Rico72, Hooks

“Certainly from the standpoint of white supremacist capitalist patriarchy, the hope is that desires for the “primitive” or fantasies about the other can be continually exploited, and that such exploitation will occur in a manner that reinscribes and maintains the status quo.” (367)


Hooks is saying that we constantly re-create the same image of the “others” to keep the status quo. This can be seen in almost every form of media. In CMC 200 we read an article on the Medal of Honor video games. The article discusses how you play an American soldier and it completely “others” the Japanese army showing them as savages who are simply out to kill you. It glorifies the U.S. military in WW2 and makes the Japanese look like the aggressors. The article even discusses how some believe the game can be an instrument to teach history since it is filled with historical film clips of the war.

Although the game discussed in that article came out over five years ago, the same thing continues to happen in games being released today. The most recent being Call of Duty: World at War is guilty of the same thing. It makes you sympathize for the U.S. Marines you play as, meanwhile the Japanese are portrayed as “primitive” soldiers whose sole purpose is to kill.

The media is constantly “others” different cultures from our own. If we continue to do this we will never be able to truly understand these cultures. It is hurting us in the long run and it needs to stop. However, we may have already been pushed to far to believe all of these stereotypes. It has gotten to the point where some people truely believe that is how the world is.