spaghetti, 4/26

hook's article reminded me of a reading we did in CMC200 about racial stereotypes in the movie Rush Hour 2. The article, by Ji Hoon Park, pointed out the racial stereotypes used within the movie for comedic purposes. the two main characters, a black american investigator and a Chinese detective are not members of the dominant white culture that hooks describes in his article. Even though a main character who exemplifies dominant white culture is not present in the movie, the culture still is. The characters are constantly cracking jokes about one another's race and culture throughout the entire film, most of which would be considered offensive outside of the context of the entertainment industry. In the article by Park, the researcher gathered a group of students of varying ethnicities (which were represented in the film) to watch the movie. Afterwards, he lead a discussion of the student's feelings about the racist stereotypes portrayed in the movie. He found in interviewing them, that even though all of the students were aware of the stereotypes, they did not seem to have a problem with them. They considered them humorous, which reminds me of the idea that "to be entertained is to be in agreement." The students had to set themselves apart from the offensive nature of the stereotypes in order to enjoy the film and all of them did so.

They bought into this idea of the white culture as dominant and their own culture as "other," even though it was offensive. This attitude is precisely what perpetuates the attitudes towards race portrayed in the media today. If no one challenges the offensive stereotypes, then they continue to be made and "enjoyed" by the masses. It's not jut that they aren't being challenged. It's the fact that those who challenge these main stream stereotypes and offensive images portrayed of any culture other than the dominant white culture are not given a voice that even speaks remotely as loudly as that of the major corporations who create these texts with these offensive stereotypes. The fact of the matter is that people do watch these movies, and people do get offended and disagree. And if these people choose to do or say anything in opposition to these major texts of the mass media, their voices are drowned out by those larger ones of the mega corporations who create those texts in the first place.