Cultural Stereotypes In Movies

Since the dawn of the American film industry in the late 19th century Hollywood movie production studios have played a crucial role in influencing views on religion, ethnicity and cultural traditions amongst the public. Hollywood movie studios are relentless in their stereotyping and the vilification of minority groups, a countries cultural background and traditions and even whole continents in order to produce the next box office hit. The production studios representations of ethnicities in their feature films can in many ways influence and manipulate the viewers perception of a countries national identity and the cultural heritage of its population. Furthermore they can create prejudices and hatred towards members of a certain culture based simply on the representation of actors, of that culture in the motion picture. With a focus on Hollywood feature films which have been produced since the turn of the millennium, this study will argue that the misinterpretation of cultural identities and traditions by the Hollywood studios can account for the preconceived prejudices and stereotypical views held by many members of the worlds population. Additionally, I also plan to gain a better understanding of how the national identities of many nations have been distorted, manipulated and recreated through Hollywoods exaggeration, vilification and almost comedic portrayal of these national identities. Over the course of the last fifteen years a multitude of films have come out of