Racial Stereotyping in Movies

Everywhere you look you can find some type of racial stereotyping. It’s around us, in the books we read, and the films we watch. Most movies just poke fun at racial stereotyping but some movies show the harsh side of labeling a certain race. After 9/11 many people saw Middle Eastern and South Asian people as terrorists. In airports the tighter security portrayed the seriousness of the US government. However, the firmer security was only leaned toward people with specific last names, and certain nationalities would be stopped for further screenings. Another racial stereotyping present in real life and films are the arrest of dark colored men. Racial profiling against blacks have gone on for decades. The most recent reference was the Trayvon Martin case, in which a 17 year old colored teenager had a hoodie on and 27 year old Hispanic American suspected him of suspicious behavior, and shot him claiming it was self-defense. Colored people are also more likely to get stopped by the cops while driving. Men in Black II poked fun at this when in the movie, the car had a robot driver and it was a white male. Kevin Brown asks, “Does that come standard?” and Agent J replies, “Actually it came with a black dude, but he kept getting pulled over.” Films usually poke fun at racial stereotyping, but some portray the harsh consequences of racial profiling. The movie American History X is about a neo Nazi group based in the United States, and how their cult discriminates Jews and colored people. Throughout the movie as told in the narration by Danny Vinyard we learn that before going to prison Derek, Danny’s older brother, was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. In film, many racial profiling can be spotted. In Broadway plays, colored people were not allowed to act, thus the white males put on black make up and went on stage to play the black males or females. In the play The Scotts borough Boys