ipl-logo

Making Magic Making Class Invisible Analysis

1195 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of diversity in media

As Gregory Mantsios noted in his article "Making Magic: Making Class Invisible", "Of the various social and cultural forces in our society, the mass media is arguably the most influential in molding public consciousness" (Mantsios, 2008, 409). The way the media presents certain ideas and concepts, influences the way society perceives things. In this essay, I will focus on how South Asians are represented in the media and popular culture. And how this unfortunate portrayal by the media develops negative stereotypes. This then alters how society perceives them based on popular culture.
The media and television shows have a penchant for over exaggerating certain characters in order to make the show funnier. Certain stereotypes are overhyped in …show more content…

One of the televisions shows most prominent characters is Raj. Raj is an Indian physicist who is plagued by insecurities. The show makes him out as a silly, insecure, goofy, unconfident, inferior, unsocial and an effeminate man. Like Apu in The Simpsons, Raj is constantly the target of all the jokes. Every possible stereotype that you can think of about Indians Raj has it in spades. In the television show, Raj is so incapable of talking to pretty girls that he has a mental condition in which he can only talk to females when he is intoxicated. I am aware that this is a comedy television show but the vast amount of negative qualities the creators of the show are placing on Raj is unfair.
Raj is essentially made out to be inferior to his other male and female colleagues on the show. The theme that South Asians are inferior to their white counterparts is constantly …show more content…

These roles are based of erroneous stereotypes that further the media’s hegemonic agenda. The majority of main characters in the media are held by white actors and actresses. In the book Media and Minorities: The Politics of Race in News and Entertainment, Larsen talks about the stereotypes that commonly ail the asian community in the media. She states, "these include inscrutable evil foreigners, China dolls, dragon ladies, desexed sidekicks, criminals, nerds, and mystics" (Larsen, 2006, 67). These stereotypes portray the asian American community as bookworms, and submissive. This gives the image that these Asians are weaker and thus inferior to the white

Show More
Related

Summary Of The Coddling Of The American Mind

285 Words | 2 Pages

The actions presented stereotypical comments about Asian students such as “aren’t you supposed to be good at math,”

Read More

Stereotypes In The Film Menace II Society

769 Words | 4 Pages

Stereotypes in media have been around since the earliest cartoons were drawn. The media gives supposedly identifying traits with images of the stingy Jewish man, the single Hispanic woman cleaning homes to raise her three children, and the “butch” lesbian falling for the beautiful blonde who just happens to glance at her every day in the hallway. These portrayals make up general knowledge about minorities for a lot of people, but their accuracy is questionable at best. While production companies have been making strides towards the better, insufficient representation in the media tends to portray minorities as their negative stereotypes rather than as people.

Read More

A Family Thing Movie Analysis

628 Words | 3 Pages

Hidden Stereotypes There is one hard and very evident fact that exists in the world we inhabit; that fact is that stereotypes are as common as rain. A stereotype, as defined by bing.com, is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. They happen so often that we aren’t even aware that they occur. These atrocities appear in books, films, the news, and other worldwide forms of media.

Read More

Everybody Hates Chris Character Analysis

1654 Words | 7 Pages

The year is 2016 and American society is open-minded to so many issues, except televised stereotypes. Racial and gender stereotypes are continually reinforced by social media and television, it has played a major role in the way society views one another. Enabling stereotypes that have been associated with a person of specific race or gender in the media promotes prejudice. Meaning society expects that person to act a certain way based on what they have witnessed on television or social media. . A perfect example of how television shows incorporate stereotypes based on ethnicity is the tv show “Everybody Hates Chris “which is about a working class African-American family that lives in a poor urban neighborhood in New York.

Read More

Stereotypes In The Sitcom 'Fresh Off The Boat'

806 Words | 4 Pages

Through this experience, the audience got opportunities to see the positive and the negatives that stereotyping can give. The writer, director Nahnatchka Khan’s goal was to teach the audience that all stereotypes are not true, that some stereotypes can be broken which can result in

Read More

The Impact Of The Transcontinental Railroad On American History

2371 Words | 10 Pages

And in Thailand, women spend excessive amounts of time and money to always be seen as beautiful– a slim figure, white skin, a small head and nose, etc. Among these examples and many more, it is seen that Asian people are held to impossibly high standards in their home countries. And though America is seen as being a land of opportunity where people can break free of the shackles that other countries’ societal standards have put on them, Asian Americans receive the

Read More

In Living Color: Race And American Culture

1000 Words | 4 Pages

Ethnicity and Hollywood Racism is always issues which take a huge part of American history. Until the twenty-first century, although people tried to make the country becomes the freedom and equality nation, these issues are still happening everywhere. According to "In Living Color: Race and American Culture," Stuart Hall argues that racism is still widespread in the society and "it is widely invisible even to those who formulate the world in its terms" (qtd. in Omi 683). Indeed, situations about race quietly exist in the movie industry, which "has led to the perpetuation of racial caricatures" to the majority audiences and even minority audiences (Omi 629).

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of Stereotypes In Rain Man

1954 Words | 8 Pages

In today’s society, individuals and groups are labeled with either positive or negative stereotypes. People encounter stereotypes everyday and everywhere. It is the picture people paint in their minds when approaching a group or individual when in fact it may be different in reality. Stereotypes affect a person’s way of living and thinking either in a negative or positive way. Stereotypes are based on truth but in an exaggerated way, while misconceptions are formed from having stereotypes.

Read More

Stereotypes In The Film Breakfast At Tiffany's

750 Words | 3 Pages

According to the U.S. Census, 5.6% of the United States’ population is Asian. There are millions of Asian Americans who reside here, they exist. So why does Hollywood and other forms of media pretend like they do not? Unfortunately, when Hollywood does acknowledge their existence, Asian Americans are limited to typecasted roles such as a nerd, a taxi driver, or a kung fu master. Not only are these roles offensive, they also inaccurately represent an entire ethnic group.

Read More

Nature And Causes Of African Americans As An Industry Issue

960 Words | 4 Pages

hat is the nature and causes of the issue? Media misrepresentation of African Americans as an industry issue has been a major concern in our American culture; and is also a component of media bias in the United States. Unfortunately, the media representation of minorities has not always been in a positive light. Instead there has been publicized, controversial and misconstrued images of who African Americans truly are. Since the mass media is an important source of information about African Americans and their image, it influences the public perception and reinforce opinions about African Americans.

Read More

Essay On Asian American Stereotypes

555 Words | 3 Pages

Minorities have made significant strides towards equality in American society. In America the minority groups are being stereotype due to their ethnicity. The media has had a significant impact in passing the stereotypes to the work that have convey negative impressions about certain ethnic groups. Minorities have been the victim of an industry that relies on old ideas to appeal to the "majority" at the expense of a minority group ideals (Horton, Price, and Brown 1999). Stereotypes have been portraying negative characteristics of ethnic group in general.

Read More

Stereotypes In The Media Essay

661 Words | 3 Pages

There are many controversial topics that we see on a daily basis through the media. Some of the topics that we are exposed to are race, stereotypes, sexism and sex. These things seem to be a key factor in how media makes its presence felt. Whether it is through T.V. shows, how stereotypes and race are still a common trend in present day movies. I believe that stereotyping is everywhere you look movies and T.V. in particular but also music.

Read More

Racism In Antebellum America

487 Words | 2 Pages

Even the African Americans, being victims of racism, have inherited from the American culture and hold racism against the Asians. With all the reflection on the materials, I feel quite happy to find the answers to my puzzled question and not to be a believer in such an

Read More

Female Gothic Film Noir Essay

1517 Words | 7 Pages

Both the film noir and the female Gothic film cycles address the changing tides of the woman throughout the 1940s. As the social implications of wartime America emerged in cinema, exploration of the female’s role outside of the home and as a part of a moving and shaking society became key. Women began to emerge as highly competent and counter to their previous role as the subservient doe of a housewife. Females rose to status in their new role as the “working-woman,” embracing previously male-occupied jobs whilst bounding into the world of education (Helen Hanson, At the Margins of Film Noir: Genre, Range and Female Representation). This historical contextualization is utilized and portrayed in the film noir genre as well as the female Gothic

Read More

Importance Of Diversity In The Media

1587 Words | 7 Pages

Embracing diversity in the media is important because it will shed light on the importance of protecting against racial stereotyping. Racial stereotyping is a well know problem that all minorities have faced. Racial stereotyping is when a person has preconceived notions on a person because they are of a certain race. A great deal of stereotyping stems from the media’s lack of diversity that has casted stereotypes towards minorities.

Read More

More about Making Magic Making Class Invisible Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document