Modern Racist Paradigms, Essay Example

In the documentary: “Modern Racist Paradigms”, the authors do not only examine the under-representation of minorities in the media, but also its impact on individuals’ self-perception and self-belief. The above documentary was chosen because it highlights some important features of media communication that are not examined elsewhere. The problem that the documentary covers is complicated, still very relevant: internalized racism.

The authors of the documentary provide a well researched overview of the impact of mostly white media on individual decisions. Starting with analyzing the results of the famous Clark Doll experiment completed more than seventy years ago, the film argues that bias and internalized racism still exist in the modern American society. An African American high school student, Keri Davies repeated the experiment, and found that fifteen of the 21 African American children pointed out the white doll as the more attractive and prettier. Interestingly, children at an early age learn to stereotype against themselves. Another interesting video clip is included in the documentary, which shows a Mexican little girl talk about black and white people. She clearly points out that she wants to be white and blonde, and black and brown are bad, while white is good. The authors of the documentary ask the relevant question: what influenced the girl’s preferences, and how the media forms minorities’ self-concept.

The next question the documentary covers is the standards of whiteness in media. Supermodels appear to be white or have white features. Most positive characters in movies are white. Whiteness is standard, while being Hispanic, Asian, or African origin is deviant and inferior. One of the most shocking parts of the film covers the current “norm” of Caucasian eyes. Double eyelid surgery and nose alteration plastic surgery is performed every year on millions of women, who believe that by appearing more European they would be more successful and attractive. Women talk on Tyra’s show, and the clip is very revealing. Tyra herself confesses that she does not wear natural hair, and distorts her ethnic features to appear whiter. She tells the girls who recently underwent the double eyelid surgery that the real reason behind her decision was not to have bigger eyes, but to be more “standard” and “white”. She remembers that she felt like she did not fit in the school community as a child. While people learn to understand their differences and accept it, they still have a low respect for their own race. The girl finally confesses that she was the only Asian girl in the class, and she was racially abused. Tyra agrees: “This sticks with us forever”. Related to Asian women, the authors reveal another common stereotype: submissiveness. White males all over the world are looking for wives and girlfriends from Thailand and other parts of Asia, as they are looking for a woman who can be controlled. White men controlling Asian women has its own racial meaning: whites being more powerful than ethnic minorities. Interestingly, the standardization of “white male” as the most powerful character is revealed in movie character choices, as well. Minority actresses are often paired up with white males, such as Jessica Alba, Jennifer Lopez, and Tia Carrere. The standardization of whiteness, however, goes beyond borders, too. Video games created in Asia have characters with blonde hair and blue eyes. Women of Hispanic or African origin bleach their skin all over the world. The influence of American movies and shows is clearly visible in every country.

Unconscious stereotypes being present at an early age are also discussed in the documentary: showing images of a black and a white man to white children results in the black man being labeled as a “bad guy” and the white man “just mad at someone”. Indeed, the white person shown to the children is a terrorist, while the other one is a teacher. While many adults believe that they do not have any racial bias, the next experiment featured in the film shows otherwise. White participants show a strong preference for Caucasian faces, while African Americans show either a slight preference towards whites, or a slight preference towards their own race. The interpretation of preferences, however, is interesting. Almost all white people who were found to have a preference towards whites either denied it or felt ashamed. Whites’ preference towards their own race is considered to be racism. When African Americans showed preference towards “black” faces, they felt pride for being connected to their roots.

The final, and most interesting part of the documentary attempts to reveal the role of Hollywood in creating and reinforcing stereotypes. The authors state that around 95 percent of movies in Hollywood are made by Caucasian directors. This means that they depict problems and situations that are relevant to white people, and minorities in movies are almost non-existent. Major leaders are often white males, and if there is an African American positive character, they can only have an assisting role. The movie industry’s partiality towards Arabs is discussed in the last part of the film, and it is interesting to see how stereotypes are reinforced by the media over and over. Featuring video clips from “Black Sunday”, and “Aladdin”, the authors show us how stereotypes are used to create a negative image about the Arabic culture and depict Arabs as inferior. Actors of Middle Eastern origin often only get villain roles, and the terrorists are always from the Muslim world. The characterization and demonization of ethnic minority characters is clearly visible in the clips featured in the documentary.

The Spencer experiment reveals how media is able to construct society in America, and how it affects the socialization of the future generation. The researcher shows pictures to African American children aged between 3 and 12 of two identical characters; both have the same posture, clothing, hair; the only difference is their skin color. The children immediately point out the white girl as the prettier, and the black boy as the “dirty boy”. When asked about their decision, they come up with different reasons, and they realize that saying that the character has a nice dress does not work, as both have the same clothes. Carol Simpson states that it is parents’ responsibility to adjust messages that reach their children. As she puts it: “I was asked to choose between black dolls and white dolls: I chose the white doll”. As children see positive characters appearing to be white, including Jesus and the angels, they assume that that is the standard of “good”. All fairy tale characters are white and beautiful, and the most influential children’s entertainment company, Disney depicts princesses as “Barbie dolls”.

Overall, watching the documentary was revealing, and the overview of different media features and stereotype-reinforcements helps every individual understand how socialization is influenced by racial bias and characterization.

Works Cited

Anonymous. “The Modern Racist Paradigm” 2012. Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L2uzjWv4hI>