Video

[red_lasbelin]

The American film industry does have a lot to answer for, I think, in perpetuating stereotypes.

Comments

[phyncke.livejournal.com]

To be sure - the movies clipped in this are action films which would be the worst offenders. I am sure there are counter examples of independent and art films that go against this stereo type. I think the selection was a bit skewed but the point is well taken. Personally - I have not seen any of the films exampled here. And you could make the same case for Latin American men, Indian (Subcontinent) and other parts of the world.

I liked the video and if you are talking about Hollywood mainstream movies, sure - they do stereo type for sure. I do believe there are counter examples to this though.

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

I'd be interested to hear examples of movies with a mainstream audience, which is what this seems to reference. All that comes to mind for me is the occasional frightened doctor. As someone born and raised in Africa I am very conscious of the ugly stereotype Hollywood gives African men, and the cliche of the 'brave, invariably white American' as the hero in such scenes is a general sore point.

[phyncke.livejournal.com]

I definitely agree with the video she posted here and think this point applies in many other cases - almost every other ethnicity in the world, and to US ethnic groups as well - inner city USA, African American males, Latinos and you can even go further to look at the portrayal of women in film. This is just one point in many that could be made on stereo types in film. I really liked this video and the simple point that it made. I think it could have easily been made by African American males, Latin men, Indian men or many other ethnic groups you want to mention.

Here are some films that come to mind that show a more positive image of African males - Cry the Beloved Country, Invictus and even Out of Africa - all more positive though probably not perfect.

I do understand your perspective, being from there. Being from the US - I see the stereotypes of life portrayed here - even of Jewish people etc. It goes on and on.

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

I feel there are historic reasons why perpetuating the image of African men as violent and not very intelligent is problematic in ways that do not apply to other ethnic groups.

The movie choices are nice, but there was a great deal of bitterness locally at the refusal to cast an African man as Nelson Mandela in Invictus and Out of Africa doesn't relate to current issues. It's a problem without a quick fix solution, because the average movie goer really just wants to be entertained, not deal with complex concepts, and so Hollywood has perfected a kind of shorthand: good hearted slut, artistic token gay, honourable old priest...

[red-lasbelin.livejournal.com]

I think the main difference for me is that while indie and art films do exist to counter this culture, the very definition of indie films are films released independently of the main Hollywood studios, and therefore often don't have the budget or means to get the viewership of the studios.

Not saying there aren't people fighting the stereotype at all; in fact, this supports movements who are doing just that. It goes for stereotypes of all kinds too - Hollywood does that with other races as well.

The biggest thing for me is the video made me think twice about a lot of the movies I've watched and how the young men, often portrayed in two-dimensional roles, felt about it. I think it's always good to raise awareness.

[phyncke.livejournal.com]

I have great hopes for independent film and with backers like Robert Redford, I think that movement is growing in power and reach. The indie movement is getting stronger and more influential each year. Look at how big Sundance is now and the fact that there are independent film festivals in every city in the USA. It is a great time for independent film. I am really hopeful that this is a real alternative to the Hollywood model. I am seeing more and more independent films shown in the major theaters too. It is totally great.

I am really glad you posted this. It got me thinking for sure. I see stereotypical film making as a more pervasive problem than just what is showed here - portrayals of women, and other ethnic groups. So this is just one segment really. Thanks for posting it. Very interesting and I liked how it was presented.

[red-lasbelin.livejournal.com]

I think it is great that the movement is growing, I can definitely see how that is. But the indie movement has a long ways to go before it reaches the small towns and becomes culture, not just counter-culture.

I really hope it does become mainstream.

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

Thank you! They are doctors and lawyers, accountants, teachers, salesmen, IT specialists. They are also brothers and sons and fathers and uncles, they help pay for their younger siblings' education and support their elderly parents, because that is how it is done.

I can think of a real example of armed macho men riding on trucks and indiscriminately firing machine guns.

[red-lasbelin.livejournal.com]

Yes. This. They are so, so much more than the mainstream portrayal and they deserve a much better representation. Mainstream Hollywood has a ways to go about that.

Yes, me too, and a lot of historical equivalents as well.

It's all about perspective, you know.

[phyncke.livejournal.com]

Oh yes...the stereotypical Asian in film - both of men and women too. That is a really good point you make. I was making the point that the issue is broader than just what is in the video. Your point is totally on that. I agree!

[red-lasbelin.livejournal.com]

Now we have nerdy Asians who are insanely good at math or computers, on top of Vietcong or Japanese types. Oh, I love John Cho, btw, he is awesome.

Oh yes - good one on the British accent as well. A large chunk of villians voices are British, but almost always the biggest thing is that they are foreign accents and not American, with the underlying message o it's all Those People Not Here. (I do love a good accent though *shameless*)

Racial and gender stereotypes - Hollywood does a lot of them very, very badly.

[nienna-weeper.livejournal.com]

This is 10 thousand shades of AWESOME.

[red-lasbelin.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think so too! Can't be better said.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting this.

The root of the problem is the way that films are made and marketed and distributed. Garbage sells. Lazy writing, lazy characterization, and appeals to the lowest common denominator. I think the racist content is secondary in intent to the lack of quality as a driving principle.

Hollywood thinks it knows a couple of things: men like shoot-em-ups. Women, by their calculations, like shallow romantic comedies (which are the flip side of these so-called action films). So they will make some of each, including a bunch of these films with lots of explosions and guns and bombs, etc., cardboard heroes and villains, a bit of callous racism or at least racial insensitivity is just considered collateral damage. Who cares who is slandered, racially, ethnically, or who is culturally stereotyped, the driving principle is the almighty dollar. Morality or social consciousness has no place in the equation.

I hate that stuff and I don't watch it. I have seen parts of a bunch of those films they used in those clips on TV and Laura and I turned the channel faster than you can say "pass me the remote control." If my son-in-law had been home, they probably would have stayed on. Yet, he would totally agree with the points expressed by the young men in this video. But it takes thought and time and integrity to make a film which is balanced, and then it might violate the formula--be too sensitive, or thoughtful, or shaded in meaning.

The flaw is in the the economic system which drives the film industry and publishers. What are the choices? Barely visible independent films not marketed or even shown in most of this country? Let alone ever reaching an international market.

Even in New York City I have to go to Manhattan to one of a handful of artsy-fartsy theaters to see half of the films I want to see. People who live in my neighborhood don't even know those places or films exist. All they know is blockbuster films and bestseller books.

[red-lasbelin.livejournal.com]

In my town, there isn't even a movie theater anymore - it was converted to a line dancing place almost a decade ago. You have to drive 20 to 30 minutes in either direction to go see a movie. That's to get to a mainstream movie theater - much less an movie theater that caters to the indie/art film crowd.

It amazes me how much Hollywood has become purely a numbers driven business. I knew it always was, but it seems like the last ten years really has been a little less subtle. Maybe because of decreasing movie tickets - the more they try to sell the less chance that they will focus on orginal, creative work with real depth. These get through and do get made, mind, but I don't think it's because Hollywood goes out of its way to encourage the production.

I think it's a lot like the publishing industry as well. They are scared of the numbers so they will publish dribble that they know people will buy and there are good books that sit on the shelf. And our TV industry, pulling tv shows left and right in their first season because they aren't an overnight sensation when it takes time to build up a following.

[heartofslash.livejournal.com]

Great public service announcement.

I think a big part of the problem is goes beyond stereotypical representation in film - it's that so very many people in the US and Canada have never met an African man in person, so bad mainstream movies are their only points of contact.

From what I can tell from friends and relatives, the US is still quite socially segregated. And most places with significant African populations in Canada are in major cities. It's even harder for humans to overcome their stereotypical assumptions when they have no real-world contact with the other humans they are stereotyping. That's what makes films like this so important.

You can think of any minority/oppressed segment of the population, and imagine you'd only ever seen them in Hollywood movies. African men would seem violent. African women would be in mourning. African-American men would be thugs or expendable soldiers. African-American women would be long-suffering maids and nannies, when they weren't hookers. Women in general would fall into a half dozen stereotypical categories, and there would be NO disabled women, unless they were glamorously blinded or dying of an invisible disease that makes them attractively pale. All gay men would be swishy and have a straight best girlfriend they adore and give advice to.

Hollywood movies are not about reality - they are about myth, and that myth was written by the dominant groups in society.