Have you ever wanted to stand on top of a mountain with a gigantic megaphone embraced in your hands shouting the iconic quote, “You know my name, not my story!” People may have their own judgements and interpretations about your life, but nobody knows you better than yourself. Although this is the case, it’s not the case when it comes to the platform we all count on for news and entertainment, especially when it comes to the topic of race—the mainstream media. The real question is: do racial stereotypes still dominate our western media? Why and how these stereotypes and misrepresentations of race become apparent initially is what should be discussed.
Race plays an enormous role on our planet. There’s no escaping the realities of race, especially …show more content…
It roots from white supremacy. The news and entertainment obsess over white people as they are generally the standard of beauty, intelligence, and more. Throughout history, it is evident that they were the first to create racial barriers thus putting themselves on a higher pedestal. People of colour are forced to look up to them on their favourite television shows and daily news channels because they were all they had as role models. Since people of their own race weren’t hired to play themselves,—a familiar example being Emma Stone playing a Asian/Pacific Islander character woman even though she’s white—they feel the need to have to aspire to be like the actors of the whitewashing Hollywood. How can a person of colour relate to any situation in the media if they are not represented in the first place? Not only are stereotypes being perpetuated when we are being “represented” in mainstream news and media, but when we are supposed to be included, we are replaced with a white …show more content…
But, underneath all the lies that the media continue to spread, there’s character and value beneath every race that has been, sadly, brushed under the rug. Each race comes with love, struggle, happiness, and importance. Marina Watanabe, a YouTuber, sums up the misrepresentation of people of colour perfectly: "Representation may seem like a small issue to care about when people of colour are marginalized in virtually every area of society, not just in the entertainment industry, but seeing ourselves represented—accurately, may I add—in stories communicates that we exist and that we matter (“marinashutup, 2015”).” The media may attempt to tell our story for us, but no one will ever know the true story better than
Race plays an enormous role on our planet. There’s no escaping the realities of race, especially …show more content…
It roots from white supremacy. The news and entertainment obsess over white people as they are generally the standard of beauty, intelligence, and more. Throughout history, it is evident that they were the first to create racial barriers thus putting themselves on a higher pedestal. People of colour are forced to look up to them on their favourite television shows and daily news channels because they were all they had as role models. Since people of their own race weren’t hired to play themselves,—a familiar example being Emma Stone playing a Asian/Pacific Islander character woman even though she’s white—they feel the need to have to aspire to be like the actors of the whitewashing Hollywood. How can a person of colour relate to any situation in the media if they are not represented in the first place? Not only are stereotypes being perpetuated when we are being “represented” in mainstream news and media, but when we are supposed to be included, we are replaced with a white …show more content…
But, underneath all the lies that the media continue to spread, there’s character and value beneath every race that has been, sadly, brushed under the rug. Each race comes with love, struggle, happiness, and importance. Marina Watanabe, a YouTuber, sums up the misrepresentation of people of colour perfectly: "Representation may seem like a small issue to care about when people of colour are marginalized in virtually every area of society, not just in the entertainment industry, but seeing ourselves represented—accurately, may I add—in stories communicates that we exist and that we matter (“marinashutup, 2015”).” The media may attempt to tell our story for us, but no one will ever know the true story better than