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Gender Stereotypes In Film West Side Story

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Stereotypes have always “been around” in a way, consistently having a place in society throughout the entire globe. Stereotypes often lead to the misunderstanding of a culture, and paints a skewed image to society. In film, these stereotypes run rampant, reinforcing these false cliches to exist, and miseducating those who stumble upon them. Rarely is there ever a time in film where a certain race or character acts “above” their stereotype, and often shrinks back into the false image they are mainly known for. There are many cases in film where a certain group of people are misrepresented, portraying that group as something blown way out proportion in comparison to their real-life counterparts. Movies that involve negative stereotypes include the 1911 film Tony, the Greaser, and features a hispanic lead playing a …show more content…

The negative characters portrayed in these films kept on reinforcing the stereotype, further tainting the image of the Latino as more and more of these films came out. Another film that further reinforced the stereotype was the 1961 film West Side Story. The plot of this film features two rival gangs fighting for territory, and things go awry when a gang member falls in love with a rival’s sister. Right off the bat, this film involves Latinos playing gang members yet again. The Sharks, one of two of the rival gangs, consists of Puerto-Rican immigrants. In this film, Puerto-Ricans are described to be ruthless and bloodthirsty, just like the apex predator their gang is named after. This film further defiled the image of Puerto-Rican, doing nothing but ruin the reputation and misrepresent this race of people as petty, criminal, gang members. Several years after, West Side Story was adapted into a musical, and a production of the play was supposed to run in a school located in New York, the same city the movie took place in. However, this production never took off, as students and parents opposed the stereotyping

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The film Girl’s Trip has been applauded for being a celebration of blackness in the primarily white film industry. The majority of the cast and the writers for Girl’s Trip are people of color. The film was much more successful than its “white counterpart” Rough Night in box office revenue and reviews. However, most of the black characters in Girl’s Trip shift through various controlling images throughout the movie. The reason these stereotypes are less obvious than they are in some other films is because each characters portrays multiple stereotypes and different times throughout the film.

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The Bronze Screen introduced both positive and negative portrayals of Latinas and Latinos in film. While there are plenty of positive Latino roles in films, Latinos and Latinas should be included in more positive roles because the negative roles Latinos have in films cause negative stereotypes. Positive and negative representations of Latinos in films has always fluctuated throughout history, however the more negative ones seem to always overpower the good ones. The film, “The Bronze Screen”, gave many examples of the negative roles Latinos played in films throughout film history. Early films included Latino actors, however they did not always have a lead role or even a positive one.

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The opening scene portrays the violence between whites and Mexicans. This was a fairly common happening. There was a lot of racial animosity still in America. Another example of this is Sheriff Behan saying he was the president of the Non-Partisan Anti-Chinese League. These were fairly common during the 1880s, when the Chinese would come through Angel Island and work in the railroads and in the mines.

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285 Words | 2 Pages

In, “The Book of Unknown Americans” by Christina Henriquez, the central theme projected by the author is the harmful impacts of stereotypes on the experiences of immigrants. The Toro and Rivera families are similar in that they are first-generation Americans. With this, they are constantly subject to violent stereotypes. Mayor toro, the youngest son of the Toro family, regularly found himself at the forefront of racial aggression, “I turned around and saw Garret Miller grinning at me...’[I’m] going home,’ I said. ‘Back to Mexico?’

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256 Words | 2 Pages

I have chosen to focus on the issue of racial stereotypes and biases, particularly regarding the movie "Boyz n the Hood. " The movie is an interesting crime drama film released in 1991 and directed by John Singleton. It mostly follows the lives of African-American youths growing up in the poverty-stricken neighborhoods of South-Central Los Angeles, especially the Crenshaw neighborhood. Analyzing this film is essential in understanding various assumptions and preconceived notions different audience members may bring and whether the movie reinforces or challenges those expectations. One of the assumptions and biases audience members may have in relation to the film is racial stereotypes.

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636 Words | 3 Pages

However if we watch this movie through race and ethnicity we will see how they were discriminated by their appearance. As this scene when Enrique and Rosa were in the bus going to Tijuana at once to the arrival another passenger told them" We are in Tijuana you Indians get off" That was just powerful since the person just showed hatred toward them because of their appearance as he was worth more than them. Also a particular scene that captured my eyes was when Enrique was with his coworker in the restaurant and a "poncho" past by and made fun of him since he was born and raise their and was making the same type of work as them who were illegal 's. As if the film was trying to explain that Chicanos will always be working for rich white persons since the restaurant was full of white rich people. As toward the end when Enrique is looking for a job a truck comes and says "I want strong arms to work" just showed how films see us as just working

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938 Words | 4 Pages

Similarly, in the movie El Norte one of the Chicano waiters who works in the restaurant with Enrique undergoes discrimination from the other Latino works due to what they consider his over-assimilation into U.S. culture (El

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1. From Jason Johansen 's Notes on Chicano Cinema, scholars of Chicana/o cinema used to identify the criteria of Chicana/o cinema as "films BY Chicanos, films FOR Chicanos, and films ABOUT Chicanos" (Johansen 303). The Salt of the Earth film (1954) attempts to expand this definition because it achieves more than being for and about Chicanos, it can also be for other minorities fighting injustices and inequalities similar to Chicanos. The film is still for Chicanos because it illustrates an actual account of Mexican American mining workers in Zinc Town of New Mexico during World War II, where the union workers won due to their unity, inspiring others to stand with each other in the Chicano movement. The movie also challenges the criteria because it is a film directed by a non-Chicano, Herbert Biberman, but that inadequacy was compensated since most of the actors were local Mexican-American union associates who had experience and direct involvement in the historical fight for their rights.

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For it allows “white viewers as a chance it imagine whiteness “from the outside.” Overall, all the characters in the film are “true” they’re not over exaggerated stereotypes. Lee presents this movie in a common-like situation. Where frustration can bring the worse in people no matter if they are not openly racist. It is difficult to determine Sal’s true persona as his actions spoke for him.

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1841 Words | 8 Pages

MAJOR ESSAY The West Side Story is popular for adapting the classic romantic tragedy, "Romeo and Juliet" (Anonymous). On the other hand, Porgy and Bess is an opera with regard black residents in South Carolina. Basically, this film is based on the history of race in America. Since these two films involve different plot, this paper will discuss how these stories differ or what they have in common.

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418 Words | 2 Pages

These stereotypes are labels that evoke images of oppression, segregation and exploitation of minorities in America. Meanwhile reinforcing the dominance in a social hierarchy. The film Imitation of Life (1959) indicates the power behind stereotypes. It strongly depicts the relationship between a Black American woman, Annie Johnson

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1000 Words | 4 Pages

Consequently, people would think about the next generation and believe in equality for every races and skin colors. In Hollywood, movie directors and writers should remove stereotypes, ensure justify for the minority, and teach the younger about equality. 
 Last but not least, the director hurt minority audiences because of the movie they make. Economically, using racial stereotypes in the film helps increase the views and profit.

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1294 Words | 6 Pages

By the time you read this I hope to have told you face to face and I hope that I covered what is in this letter, but I know there will be thing I haven’t told you in here. However, if I haven’t told you face to face I want you to know that I’m gay. I want you to know that I am still me. I’m still the same boy you have raised and I always will be.

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704 Words | 3 Pages

Stereotypes and a false representation of characterization are both used throughout the film about the role that women play in society. In this

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I can also pull out an example for stereotypes from The Longest Yard. In The Longest Yard, the movie takes place in a prison and the inmates in this prison are majority Mexican and African American. This is a stereotype that a lot of people use or believe in. It’s that Mexicans an African Americans are bad people who commit a lot of crimes. This isn’t true.

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