Stereotypes In The Help

In American society, the advent of the political cartoon allowed for the general population to talk about taboo or relevant topics whilst still being entertained. Decades later, various forms of media and stand-up comedians incorporate prevalent issues into their comedy, ultimately allowing for the American people to be informed and to communicate about some of the most important issues of their time.

In Marlon Riggs’ 1992 documentary film titled Color Adjustment, Riggs, the Emmy winning producer of Ethnic Notions, continues his studies of prejudice in television. The documentary film looks at the years between 1948 and 1988 to analyze how over a 40 year period, race relations are viewed through the lens of prime time entertainment. The film examined many of television’s stereotypes and mythes and how they changed over the years.

Stereotypes- The thought that comes into our minds when we think about individuals or plainly, just groups of people. Throughout the decades, women have been expected to be smart homemakers, nurturing mothers, and obedient wives above anything else. In the novel, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, women strived to fit the 1960’s stereotype, the hairdo and all. However, Skeeter, the main character, plays an educated, unmarried, and aspiring writer. And by writing a book based on secret interviews, she tries to understand the lives and relationships between black maids and white housewives, during the Civil Rights Movement. Celia Foot is also an important character; she is the new “white trash” woman in town who is childless and rejected by the other women because of her immodesties. Indeed, both of these women have strived to overcome the stereotypes of their time by refusing to conform to the traditional gender role of women in

Racism and racial inequality was extremely prevalent in America during the 1950’s and 1960’s. James Baldwin shows how racism can poison and make a person bitter in his essay “Notes of a Native Son”. Dr. Martin Luther King’s “A Letter from Birmingham Jail” also exposes the negative effects of racism, but he also writes about how to combat racism. Both texts show that the violence and hatred caused from racism form a cycle that never ends because hatred and violence keeps being fed into it. The actions of the characters in “Notes of a Native Son” can be explain by “A Letter from Birmingham Jail”, and when the two texts are paired together the racism that is shown in James Baldwin’s essay can be solved by the plan Dr. King proposes in his

My goal of this chapter is to analyse selected Hollywood war movies in terms of racism and other racial prejudices. I will examine as follows: Glory (1989) which deals with African American Civil War troops, Windtalkers (2002) which centres around Pacific War and Navajo code talkers, The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) which portrays British soldiers in Japanese captivity. The last two movies Flags of Our Fathers (2006) and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) were shot simultaneously, by the same director Clint Eastwood, and both tell the same story about the invasion of Iwo Jima through the eyes of an American and Japanese soldier. In all those movies, non-white characters are portrayed stereotypically, negatively and face various types of prejudice or racism despite being often equally important to the storyline. My research problem/question is the following: What negative representations can be found in portraying non-white characters in war movies. Very often,

The film At the River I Stand was a very interesting film that went back to the civil rights movement and told the dream that Martin Luther King had and how his dream has come a long way. This film took place in 1968 in Memphis, TN. It focused on how African Americans were excluded out and were paid low wages and worked in poor working conditions. Not only did they go on strike to gain equality, but they also wanted to stand up for what’s right. Being though Martin Luther King was assassinated during this film, African Americans started more riots all over the country to fight for justice.

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). Like the media, Hollywood has a significant impact on viewers to perceive life and to

Martin Luther King once said “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character”. Racism is the intentional act of antagonism against someone of a different race/culture based on the belief that one’s own race is more superior. This problem is major in the society today, it doesn’t matter if you’re black, Caucasian or Asian it can affect you. Racism is such a big issue that it has made it has made it into many films some being; Remember the Titans (2000) and The Boy in Striped Pyjamas (2008). These films are all thriving for one outcome and that is to change the minds of all citizens about racism and end discrimination.

Soul Plane (2004), follows the airline flight of Nashawn Wade (Kevin Hart), who has an unexceptional experience on an typical airline. His small dog is classified as baggage, the airline food is awful, his buttocks gets stuck in the toilet, and his dog is sucked into the engine. He sues the airline and receives a multimillion dollar settlement, and decides to begin his own airline. On the day of the first flight of N.W.A. (Nashawn Wade Airlines), the Hunkee`s are on their way to vacation in Cracker Land and soon finds that the flight to their destination was cancelled, and have to fly on N.W.A., upon finding their terminal: Malcolm X, they find it is mainly occupied by African American travelers along with their flight which is solely occupied by African American travelers. As the flight continues, Nashwan finds himself running into numerous problems, as his ex-girlfriend is on the flight still upset about their break up, the inexperienced pilot (Snoop Dogg) supposedly dies from eating mushrooms that are used to treat STIs, and his cousin Muggsy begins a miniature strip club. Meanwhile, the Hunkee`s the only caucasian passengers must adapt to their new environment and culture. The movie ends with Nashawn safely

In recent years, there has been a movement for Disney animations to reach out to previously underrepresented audiences (e.g. Moana, Pocahontas). However, the films were not always received how the producers had originally intended. The Princess and the Frog was a Disney princess animation released in 2009, based off The Frog Princess. The story is a young African American waitress living with meager funds, working towards her dreams of opening a restaurant. When Prince Naveen who has been turned into a frog kisses her, thinking her a princess, turns her also into a frog. The two go on an adventure to break the curse, along the way they make friends with an alligator (Louise) and a firefly (Ray). The story is set in New Orleans, all the characters speak accented English (i.e. African American Vernacular English and American Southern English). Princess and the Frog is an exemplary case of how Disney presents African Americans in their animation films.

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. I chose this film because it showed how hard the union workers and families worked in fighting racial injustices, and because it inspired myself to move forward with strong ideologies and pride.

In Sociology, stereotypes are described as "pictures in our heads" that we do not acquire through personal experience. I believe that stereotypes are a mental tool that enforces racial segregation and self-hate. As well justification for dehumanizing minorities. Such as Black women are "Mammy", "Welfare Mothers", "Uneducated", " Inferior", and "Poor". White women are "Pure", "Desirable", "Affluent" and "Superior". 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 United States of America is the land of the free and home of the Brave. The question asked by many is: it truly the land of the free? Throughout our country's history there lies a deep seated issue of racism spanning back to before the american revolutionary period. Slavery spanned all the way until 1865 when it was abolished via the 13th Amendment in our constitution. This terminated the legality of slavery at the public level, however you cannot simply change people's views on something by amending a document. There still remained a heavily segregated world; with things like the Jim Crows laws enacted in the 1880s shortly after the abolition of slavery. All the while people are being viewed through the narrow lense of racism. Ralph Ellison’s

The Help is set in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960s. Skeeter, a southern society girl, interviews the black women who have spent their lives being servants for wealthy white Southern families. There are various scenes throughout the film that show social stratification, racial inequalities, gender inequalities, and class inequalities.

Stereotyping is a way of categorizing certain groups of people or types of individuals with regards to gender, race, culture, religion etc. Stereotyping arises from prior assumptions due to influences by the media, history and personal experience. The statement: “To gain an understanding of the world we need to make use of stereotypes,” appears that stereotyping is required in order to really understand the world, and knowledge issues can be drawn from this statement: Does stereotyping prevent us from knowing someone truly and how are stereotypes created in the first place? One way to examine and discuss the knowledge issues is to look at different areas of knowledge, which in our case will be History and Human Science. Since the concept of stereotyping holds a broad scope, the essay will narrow down the focus to ethnic groups and their culture.