category to fit the character into, if they don't fit into a category that suits them, then the implications may be bad.

 

The best way to handle stereotypes is to present one to explain the character vaguely, giving the person a basic outline. Then, shape the stereotype to say "But I'm not JUST a jock, I also bake", and slowly make the "Jock" stand out from the crowd. Deconstruct the stereotype and give it new meaning.

 

After all, if you saw something that you didn't know the name of (lets say for example, a Hot-air-balloon), and you tried telling someone (or you knew what it was, but when you tell them, they don't know what you mean), is it easier to describe it by comparison "It looks like a balloon, but it's..." or would it be easier to use nothing but "It's round, big, red, floats..." to describe it literally with no frame of reference. Stereotypes, in television and film, are often our way of getting the point across without endlessly describing the person and how they tick. Plus, categorizing characters helps us understand them a bit more, and allows us to compare how similar two characters in a category are (or how different).

 

And I don't enjoy British films very much... maybe it's just the culture divide (I love W&G and Chicken Run though, I was thinking of them today... because of TVTropes... god that site is eating my soul). And while I see the similarities between our films' Americans and and your films' British through the films I have watched, there are still many differences... and it's almost hard to even describe them... (especially with this little sleep D: )

 

 

So I have to ask, how are Americans generally portrayed in the UK? Are they almost distinguishable from the cast, or is there a token American like how we usually have token Englishmen?

 

-K-

[Outer Space]

Well, that could be funny. I'm Russian, and as sad, as it is, I can agree that Hollywood stereotypes on Russians are mostly correct

 

Personally, I beleive that no nation has its own traits of character. People are different, and their difference doesn't depend on their nationality or race. You can't say that all americans, russians or mexicans are the same; they're all different. But. The OP wrote about a signal to the youngest part of audience.

 

It is easy not to be a racist when you're adult, but when you're a kid you learn the world around you from the movies, and if you see all muslims as terrorists, perhaps you would outgrow it, but there would be always smt in your mind about it.

 

No, really, nobody should think stereotypes, but they do exist and sometimes they could be dangerous.

[Thorn]

The stereotype thing annoys me, too. I think the first examples I ever noticed were the token black characters in action and, sometimes, comedy movies.

 

I loved Chicken Run! And lots of British, American and other stuff.

I myself am from New Zealand, so I'm just giving my third party opinion. ^^

 

In response to Outer Space, I've never met a Russian in person. So I can't comment.

 

But all the Muslims I know are really nice, so I'll never see them as terrorists. And I'm barely more than a kid. =)

So that's good, I assume...

Edited October 20, 2010 by Thorn

[TikindiDragon]

And I don't enjoy British films very much... maybe it's just the culture divide (I love W&G and Chicken Run though, I was thinking of them today... because of TVTropes... god that site is eating my soul). And while I see the similarities between our films' Americans and and your films' British through the films I have watched, there are still many differences... and it's almost hard to even describe them... (especially with this little sleep D: )

 

So I have to ask, how are Americans generally portrayed in the UK? Are they almost distinguishable from the cast, or is there a token American like how we usually have token Englishmen?

 

-K-

Possibly culture divide - I confess I actualy can't stand most American comedy films because I just find them unfunny and crass *shrugs*. The subtle differences will be cultural ones, because the UK is a different place to America. There are some things a Brit wouldn't think twice about that may have a lot of people in the US baulking.

 

Funnily enough American's *aren't* very often portrayed in British films, and when they are it tends to depend on context. In a comedy, where the entire cast are frequently playing outrageous stereotypes, then it'll likely be a stereotyped gun-toting, brash idiot. Other movies... not so much. If they're portrayed at all they're generally the same as the regular cast - although there's often a tendancy toward the 'brash' in there. That said I have rather a lot of experience with Americans (in all forms, both at home in the US and abroad) and the majority of them *have* been rather more 'brash' than the average Brit (although Chavs rather break the 'average Brit' through in and of themselves). There's certainly nothing like the idea of 'token American', probably because most British-made movies are trying to distance themselves from Hollywood. We don't feel the *need* to include Americans in everything, either as good guys or bad guys.

 

And no, the 'English accent' you're thinking of did not exist across the country. You're probably thinking of received pronunciation - which was standard for the upper classes, and also for broadcast media for a very long time. The only people in the UK who *actualy* spoke like that are people from very well off backgrounds, social climbers and people from the old broadcast industry. The majority of the population has never spoken in recieved pronunciation.