Representation of Ethnicity

Representation of Ethnicity

 Throughout the media, ethnic minorities are often overlooked being seen as token characters. Throughout print-based and moving image texts ethnic groups are presented very differently from white groups. This brings a sense that they are different and have exotic new customs that are strange and peculiar.

In some advertisements when seeing ethnic minorities they are portrayed as being regular everyday people with that fit into society and have nothing that wildly sets them apart from the crowd. However, often they are wildly extravagant and push the boundaries of racism. Some advertisements such as the "McDonald's Pineapple advert"  contain exoticism's that portray people from foreign agricultural areas as kooky and laughable. They will often contain music that is stereotypical to the area that they are representing such as places in the Caribbean are always accompanied by reggae in order to immediately inform the audience that this is where it is set. The fact that this is a stereotype that is instantly recognisable shows how much is it is used in modern society. Along with the music, the dancing that he does is purely done for comic relief.

Another advertisement that could be deemed as offensive to black people is the "Skittles Giraffe advert". In this we see a black man (presumably Caribbean) who is milking a giraffe. When seeing the man he has a number of things that are stereotypically associated with men from the Caribbean such as dreadlocks and a rastacap.  The representation is also negative as he looks rough and dirty. He is also shown laughing whilst doing a menial labour job which can imply that black people are happy doing these kind of jobs.

A print based media source that I found that has a poor representation of an ethnic group is a cover for a magazine called "Vibe". It features a topless black man on the front in a place that looks like a prison with a 'it wasn't me' gesture. Although he is made to look like a bad guy, he wears a cross and has angel wings. The picture is accompanied by the line "Bad boy, Bad boy, whatcha gonna do". This gives the impression that he is proud of what he does. This pushes the stereotype of black people being violent and criminal.*

When seeing ethnic minorities in a television show or film -that is not focused around people of their ethnicity- they seem to be token characters thrown in for either comedy or to not be seen as only using white people. As with everything this is not always the case. Characters like Nick Fury in The Avengers or John Diggle in Arrow actually play a huge role in the plot and are seen as central characters. But there are some other characters who are just thrown in for a few minutes as a form of comic relief. These will usually be characters who do not add much to the plot but are just there to get the character from one place to another as a taxi driver, pilot etc. Examples of these are Ranjit from "How I Met Your Mother" and Dopinder from "Deadpool". Both characters are Indian taxi drivers with strong accents who provide bit of light comedy. They both have female troubles which they resolve in questionable ways.

Some characters combine these two elements as they are central or recurring characters in the narrative but their culture is humorously mocked and they provide all the stereotypes commonly associated with their ethnicity. The most immediately recognisable examples of these are Apu from "The Simpson's" and Raj from "The Big Bang Theory". Both characters are very similar in their representations. Both characters are Indian, have strong accents, have very long surnames that are perceived as odd and laughable to a Westernised audience and are under a lot of pressure from their parents to get married otherwise they will have it arranged. Because of these characters' under-representations , these stereotypes have unfortunately become synonymous to the Indian culture.

In conclusion more often than not ethnicity is poorly portrayed in the media as they rely heavily on various stereotypes to create characters. These under representations lead to people believing that all these stereotypes are true.

*I was not able to copy and paste the magazine cover.