Cultural representation in Films

Cultural representation in Films

Recently there has been increased attention on racism in films in Hollywood, this can be reflected on who is the actor, and the director of the film and how people have been represented on the screen. Over the years, Hollywood has provided different examples of racist depictions, with the African American and Asians being mostly the targets. Since the birth of Hollywood in the 1900s, it has been characterized by racially stereotyped roles and racism in the form of exclusion. Take, for instance, the movie Breakfast at Tiffany, where Mr Yunioshi, who’s mysterious and a comic character is meant to mock the Japanese. Both the Native Americans and African Americans have often been marginalized in Hollywood. Up to date,some representation of them in films weren’t even made by people who know much about them. Therefore, this creates a bizarre depiction of them in cinema, especially for those who do not know the Native Americans or the African Americans. This also creates confusion among them since they cannot relate to what is depicted about them in the films. Although over time, their representation has improved their depictions are still laid back; for example, African American men are even represented as angry and dangerous while the women are portrayed as sassy and very loud.

The African Americans and the Native Americans may be securing a significant part in films; however, they continue to play roles that trigger stereotypes such as gangsters and savages.

The Gangster

There are so many movies that depict African Americans as thugs, gangsters, con-artist and any other form of criminal. This portrayal in the films raise the racial stereotype that African American men are dangerous are often attracted to illegal activities. These films are always showing why black men, as compared to others, are more likely to end up behind bars. Films like training day depict the African Americans as gangsters and people involved in illegal activities. In this film, all people of colour and any other non-white race were either engaged in criminal activity or appeared as impoverished.

Black Best Friends

They are mainly in films to guide their white friends out of their challenging situations. In most films, the black best friend mostly doesn’t have much going on in their lives but always show up to help the best friend in their crisis. In the film “Devil wears Prada” for instance, Anne Hathaway has actress Tracie Thoms as a best friend who is always reminding Anne when she is losing her values. Other examples are from “the Ghost whisperer where Aisha Tyler plays a friend to Jennifer Love, In “Ally McBeal” Lisa Nicole plays a friend to Calista Flockhart. In an interview, Rose Catherine, a film executive, says that there is a long tradition of black best friends in Hollywood. The studios are not willing to change the history of black people playing the caretaker of the white leads.

The Maid

Since most African Americans were forced to serve for many years in the United States, this brought a stereotype about the in the film industry that African Americans were the domestics or maids. Classified X, also portrays how for a long while African Americas were depicted as servants who followed orders from their white masters. Films such as Beulah capitalize on that stereotype in the 20^th century. This stereotype has been in Hollywood for a long time, and the controversy has not ended to date. However, the film which triggered a lot of debate is “The Help” in 2011 because the black maids help to rescue the white protagonist to a new life, but their life never changed. Like the lack of best friends, these characters essence to nurture and support the white leads.

Noble Savage

Over the years, the Native Americans have been depicted as villains who are counterparts to cowboys. They are mostly played by white actors who are painted red. A standard look of the Native American in Hollywood is heavily feathered headdresses, war paints and beads. Hollywood has traditionally depicted the Native Americans as savage warriors who are always hungry for blood. Although there were warfare and conflict existed among the Native Americans, a majority of the communities were peaceful and only fought for self-defence. Like any other nation, the American Indians had histories which involved combatting, alliances, trade and intermarriages and other human activities; however, this is not depicted. A majority of the first nations people have no history of being warriors; some point out to be from families of fishermen. The stereotype is shallow as it leaves out the aspect of family, spirituality and activities common to other human societies. In films such as “The Last of the Mohicans” based on a book depicted the Native Americans as just warriors.

Squaw and Princess

While the male Native Americans were portrayed as warriors and medicine men, the female, on the other hand, were depicted as beautiful maidens. This is evident with how Hollywood represented a Native American in the Pocahontas film. According to the “Reel Injun” documentary, in most Hollywood films, a majority of native white women were characterized with being pure servants who cooked, and bore children; this was known as a squaw. These women were represented as “cheap squaws” which has resulted in real-life consequences as non-native white men often assault American Indian women. Whether a native woman is referred to as a princess or a squaw, they are all sexualized. In the films, the princess was known to satisfy the desires of the non-native American. The princess term was used to elevate the social status of women.

According to Melvin Van Peebles’ Classified, though African Americans were often given the lesser roles and stereotyped in early films with the arrival of new Negro it helped to show the black actors in a new light. There are films which have defied the odds of racial stereotype in Hollywood by depicting the minorities differently. “Hidden Figures” for example, is a film about three African American women working in NASA. In this film the lead roles played by Taraji P Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae are African Americans who save the day and to add on it they are women defying both the racial and gender stereotypes. In another film “To all the boys I have loved” a recent movie which also challenges the racial stereotype by having an Asian American as the lead role. This film was a massive step for Hollywood as it is rare to have Asian people taking leadership roles and more so their depiction is not stereotypical as the lead experiences healthy American life of a teenager.

In the 21^st century, we are far from the ideal place, as there are still stereotypes in films. This is evident in films like Ridiculous Six were there as a character named “never wears a bra” and Lone ranger where Johnny Depp played Tonto in the sequel. In the Reel Injun and Classified X documentaries, they explore the depiction of the Native Americans and African Americans, respectively in films over the years. They show the stereotype in different movies. One of the people interviewed in Reel Injun stated that the myths depicted in this films are destructive not only because they belittle the native Americans but also because they deny the fundamental nature of people because before everything they are merely human beings. We mustn’t paint other wrongly as we will end up losing our humanity ultimately.