Reel People, are Not Real People.

Hollywood is defined as "the film industry of the United States" and is said to be where "all the magic happens." Hollywood is also known for its glitz and glamour and if you want a chance to possibly spot a celebrity, Hollywood is your best bet. Unfortunately, people fail to realize the stereotypes and rumours that are, yet again, produced in Hollywood. [1]

In Hollywood, many stereotypes are produced and created. More specifically though, the main ideas that Hollywood puts into our minds are about certain races and religions. Repeatedly, you see Arabs as being the terrorists, Latinas as being the maids or criminals and Asians as being the superficially intelligent people of the world. The majority of people do not watch a movie and think of these things, but television networks, such as the NAACP, are starting to realize how commonly these stereotypes are being shown and are trying to make a difference by putting interracial people behind the scenes in producing the media as well as, giving minorities roles that go beyond the stereotypes. [2]
In hopes of making the public aware of these stereotypes, Cracked.com even went as far as producing a list of 'Hollywood's 6 Favourite Offensive Stereotypes' and after stating each describes why these stereotypes are so wrong. The 6 stereotypes shown on the website are meant to make people more aware of these ideas and help show how untrue they really are. [3]

http://www.cracked.com/article_15989_hollywoods-6-favorite-offensive-stereotypes.html

A film trailer, called "Reel Bad Arabs" was recently created through which numerous amounts of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters are linked together to 'dissect a slanderous aspect of cinematic history'. Through this film it can be seen that in almost all movies Arabs are depicted the same way: as villainous people, all of whom have weapons and plans to terrorize America. [4]




After watching that trailer, it is clear to see that Hollywood greatly contributes and produces these stereotypes that are extremely offensive and untrue, but what about people who are in fact multi-racial but only claim one side of their ethnicity because they also truly believe that these stereotypes are correct. Tyra Banks, model and talk show host, had an episode based solely on this problem. She had numerous biracial guests come on to the show and talk about how they only claim one side of their background because they are ashamed of the other, and throughout the program she shows how these people help contribute to the stereotypes. She also had a segment with a group of girls, where she had the audience try and guess these ladies backgrounds just from their appearance, except the audience was almost always wrong. By doing this, Tyra helps prove that although Hollywood may depict one race as looking and talking a certain way, this is not always true, and that it is possible to have a certain background but not look like Hollywood's version of it.


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[6]


[7]


It is no wonder, how these made-up stereotypes are passed along throughout the world, and it is absolutely sickening how oblivious people are to the truth. Just because one person with a certain background has done something that is unacceptable, it doesn't mean that everyone else from that area is the same way. That would be like saying that because Osama Bin Laden caused 911, every other Arab has plans to terrorize America as well, which is completely untrue and false. It is really unfair of us to judge these people and divide them up into categories. Personally, just as a change of events, I would love to watch a movie become number one on the charts that has minorities playing major, uncontroversial roles.
It is sad to think that these stereotypes commonly go unnoticed, and not only are they superficial but they're false as well. If people could open up their minds and realize the role that Hollywood plays, then everyone would be a lot more media aware.






[1]http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4GGLJ_enCA257CA258&defl=en&q=define:hollywood&ei=f2rrSZeBH6WoM6ih8OkF&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title
[2]http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20206185_4,00.html
[3]http://www.cracked.com/article_15989_hollywoods-6-favorite-offensive-stereotypes.html
[4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QKxHINgloA
[5]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM2_w-m_UFs&feature=related
[6]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L34_VQQkkxM&feature=related
[7]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwn4hIWGUmw&feature=related