Gomez 1

Luis Gomez

Professor Lawson

English 113B

17 April 2017

Research Paper

Word Count 1609

We See It but Dont See It

People are sensitive or maybe some are not. Those who watch big screen movies in the

theaters may not always see some racism involved until one persons point it out. Most movies

are divided by race which reflects how much we fear each other as a human race. Most actors are

racially white which divides actors into casting or playing role in a part that doesnt match their

background of origin. Some movies do depict people racially in a negative way by applying

stereotypes. Minorities actors are underrepresented in film, and characters from minority groups

are often depicted as unimportant or as minor. Because of this, racist stereotypes and the

marginalization of minority films and perspectives has been allowed to flourish in society.

The media has grown over the century to the point where racism has been used in

movies. Sponsored films usually have white actors and have Latinos in their movies but Latinos

are viewed as unimportant. Latinos are almost never the protagonist unless its a movie about a

Latino. There is some bias going on. When a Latino is playing a role in a movie or in a television

show (mostly in movies) most Latinos actors portray themselves as bad people without even

noticing. According to the article Portrayal of Minorities in the Film, Media and Entertainment

Industries, minorities, more specifically African-Americans and Latino-Americans are the

casualty of a media that perpetuates social stereotypes and ethnic homogeneity (same) by
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Brown. As people watch films people will think that all underrepresented minorities in movies

reflect the way they are in terms of how they act. For example, if a minority group in a movie

scene does an act of violence then the audience will think that this is how underrepresented

(Latinos, Africans, etc.) act in real life. Some people do think that Latinos are just drug addicts

just because of a misrepresentation in a film.

Latinos are now playing roles in movies but there is a pattern that people see. Most

protagonists are white and may have a colleague who isnt white in terms of race. That person

may be Latino or a person of color. Did you ever notice the antagonist in films? The characters

are almost never white. According to the article, Latino Portrayal in the Media Films, the

article states, when Latinos are present in different forms of media, very consistent type of

Latino are portrayed. Usually it is a person who has darker features, tanner skin, and an accent.

By Gulman. The media in films do this on purpose to give a hidden message to the audience. The

message people see subliminally is that Latinos are all the same and have an accent of there that

is not an American accent. This right here relates to racism and stereotypes because the people

who films movies are basically saying that all people of color are all like or in some way like

each other.

On the other hand, a movie called Crash is a movie about racism and stereotypes. This

movie basically makes people confront prejudices or make people feel unwanted. According to a

scholarly article, White Power: An Analysis of Racial Tensions in Crash by Tori Goyette, she

states, The acclaimed movie earned rave reviewsquestions about racism and stereotypes

some harsh realities that are avoided on the big screens. The movie does show a lot of extreme

scenes that may be sensitive to some viewers. After September 9, 2001, a lot of people who

believe in the Muslim religion faced a lot of discrimination and which has been demonstrated in
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this film. There is a scene where a non-Muslim person store was robbed. In a wall, there was a

message saying somewhere along the lines, die Muslims. This scene caused the victims

confusion because they were not from the Muslim religion. They look like they are Muslims

and that is why they got targeted.

However, just because they look Muslim doesnt mean they are. In addition, they were

also targeted racially because of their skin color. In real life, people do an act of violence by

either killing a Muslim person or by harassing them. This scene demonstrates how people

really are. It was necessary to give a full description of this scene to understand the context of

racism and stereotypes in movies and in the real world. People who are misreported in films are

sometimes portrayed. This film does something else in a whole new different level. This film

makes people see how people suffer instead of depicting a person in a film by adding

stereotypes. In some other films, Muslims may play as a terrorist which enforces stereotypes in

the people who think that Muslims are all terror groups. In this case, this scene shows that

Muslim people arent terrorist groups even without a hijab. This film has portrayed people of

color in a good way to show that people from different races face prejudice and bigotry. Goyette

says, Viewers might take comfort in the notion that everyone is a little bit racist. This film has

made people consider racism much more seriously.

Underrepresented communities voices were heard through this movie but maybe the

dominant race didnt take it serious. Media has portrayed people in a bad and in some ways good

(like the movie Crash). The media (films) has probably used some bias towards actors but are

racists when choosing who should play a role in movie. According to the New York Post, Why

Birth of a Nation is still the most racist movie ever states that, What makes Birth most

offensive is its depiction of its black characters all of the prominent ones performed by white
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actors in blackface during Reconstruction by Lou Lumenick. Films like these show that

black people arent accepted by white people. This goes to show that it is okay for people to be

unaccepted just because of their race. This movie is racist. It also goes against what the movie is

about. Likewise, this makes people feel that white people are superior. There is a borderline and

this crossed the line; this film has taken racism into fun action. Black people cant be white

people. This is how movies play an act of racism by sugarcoating what a black person felt like in

this film. This is how movies perpetuate people into looking like a different person. The Ku Klux

Klan were looking for black people (white in the film) based on the article. This goes to that it is

okay to sugarcoat racism in movies by hiding real history behind.

Real history is hiding in movies and depict people from different race and this affects

how we see people in society. On the other hand, films such as Stand and Deliver shows that

Latinos are not criminals. Relating back to Crash that film has shown and stereotypes Latinos

as gang members just because of their tattoos. Jaime Escalante was a math teacher in East Los

Angeles. According to the New York Times, Jaime Escalante, Inspiration for a Movie, Dies at

79 written by William Grimes says that, in 1982, 18 students in the special calculus program

Garfield four years earlier took the College Boards AP test in calculusseven of them

received a 5, the highest possible score; the rest, a 4. This films shows how underrepresented

and mispresented minorities arent bad people. People whom are white are less likely to watch

Latino films because they are afraid of watching others being superior. This can be concluded

because of the research that was done by saying that films only want white protagonist such

"Birth of A Nation and Crash. Some white people dont like to face how they use racism

therefore they are less likely to watch films related.

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Movies like to depict people of color as unimportant people and have shown that by

choosing actors in movies but Stand and Deliver says otherwise. Sure, a lot of racism still

exists no matter how much the media likes to put people of color down. Grimes says They were

told that they were not good enough and would not amount to much. He told them that with

desire and discipline, they could do anything.. This is true even from personal experience.

Likewise, white people may not agree with this film as people of color start to rise as good

people because the media has painted too much negativity on people of color in almost all the

films created. People dont often see the struggles of Latinos and Africans in the United States.

Often, people like to ignore the fact if a person of color is succeeding but often pay more

attention to the bad side of people. Mexicans like to do drugs, Africans like to steal, and Muslims

like to kill. These are stereotypes that are enforced in films. Not too often do people see a person

from poverty growing up with a good life in films.

Latino films arent popular because people will assume that movie is about drug narcotics

which the media has already said in most films by demonstrating it visually not saying it. People

are under the influence of movies and movies has changed our perspective on people (including

race). People would have thought differently if racism and stereotypes were not implied in films.

Films like to make people of color seem bad. They arent. Its hard to make people of color look

bad since so much bad things have been done to make people from different backgrounds look

bad. Movies have even made people of color look as bad actors by using white people to be

black people in films.

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Works Cited

Brown, Eric, Raagen Price, and Yurii Horten. "Portrayal of Minorities in The Film, Media And

Entrainment Industries." Stanford, 1 June 1999. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

Grimes, William. "Jaime Escalante, Inspiration for a Movie, Dies at 79." The New York Times.

The New York Times, 31 Mar. 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.

Lumenick, Lou. "Why Birth of a Nation Is Still the Most Racist Movie Ever." New York Post.

07 Feb. 2015. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.

Goyette, Tori. "White Power: An Analysis of Racial Tensions in." Fresh Ink: Essays From Boston

College's First-Year Writing Seminar. Boston College, Web. 17 Apr. 2017