42 is a story about Jackie Robinson, the renowned baseball player who broke the colour barrier by becoming the first African-American to join the roster of the Brooklyn Dodgers (“42”). It portrays the struggles, mainly racism, Robinson had to go through while he was in the baseball team and how he managed to overcome them.

The world is a constantly judgmental place. This can be seen through the segregation of the Blacks and Whites, media being dominated by the majority and racism against the Blacks.

Firstly, segregation of the Blacks and Whites. This is the result of stereotyping. Stereotyping is the linkage of a certain image or idea to people of certain groups, usually based on inadequate information. Since media is unable to show the public everything, decisions made by the media when showing a person or groups can reinforce stereotyping (Baran 438). For instance, it can portray the Whites more positively than the Blacks. In this case, it is racial stereotyping. Catergorising the Blacks as the inferior one because in the past, they were sold to slavery and thus shunning away from them is a racial stereotype of the Blacks. The media can also affect stereotypes by portraying the Blacks more negatively as compared to the Whites.

For instance, in 42, there are separate toilets for Whites and Blacks. In one scene, Mrs. Robinson was shocked to see a toilet labeled ‘Whites Only’. In one of the baseball competitions, there was also a walkway labeled ‘Coloured’ which is only