The movie we watched in class contained a wealth of interesting material about cultural stereotypes and their extremely common presence in our society not very long ago. The harmful effect of such stereotypes- despite their often lighthearted intent- is clear. Although these images are based on falsehoods and gross exaggeration's- they are often internalized by white audiences as genuine reasons that 'they' are different from 'us'. The image of African-Americans as inferior becomes ingrained from the repeated use of these images.
The fact that some of these images remain with us is a reminder that institutionalized racism was common in this country not long ago, relatively speaking. However, I think that because these images are relatively few and unnoticed (e.g. Aunt Jemima or Uncle Ben), they do not have nearly the societal impact they once did, if they still have any at all. More interesting, I think, is the fact that stereotypes are still being played for laughs. Although most racist caricatures were long ago retired, we've all seen movies or stand-up comedy that relies on worn-out racial stereotypes. I think this is probably the most troublesome legacy of racial images, because people are inclined to repeat and internalize this kind of mass entertainment.
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I feel worried about children today who are still being exposed to racial stereotypes in the media. Just because they have been perpetuated in movies and television for so many years does not mean that they are set in stone, and I personally believe it is time to retire them. Why is our culture still so afraid to put black actors in NEW roles, instead of the old, stereotypical ones they have been portraying for years now? I think that the status quo is simply unhealthy and unnecessary.
I still get good laughs out of racinal humor (for adults) and nowadays i see it more as soemthing people are comfortable with. I regret that i missed the movie in class but thinking about caricatures and stuff--- that was bad and did hurt the way different people and cultures can be looked at. I feel this is esepcially true becuase the caricatures are most appealing to children and if ingrained as a child the stereotypes will most likely stick with them. the last 20-30 or so years have made us see great progress and i fell this will continue to progress. i think so of the things that hurt this progression may include people make such big deals out of racist remarks and such through the media etc, bringing it up and to everybody attention-causing tension and such... they make everything into a race thing--michael vick etc.. i feel someday everybody will be seen as equal- racism will never die but it will die off and people will become more colorblind and not even think about it as much when it comes to race. i looke forward to this day and each day that shows progressi0n
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