The media has great power and with this power it has a knack for shaping our thoughts and opinions and general impressions of our nation and society. The news media is one thing, but the aspects of our society shown in the film "Ethnic Notions" are something entirely different.
Simple items that Americans accepted into their homes represented some of the most disrespectful imagery of the time. Porcelain statues, decorations, etc. all exemplified a false image of African Americans shown to the rest of the nation.
It is painful to realize that beloved childhood television like Looney Tunes once played a part in this deception. Starting children off with the ridiculous idea of black people actually acting like the characters portrayed in the cartoons probably aided in creating a generation of people who thought that way.
Probably the most amazing piece of information in the video was just the underlying theme that all of what we were seeing was considered normal by many white Americans at the time. Worse still, the film makes the viewers realize how many stereotypes are still there today.
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6 comments:
The media does have great power and it has had great power from the beginning. I agree with what you said about the children and these cartoons. It's crazy to think these cartoons could influence and shape children at such a young age to believe African Americans really are what these stereotypes are. How is society suppose to change when things like this is targeting such a young audiencce?
I agree that the media has a huge impact on the way we view the world. If we wathch TV we for some reason feel the need to accept what we see. We watch it for enjoyment without really paying attention to what is really going on. We may miss certain racial or stereotypical aspects. I for one never notices that Looney Toons was racialy stereoypical. I guess that parents need to really pay attention to what their children are watching and that all people in general need to watch TV programs and other media more critically so they know what they are really watching. Sometimes the messages and ideas we learn from programs on TV or movies are not all that abvious, but that doesn't mean we don't learn them.
This film brought to my attention that many of these degrading images of African Americans still exist today. I was shocked when I saw Looney Tunes and other television shows portraying these stereotyped African American characters. Many of these shows were and still are prominent children’s programs on our televisions. I can’t believe that I had never noticed the negative connotations that these characters represented. These images have been cleverly infused in our media and many of us have not even noticed.
I do agree with you that media does have a huge impact on society.
The cartoon of the looney tunes caught my attetnion becuase i cant believe that these images were in carton too. I never looked at cartoon like that some of these cartoon are still around today. The film also made me realize that these sterotypes are still in society today just not as out there as they were back then.
I agree. Last semester while working on a paper for the Cap stone history class I read a book which mentioned the mammy stereotyped, equating it with the Aunt Jemima syrup. I was honestly shocked, I had never thought of it, she was sort of just ingrained in our culture in the same way most of us would not bat an eye at Uncle Ben’s rice or the character on the Crème of What box. Consequently, it turns out ‘Aunt Jemimah’ was modeled after a real women named Nancy Green, but the ideal of an Aunt Jemmiah, came from a song preformed by a man in black face, three years prior.
http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/1287/Nancy_Green_the_original_Aunt_Jemima
or
http://adage.com/century/icon07.html
I totally agree with you and the others that have commented. The media is a very powerful tool and shapes a lot of who we are from a very early age. It is sad to know that cartoons would have played a role in the sterotypical images of African Americans. You are right as well these images still exist today.
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