Do we see ourselves that way, no i don't think so. Does hollywood play on stereotypes of us as a people, they sure do.
It is not always enough to not see yourself that way when the media is teaching everyone else that you are that way. It does effect how others might look at you or what they might initially expect from you.
That being said i think the Wayans movies do a lot better than their TV shows (minus In Living Color)
It is not always enough to not see yourself that way when the media is teaching everyone else that you are that way. It does effect how others might look at you or what they might initially expect from you.
Now how many cats grew up thinking all Chinese people knew Kung Fu because that's all we ever seen of their culture? How many people to this day still expect Chinese people to do some form of karate?
So No we don't see each other like that but if you keep putting as crack dealing, womanizing, felons, idiotic, magical Negros then others will see you as Flavor Flav anyway.
I don't know what planet you're living on but a lot of folks from Asia (Pacific) are held to all sorts of ugly stereotypes, which also include the kung fu rubbish. I just saw Transformers 2 and the twins were definitely caricatures of what some folks think is typical Black male behavior.
@Anonymous - I didn't say they weren't what the hell are you talking about. I was using examples of Chinese folk being stereotyped and typecast with Martial arts.
If you are Asian I didn't mean to offend you as I was using that as example of what goes on. Let's not play the tit for tat crap because I am actually saying the stereotypes are wrong. Thanks for the transformers reference as that makes another reason not to see the movie.
Relax homie I am not coming at you as this is a blog and I don't know who the hell you are ANONYMOUS!
Yes, it is a shame that this is the predominant depiction of Blacks in filmed entertainment, but I aint that mad. Slowly, the diversity of Black images is increasing in entertainment. The fact is, this type of stereotypical Black does exist in the Black family (and now in many other ethnic families, as others mimic the behavior), and I accept them.
I once got my girlfriend all riled up when I made a comment about many of the cartoon animal characters in some of the classic Walt Disney movies being representations of stereotypical shucking and jiving blacks. She argued strenuously that I was seeing something that wasn't there and that I was always looking for a racial angle to things.
Oh yeah, I thought all Chinese folks DO know some Kung Fu. Every time I seen those Mofos on Kung Fu Theater everyone in the town knew how to throw down - even the females.
The Wayans, Tyler Perry, Spike Lee (to a lesser extent), John Singleton, etc. - All these Blacks represent other Blacks in one of the few acceptable Black Images. It isn't only the "Them" putting this on the screen - it is the "Us" too.
Concerning to whom the fault of oppression belongs; "We are not all equally guilty but we are all equally responsible" - Rabbi Abraham Hescel
Concerning blaming others for the problem; "...And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?... - Matthew: 7 1-5
Concerning how to fix the problems concerning oppression; "Someone once said that the word 'motivation' should never be used in the singular. Some combination of motives always exist and it's impossible for anyone to qualify the proportion of each that is involved in any given act" - Warren Buffet (in an interview in the USA Today)
Please take into account that the views expressed on my blog are prefaced with; in my opinion, in my experience or even (sometimes) random observations and/or thoughts. Please make your statements without the endless litany of cross referenced materials. Source information is fine but I'll just assume that you've done due diligence and that your statements are correct or an accepted editorial. Thank you, UBJ
Other People's Blogs About Politics, Race, Social Change
8 comments:
Do we see ourselves that way, no i don't think so. Does hollywood play on stereotypes of us as a people, they sure do.
It is not always enough to not see yourself that way when the media is teaching everyone else that you are that way. It does effect how others might look at you or what they might initially expect from you.
That being said i think the Wayans movies do a lot better than their TV shows (minus In Living Color)
It is not always enough to not see yourself that way when the media is teaching everyone else that you are that way. It does effect how others might look at you or what they might initially expect from you.
Now how many cats grew up thinking all Chinese people knew Kung Fu because that's all we ever seen of their culture? How many people to this day still expect Chinese people to do some form of karate?
So No we don't see each other like that but if you keep putting as crack dealing, womanizing, felons, idiotic, magical Negros then others will see you as Flavor Flav anyway.
@ Freeman
I don't know what planet you're living on but a lot of folks from Asia (Pacific) are held to all sorts of ugly stereotypes, which also include the kung fu rubbish. I just saw Transformers 2 and the twins were definitely caricatures of what some folks think is typical Black male behavior.
@Anonymous - I didn't say they weren't what the hell are you talking about. I was using examples of Chinese folk being stereotyped and typecast with Martial arts.
If you are Asian I didn't mean to offend you as I was using that as example of what goes on. Let's not play the tit for tat crap because I am actually saying the stereotypes are wrong. Thanks for the transformers reference as that makes another reason not to see the movie.
Relax homie I am not coming at you as this is a blog and I don't know who the hell you are ANONYMOUS!
Yes, it is a shame that this is the predominant depiction of Blacks in filmed entertainment, but I aint that mad. Slowly, the diversity of Black images is increasing in entertainment. The fact is, this type of stereotypical Black does exist in the Black family (and now in many other ethnic families, as others mimic the behavior), and I accept them.
I once got my girlfriend all riled up when I made a comment about many of the cartoon animal characters in some of the classic Walt Disney movies being representations of stereotypical shucking and jiving blacks. She argued strenuously that I was seeing something that wasn't there and that I was always looking for a racial angle to things.
Oh yeah, I thought all Chinese folks DO know some Kung Fu. Every time I seen those Mofos on Kung Fu Theater everyone in the town knew how to throw down - even the females.
The Wayans, Tyler Perry, Spike Lee (to a lesser extent), John Singleton, etc. - All these Blacks represent other Blacks in one of the few acceptable Black Images.
It isn't only the "Them" putting this on the screen - it is the "Us" too.
There have been some interesting conversations about these robots at Racism Review and Racialicious:
http://www.racismreview.com/blog/2009/06/26/summer-blockbusters-traffic-in-racist-caricatures-sky-blue/#comments
http://www.racialicious.com/2009/06/26/open-thread-transformers-and-race/
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