Theater Arts Final Essay

The Treatment of Different People in American Film There are several ways to portray a group of people and have the public believe it. Probably the most influential way to affect a person’s view on a certain group of people would be through film. Over the course of the past one hundred years, American film has subjected different groups of people to stereotyping, biased portrayals, and racism. However, these unfortunate stereotypes and the racism in film are quite covert to the public, and they tend to simply believe what they see in their favorite movies. Although there are several groups of people one can think of that have been stereotyped or attacked in some way in American film, there are a few specific groups that are prime examples of being victims to the biased portrayals in American film. These groups consist of women, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, and gays and lesbians. These groups have all been wrongly viewed by the nation’s public largely in part because of their portrayal in American film. Women are one group that has been largely affected by American film. They have mainly been major victims to stereotyping. An excellent example of a film that is packed with stereotypes regarding women would be Peter Jackson’s 2005 film, King Kong. One scene in the

movie shows one of the main characters, Ann Darrow, on a ship heading towards Skull Island. She keeps speaking about the ship and doesn’t appear to know anything about ships at all. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal, but then a man, Bruce Baxter, comes forward speaking about how women don’t belong on ships, and that they’re nothing but trouble. This scene clearly suggests that women should stick to the house work and not explore the outside world. In addition to that scene, Ann Darrow is looking desperately for work in the beginning of the movie, and is offered the address to a strip club by a talent agent. He tells her that she “isn’t a bad looking girl”, and that