You pulled me over just because I'm Black?
I was just watching the pilot of this new series called Lost the other day. It's about a bunch of people who were in a plane crash and were stranded on this deserted island. Then, they (along with the TV viewers) have to endure a whole season's worth of whatever the mysterious island has to throw at them. Oh, the viewers get it worse, really.
The thing I noticed about the show is that it played on a lot of racial stereotypes. First, there's the regular cast members, caucasians typically. The hot bombshell, and the macho football jock. Then there's the angry black man, who constantly complains and gets into trouble. Finally, there's the asian who cant speak a word of english. She probably knows martial arts too. Sounds familiar?
Has American TV succumbed to a state where a show is only deemed watchable if it conforms to the guidelines of racial stereotyping? What about the use of racial slurs? Does continual exposure and use of them really take away its potency?
Another thing I find interesting is how no matter which culturally diverse country you go to, it's the people with the darker colored skin that face racial discrimination the most. And it gets less and less severe as the skin tones get lighter and lighter. Take the United States for example, how the African Americans are constantly discriminated against. One other example is the Indian minority group in Malaysia. Both these cultural groups are generally linked with defiance, unemployment and different forms of criminal activities.
Dark colors are often associated with everything evil, vile and dirty. And it is most unfortunate that it is carried onto how we relate to different skin tones. Some of our darker counterparts might have come from less-fortunate beginings, but that does not elevate us above anyone.
I've met and known enough people from the two social groups mentioned earlier to know that whatever label society puts on them, they are normal people just like you and me. Stereotyping is merely a sad way of making a person feel superior to the people around him/her so dont ever lower yourself by subscribing to such thinking.
The thing I noticed about the show is that it played on a lot of racial stereotypes. First, there's the regular cast members, caucasians typically. The hot bombshell, and the macho football jock. Then there's the angry black man, who constantly complains and gets into trouble. Finally, there's the asian who cant speak a word of english. She probably knows martial arts too. Sounds familiar?
Has American TV succumbed to a state where a show is only deemed watchable if it conforms to the guidelines of racial stereotyping? What about the use of racial slurs? Does continual exposure and use of them really take away its potency?
Another thing I find interesting is how no matter which culturally diverse country you go to, it's the people with the darker colored skin that face racial discrimination the most. And it gets less and less severe as the skin tones get lighter and lighter. Take the United States for example, how the African Americans are constantly discriminated against. One other example is the Indian minority group in Malaysia. Both these cultural groups are generally linked with defiance, unemployment and different forms of criminal activities.
Dark colors are often associated with everything evil, vile and dirty. And it is most unfortunate that it is carried onto how we relate to different skin tones. Some of our darker counterparts might have come from less-fortunate beginings, but that does not elevate us above anyone.
I've met and known enough people from the two social groups mentioned earlier to know that whatever label society puts on them, they are normal people just like you and me. Stereotyping is merely a sad way of making a person feel superior to the people around him/her so dont ever lower yourself by subscribing to such thinking.
posted by Mike Ng at 6:28 PM
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