The Treatment of Different People in American Pill There are several ways to portray a group of people and have the public believe it. Probably the most influential way to affect a person’s view on a certain group of people would be through film. Over the course of the past one hundred years, American film has subjected different groups of people to stereotyping, biased portrayals, and racism. However, these unfortunate stereotypes and the racism in film are quite covert to the public, and they tend to simply believe What they see in their favorite movies.
Although there are several groups of people one can hint Of that have been stereotyped or attacked in some way in American film, there are a few specific groups that are prime examples of being victims to the biased portrayals in American film. These groups consist of women, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, and gays and lesbians. These groups have all been wrongly viewed by the nation’s public largely in part because of their portrayal in American film. Women are one group that has been largely affected by American film.
They have mainly been major victims to stereotyping, An excellent example of a film hat is packed with stereotypes regarding women would be Peter Jackson’s 2005 film, King Kong. One scene in the movie shows one of the main characters, Ann Drown, on a ship heading towards Skull Island. She keeps speaking about the ship and doesn’t appear to know anything about ships at all, Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal, but then a man, Bruce Baxter, comes forward speaking about how oven don’t belong on ships, and that they’re nothing but trouble.
This scene clearly suggests that women should stick to the house work and not explore the outside world. In addition to hat scene, Ann Drown is looking desperately for work in the beginning of the movie, and is offered the address to a strip club by a talent agent. He tells her that she “isn’t a bad looking girl”, and that she should use that to her advantage. This is obviously stating that women must use their looks, and not their talents, to moue forward in society. Besides the specific examples, the Whole storyline of King Kong is a giant stereotype.
Ann Drown represents the classic damsel in distress that has to be rescued by her prince charring, in this case, Jack Drill. This stereotype explains It is basically saying that all women need a male savior of some sort, and that they’re helpless without one. Unfortunately the negative generalizations do not end with women. While women are victims of sexism, African Americans are victims of racism in American film, They are negatively portrayed in today’s films, and in film’s that were made decades ago. There are two films that provide solid examples of racism in American film towards African Americans.
One would he the not so recent, but in no way old, film Rush Hour. This film was directed by Brett Ratter, and released n 1998. In this film, detective James Carter is one of the main characters, which many would see as a plus for African Americans. However, he is a complete idiot in the film, and is a disgrace to the Los Angels Police Department during most of the movie. He messes up the Bi’s plans several times during the film. This is suggesting that African Americans are dumb in general and that they’re nothing but trouble.
In the 1942 film, Holiday Inn, directed by Mark Sandwich, the same Stereotype is pushed on the public. This would be When Miami, a black servant, is shown disciplining her children. The children are exceptionally slow and dimwitted, giving Off the vibe that African Americans are dumb from their childhood. This stereotype is quite similar to the one given to women in Peter Jackson’s 2005 film, King Kong mentioned earlier. In addition to that, when Detective James Carter and Chief Inspector Lee follow a lead and walk into a bar, they see an old African American man smoking marijuana.
Instead of arresting the man, James Carter takes the joint from him telling him “I’m taking this as evidence”. The film clearly suggests that he will smoke it later to himself. This sends the message that African Americans are irresponsible and that they partake in illegal activities such as the smoking of marijuana. Hispanics are victims of racial profiling in American film just like African Americans and other ethnic groups. In the 1995 film, My Family, directed by Gregory Nava, Mexicans are stereotyped. Unfortunately, these stereotypes are mostly negative. The film follows the story oftener generations of a Mexican American family.
One of the children from the second generation, named Couch, grows up to be a “school” so to speak. He gets into a fight with one of his vials in one scene and accidentally kills him. He is killed by the LAP while on the run. This all tells the audience that Mexican men are trouble makers and gangsters Jimmy, Couch’s brother, sees Couch get shot right in front of him and grows up following Couch’s footsteps. This further promotes the stereotype just mentioned. In another scene, When Jimmy’s wife is Working for a white woman, the white woman’s friend sees that Jimmy’s wife is pregnant.
She goes on to say that all Mexican women get pregnant. This is promoting a stereotype, but is just downright racist at the same time. In the same film, Rush Hour, Asians are also subject to racial stereotyping. When Chief Inspector Lee first arrives in the United States, Carter walks up to him and blatantly yells “Do you speak any English” in an exaggerated accent. This promotes the stereotype that Asians have thick accents and/or cannot speak English at all. Another stereotype seen in Rush Hour would be Lee’s amazing skills in hand to hand combat and gymnastic type maneuvers throughout the entire movie.
While some may say that this is not a great example because it’s not necessarily negative: its still a stereotype. It remotes the stereotype that all Asians are simply naturally talented in the martial arts. In addition to that, there are several lines in the script that are blatantly racist. One example would be when an F-BI agent tells James Carter that he “doesn’t need any help trot the LAP or some Chunk-King cop. “. Another line would be when James Carter confronts Sang and tells him “I’ve been looking for your sweet and sour chicken ass”.
These lines in the script don’t need much explanation to show how blatantly racist they are, Native Americans are no exception when it comes to the stereotyping and racial riffling American film conducts. In the 2002 film Windbreakers, directed by John Woo, it is emphasized over and over again that Native Americans are very different from white people The movie is about Navajo code talkers in the Marine Corps during World War II. When the two Native American men first arrive at the Marine Corps base, a white Marine, Anderson, tells another Marine, Joe Enders, ‘They look pretty normal”.
Joe Enders responds “l wouldn’t get too comfortable”. This shows that there are clearly some trust issues between the two races. In addition, when Chick, another Marine, is alone with one of the Native American code talkers, Haze, he tells him “See I know you people. Know what kind of slanted eye savage you are boy’. This shows the aggressive racism that is felt by Chick and some Of the Other White marines. Lastly, we have gays and lesbians. They are indeed victims to stereotyping in American film. A great example would be the 2008 film, Milk, directed by Gus Van Santa The film is about the life of gay rights activist Harvey Milk.
Throughout the film, there are some instances that generalize the ways gays behave. For example, Scott Smith, Milk’s gay partner, calls Milk several times a day during Milk’s campaign for gay rights. He constantly complains that Milk doesn’t spend enough time with him, and that he feels lonely. This stereotypes gays as feminine and woman like. While it may be true in many instances, not all gay men are super feminine like Scott Smith is portrayed, In addition to that, Harvey purposely acts extra giddy and perky in some scenes. Harvey himself purposely pushes the stereotype that gay men act like girls.
Another film that features gays ND lesbians is the 2003 film, Monster, directed by Patty Jenkins. This film doesn’t offer an abundance of examples exclusively regarding gays and lesbians, but there is one particular scene of interest. In the movie, the two main characters are lesbians. They are shown making outside a skating rink in one scene of the movie. As people pass by, they are disgusted and give them weird and skeptical looks. This may not promote a Stereotype, but it does show us that it is not normal for women to be kissing each other. American film has had great advancements over the past one hundred years.
It has entertained the masses and brought the public great joy. However, the public is also quick to believe What they see in the films they watch. Even though some may not realize it, American film promotes countless stereotypes and biased views on different groups of people in the sliest of ways. American film has been successful in stereotyping and profiling different groups of people time and time again. Women, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, and gays and lesbians have all been affected by American film’s biased view on things.
