“On the one hand, there was a general acknowledgement that ‘representation’ and ‘reality’ were two distinct entities; and on the other, there was a demand that representations of Black people were drawn in more ‘accurate’ ways.”[1]
The representations of ethnic minorities within broadcasting help to reinforce racial stereotypes. To what extent is this statement true?
The representations of ethnic minorities within the media have been known to reinforce stereotypes and evoke the matter of racism. Ever since the early 1900s, Black and Asian people have always been subjected to crude and racial remarks. Malik (2002) states that “race or racism is a new problem which only arrived when ‘the Blacks’ did, that Britain was inherently homogenous and conflict-free before ‘the Blacks’ came”[2] which in turn shows how much of an impact Black people have had on the UK, and puts into perspective that before they came racism did not exist.
With Britain showing itself to be a multi-cultural society, you’d think that the percentage of people from ethnic minorities would be quite high. Although Britain is made up of many cultures, in London alone there is a total of 37% of ethnic minorities, much less than there is of Whites. Led on by the constructionist view of representation which “suggests that our knowledge of the world is constructed by media representations”[3] this percentage can be put into focus via media texts. By assembling media texts in a way which is intended to re-present the world back to us; we are able to gain an insight into how low this percentage is due to the fact that there are not many ethnic characters within texts from the broadcasting platform. This essay will highlight factors of broadcasting reinforcing stereotypes. An analysis of “Gone with the Wind” (1939) and “Kidulthood” (2006) will be carried out in order to compare how stereotypes may have been used as a way to represent Black and Asian people. This will also show support of my hypothesis where it can be put into perspective that stereotypes cast upon ethnic minorities are in fact reinforced the ways in which they are represented.
Representing ethnic minorities in a certain way has allowed for the formation and reinforcement of stereotypes as the media acts a learning tool and informs us of what is happening within the world. The concept of stereotypes was first developed by Stuart Hall, to which he claimed that “ethnic minorities are continually misrepresented by racial (and racist) stereotypes.”[4] “Media stereotyping occurs when the roles and behaviour on personal characteristics of a particular group are portrayed in a limited fashion.”[5] - Is this the case with ethnic minorities? TV programmes and films can be seen to provide unconstructive images of ethnic minorities by subjecting them to only one way of being represented; the negative way. “Ethnic minority viewers accused all broadcasters of tokenism and stereotyping, screening exaggerated and extreme representations of minorities and failing to reflect modern ethnic minority culture.”[6] This relates to the idea that “stereotypes are thus neither neutral nor fair, preventing the examination of differences within groups.”[7] “Ethnic minority groups have accused broadcasters of perpetuating racial stereotypes with token characters.”[8] For example, “Dev Alahan” is an Asian businessman who is the corner-shop owner in the British soap-opera “Coronation Street” (ITV). “Coronation Street” has been accused of using this stereotypical image in order to represent all Asians as it may be believed that all corner-shops are owned by Asians, which consequently leads to the loss of the individualised understanding of people. This puts into perspective that when a group is stereotyped, the person or group stereotyping is ignoring the characteristics of an individual and is therefore categorically relying on the whole image of the group.
However, how many times will we walk into a corner-shop and see that it is owned by an Asian? In some parts of London probably every time we enter one. “Stereotypes have a complex relationship to ‘reality’. While stereotypes may be partial, they are not necessarily false: they generally control a grain of the truth.”[9] This can be said as it is seen that “stereotypes are moulds into which reality can be poured, or at least part of it.”[10] This suggests that stereotypes are subject matters into which parts of reality can be showcased and puts into perspective the idea that there may be an element of truth behind these stereotypical images that we ever so often see within the media. In relation to the topic of the Asian corner-shop owner, both quotes indicate that this image of Asians, although seen as stereotypical is in fact true due to the fact that “stereotypes are criticised for both misrepresenting the world and for representing things as they are.”[11]
Does the representation of ethnic minorities allow us to treat them in a certain way? “How we are seen determines in part how we are treated; how we treat others is based on how we see them; such seeing comes from representation.”[12] The media, in its own right is a learning tool, and can described as a “window on the world”[13] however, “the media are highly selective in the way in which they construct and represent the world back to us”[14] which implies that they decide on how a particular social group will be represented. The way in which ethnic minorities are portrayed within the media could have already determined the way in which they are treated within society. “Black people, particularly Afro-Caribbeans are portrayed in the media as criminals.”[15] This quote creates juxtaposition with the previous one as it connotes that Black people maybe treated in a negative way due to how they are seen within the media. For example, various characters within the film “Kidulthood” are shown to be carrying out criminal activities such as making guns, and dealing drugs. Due to how they are represented within this film, it may have almost to an extent been cast upon black teenagers to receive some sort of negative treatment. Will a Black male be watched and followed when they enter a shop? - This is a question which comes into mind when linking both quotes to the film as they put into perspective that Black males will be treated as criminals if they have been represented as criminals. In turn, this shows how long Black people have been stereotyped due to the fact that there is already a current stereotypical image of them portrayed within the media.
In a historical viewpoint we can see that not much has changed when it comes to how Black people are portrayed. Although the representative image of them has changed, it was as much negative back then as it is now. The Blaxploitation genre emerged in the early 1970s. Films of this genre primarily starred black actors, and when set in the South portrayed them as slaves[16] which in turn reflected the “zeitgeist.”[17] “Gone with the Wind” takes on the on the role of showcasing the South during the era of segregation, in which white Southerners are portrayed as defending traditional values and the issue of slavery is largely ignored.[18] “The white women are elegant, their menfolk noble or at least dashing. And, in the background, the black slaves are mostly dutiful and content, clearly incapable of an independent existence.”[19] In a way this suggests that rather than being portrayed as an independent existence, Black people were shown to be just an appearance of one race being controlled by another. Furthermore, the issue of racism is once again raised when it comes to how Black and White people are represented in different manners, although they are shown to be portrayed in similar ways. “It was a big ragged white man and a squat black negro with shoulders and chest like a gorilla”[20], this quote comes from the book “Gone with the Wind” which was written by Margaret Mitchell, and illustrates the image of two men. Whilst the White man has been described as looking all tattered and torn, the way in which the Black man has been depicted is almost animal like. When watching the film, this was not the image that was given across, both men were shown to have similar body builds, and although the Black man had quite a bit of hair on his chest, it was certainly nothing close to that of a gorilla. In turn, this allows us to see that even among people of different races; the Black people are the ones who are mostly discriminated.
The book “Gone with the Wind” goes on further to illustrate how racism was portrayed back then, even showing how racist Black people were against their own race. The character “Sam”, a Black field foreman within the O’Hara’s household runs to his master “Miss Scarlett’s” defense after she is attacked by the two men. After fighting them off, and running after “Miss Scarlett” to see if she is okay, he says “Ah hope Ah done kill dat black baboon”[21], referring to the black man. By “Sam” referring to the man as a baboon, it puts into perspective how much of a racist book and possibly film “Gone with the Wind” is. This in turn shows how racism can become engrained within society and how it can become acceptable and almost unconscious to the human mind, as anyone can be shown to do it even if it is against their own race. “It must be said at this point that the slaves in “Gone with the Wind” never complain once about their fate and are as devoted to “Miss Scarlett” as poodles are to their master.”[22] This quote puts into perspective how the issue of slavery was largely ignored. In turn, it connotes how little of a freedom Black slaves had back in the early eras of the 20th century and also shows how black people almost accept the roles and portrayals of which they are given within films.
According to the hypodermic needle theory, “media content is shot at the audience like a magic bullet, directly penetrating the viewer’s mind.”[23] The media can be viewed as an informative resource as “an audience gains their ideas about the stereotypical group from media sources, rather than from personal experience”[24] which suggests that audiences gain their ideas about a social group through the stereotypes within media sources, rather than gaining them through personal experience which successively allows for the use of the hypodermic needle theory. Nevertheless, it can be said that “the media fills the audience with information which is resistant to social change but on the other hand it can be said that representations of ethnic minorities are open to different interpretations and that their meanings are not fixed”[25] thus putting into perspective that it is up to the audience to decide for themselves how they want to interpret the representations of ethnic minorities, it is not the media who is influencing them.
When comparing “Gone with the Wind” to “Kidulthood”, we can agree that the process of hegemony is still long-standing. “The hegemonic model acknowledges that much of the media is controlled by a relatively small group of people (who are generally male, middle class and white) and that the viewpoints associated with these groups inevitably become embedded in the products themselves.”[26] This suggests that these small groups of people use their own views of ethnic minorities in order to represent them, due to the fact that they may not know how to represent them if they are not part of that social group themselves. This shows that audiences are being provided with already established views on a social group thus reiterating the hypodermic needle theory. It can be said that the media choose to represent ethnic minorities in ways which reinforce stereotypes in order to maintain a hegemonic society relating to how “a dominant class or group maintains power by making everyone accept their ideology as normal or neutral, through cultural influence rather than force.”[27] Marx stated that “social change was explained by the struggle between competing and antagonistic forces in society.”[28] He followed on by saying that “this struggle was between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’”[29] which suggests that the bourgeoisie and the proletariat classes are in an on-going battle to see who has control over the audience’s views, ideas and opinions of ethnic minorities.
It is clear that the ways in which ethnic minorities have been represented within broadcasting have in fact reinforced stereotypes. By analysing historical and contemporary texts, it is evident to see that these representative images have strengthened the issue of racial stereotyping where “the repetition of stereotypes and the absence of plausible alternative means that the values wrapped up in the stereotype come to appear as ‘common sense’”[30] which suggests that we see these images as normal and something of which we should all know. From the stereotypical Black slave, to the Asian corner-shop owner we can see that these representations reflect the “zeitgeist” and in relation to the Black criminal go about in creating a “moral panic”[31] due to the fact that young Black males are now seen as dangers to society after having been portrayed in the same way. This concludes that ethnic stereotypes have been used as a form of representation as a means of maintaining hegemonic control among society and preserving the media’s position within the development of an audience’s views, ideas and opinions.
Word Count = 2,229
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[1] Malik, S. (2002). Page 28
[2] ibid. Page 11
[3] Andrews, M. Burton, J. Stevenson, E. (2009). Page 182
[4] Laughey, D. (2009). Page 78
[5] Williams, K. (2003). Page 131
[7] Williams, K. (2003). Page 130
[8] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/ethnic-minorities-accuse-tv-programmers-of-tokenism-869817.html
[9] Casey, B. Casey, N. Calvert, B. French, L. Lewis, J. (2002). Page 168
[10] Bennet, P. Slater, J. Wall, P. (2006). Page 81
[11] Williams, K. (2003). Page 134
[12] Dyer, R. (1993). Page 1
[13] Kruger, S. Rayner, P. Wall, P. (2004). Page 47
[14] ibid.
[17] Collins, W. (1989). Page 1388
[19] ibid.
[21] ibid.
[24] Casey, B. Casey, N. Calvert, B. French, L. Lewis, J. (2002). Page 168
[25] Creeber, G. (2003). Page 109
[26] Baker, J. Clark, V. Lewis, E. (2003). Page 113
[27] Kruger, S. Rayner, P. Wall, P. (2004). Page 85
[28] Williams, K. (2003). Page 36
[29] ibid.
[30] Bennet, P. Slater, J. Wall, P. (2006). Page 81
[31] Probert, D. (2005). Page 97
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Works Cited
Books
- Andrews, Maggie. Burton, Julia. & Stevenson, Elspeth. (2009). AQA A2 Media Studies:Student's Book (AQA Media Studies for A2). Surrey: Nelson Thornes Ltd.
Internet
- http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/passtheremote/2008/07/top-soaps-accused-of-stereotyp.htm
- http://www.helium.com/items/265124-how-are-ethnic-minorites-portrayed-in-the-media
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaxploitation
- http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/mitchell/margaret/gone/chapter44.html
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_with_the_Wind_(film)
- http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2006/08/01/gone-with-the-wind/
- http://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1708629.html
Moving Image Texts
- Fleming, Victor. United States. (1939). Gone with the Wind
- Huda, Menhaj. United Kingdom. (2006) Kidulthood
- Warren, Tony. United Kingdom. (December 1960-Present) Coronation Street
Works Consulted
Books
- Bignell, Jonathan. (2007). An Introduction to Television Studies (2 ed.). New York: Routledge.
- Curran, James. & Gurevitch, Michael. (2005). Mass Media and Society (4 ed.). London: A Hodder Arnold Publication.
Internet
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/30/black-asian-stop-search-police-terrorism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-diversity/variety-anxiety
http://www.intermix.org.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=48
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080710015302AAcijHa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation
http://www.icar.webbler.co.uk/5026/key-issues/what-role-do-the-media-play.html
http://www.history.ac.uk/1807commemorated/media/analysis/representation.html
http://www.africaspeaks.com/reasoning/index.php?topic=5989.0;prev_next=prev
http://www.iampanicked.com/glossary/moral-panic.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/feb/25/eastenders-black-tv-review
http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article388.html
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/index.cfm
http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=21980
Moving Image Texts
- Smith, Julia. Holland, Tony. United Kingdom. (February 1985-Present) EastEnders
- Griffith, D.W. United States. (1915). The Birth of a Nation
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