Monday 12 December 2011

Examples of Media Stereotypes...

First Example- The Simpsons:
The Simpsons is a conventional TV show and the stereotypes are portrayed within half an hour of the show's broadcast. In the show, the character Apu is exceedingly discriminated and stereotyped as he is represented as an Indian immigrant who prays to Ganesh (Indian God) and holds a highly noticeable and different accent. This is a stereotype because it is observed by young children and is amusing in their point of view; they apply this knowledge towards those they meet in real-life. Viewers of this show think this information is accurate as they hold little or no knowledge about that particular group. Though the stereotypes shown on TV are usually misrepresented, they are quite well accepted by the audience as the truth. The viewers who watch these shows on a regular basis do not recognize the prejudiced content which is being presented. The Media grabs the interests of their audience through comedy, drama and action which causes the viewers to ignore the immorality behind the content. Hence, the effectiveness of using such stereotypes contributes to the popularity of TV shows.
Second Example - 7th Heaven:

7th Heaven is an old sitcom show which involves the Camden family of 7 children and the father of the family is a pastor called Reverend Eric Camden. The pastor's oldest daughter Mary Camden decides to go to a party. As Mary is inside the party, one of the girls in the party recognizes Mary and says, “Isn’t that Reverend Camden’s daughter?” The group of girls huddle up and start discussing how shocked they are to see Mary at the party. The girls are shocked because it isn’t typical to see a Christian pastor's daughter at a party as they believe the family is religious. 7th Heaven must address this issue of partying in order to make the show seem more like the realistic situations high school and college students face every day. By putting Mary in this situation, the show supports the belief that a pastor’s daughter does not make decisions like the one Mary made about sneaking out. This belief is common in reality because the media makes it so obvious by showing us how we should act when situations like these occur.

Judgment is an issue between young adults because often we do not look past their family ties before we decide a personality on them. In our perspective, if a person is the son/daughter of a famous ethical leader then he/she mustn't drift from acting fairly at all times. We think that because of who her father is, social decisions are already made for her. As her peers, we must find a way to minimize this judgment and common belief. We can do this by treating each person on an individual and personal basis so equally. By doing so, we shouldn't let a person's father’s occupation describe their personality or let it describe how that person should act within a social community. 

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