Stereotyping in Media
Over the years, media representation and portrayals of Native Americans and visible minorities have come under increasing scrutiny. Negative stereotyping, under-representation and tokenism, which means making little or no effort to give minorities the same opportunities that the majorities are given, are the most common charges that have been brought up against advertisers and news and entertainment media. Mass media portrayals of Native Americans and racial minorities are as likely to inform and reveal, as they are to misinform, conceal, and evade. There is no shortage of examples about information whose one-sidedness borders on propaganda. While some suggest these flaws are unintentional and easily corrected, others have no doubt that the conventions of these media industries create an environment that is hostile to visible minorities and difficult to change.When we consider the bulk of films, TV sitcoms, news and advertising that we encounter every day, the statistics show that visible minorities and Natives are still proportionally underrepresented in the mass
Entertainment programming is only marginally betterboth in the United States and Canada. Like advertising, film and TV programs also tend to ignore visible minorities and Natives, particularly as "main" characters. Instead aboriginal peoples and visible minorities are simply used as "window dressing," seen in the role of "the cop," "the judge," or "the store clerk," but are seldom in a role central to the story. Not even the popular "Thunderheart" avoids these typical stereotypes. The movie portrays Natives as always having visions and also shows the Natives talking to the wind and talking to the water. These portrayals of talking to the wind and water seem to go hand in hand with having visions. This characterization of natives occurs in many more movies like "Little Indian in the cupboard," "Pocahantos," "Dances with Wolves" and the more recent one "Thunderheart." These characterizations are unrealistic compared to today's society. The effect of this stereotyping on Natives and minorities is that they are often portrayed as unusual or negative, and thus this poses a problem to minori
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Approximate Word count = 741
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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