Media Stereotypes

It is inevitable that in virtually anything, there are always stereotypes that never fails to be portrayed by the aid of the media. Stereotypes in its simplest meaning is simply to classify a group of people according to a certain characteristic, and this is so very common applied to people of different races. For example, the video of Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People which classifies Arabs of being a brute barbaric bunch and is frequently portrayed so in most feature film. Other races such as Chinese on the other hand are always portrayed as hardworking students who always have to get A for their test and maybe and most of the time the element of Kung Fu is slipped here and there. Russians are always deemed as the bad guys who most frequently plans on bombing other countries and Frenchmen are seen boastful in some cases. 


    Though such stereotypes (usually exaggerated and misinterpreted) are always to be depicted in films and tv shows, the audience seem to be accepting it as a true matter of fact with the mask of comedy, drama and action of the entertainment thus making the viewers somewhat disregards the unjust acts of the content.

Media is a broad canvas of information. So broad, even the major type of stereotypes tends to differ in different media. If races are doomed to be picked on and stereotyped in movies and such, magazines and TV's on the other hand aims the idea of perfect appearances in their agenda. In all of the ads shown; if not all then most of them, the men and women featured are always so flawlessly attractive. Which gives the public recipients a false assumption that all human beings should be perfect like em models. Which is obviously false from head to toe. The images of stark perfect beings are so literated in such ads and prints that the public have been so very much used to it. 'Tis proven to be true when if a magazine would put a shabby looking girl as the pin-up cover girl, word is the sale would most definitely hit rock bottom, no doubt. Except if there's maybe an interesting element going on.

    Another form of stereotype that always and I mean ALWAYS occurs are the constitution of an academic set-up, the staff and the students. This is a common depiction of American schools, very much applicable to all of those teen chick flicks and teen dramas that you've countlessly  watched. There's the popular girls, the jocks, the nerds, the goths, the whatnots and many more. Try naming a few of em movies and tv shows; High School Musical, Mean Girls, A Cinderella Story, Easy A, and etc. It's perfect evidence that such stereotypes really does exist !


Now let's ponder to ourselves, why are stereotypes accepted in the society of us, the media-literated generation eventhough such stereotypes tends to belittle our own race, our interest and even ourselves in such cases ? It's because stereotypes were created from humans themselves, and most of it are somewhat true if you look at it in some point of view. Even so, not all is applicable. Not everybody is the same. You might be a white chick but then again your interest would differ from the norm. Stereotypes have been around for so long, it's practically implemented at the back of our media oriented heads. It's up to you to go pro about stereotypes or go against it. Now ask yourself this, would you like to be stereotyped ? Do you stereotype other people,  even your friends ?