There’s so much stuff to talk about when it comes to the media and its prejudice approach. The list can go on and on. I really can’t say if they do it on purpose, or not; I really don’t know. But prejudice has been involved in every type of media for a very long time.
The media, in my opinion, is a bunch of mumbo jumbo and oddly entertaining at the same time. It is such a powerful tool that can manipulate people’s mind.Everything we like or do is influenced by the media. The way we dress, act, eat, etc. Our media says that hair is disgusting (except your head), so we shave; but if you’re a man who shaves, then that’s not manly (except if you have an excuse for being a swimmer). They say girls are hot if they have big boobs, so they get boobie implants; they say you’re good looking if you put a bunch of makeup on and outline every single thing on your face (lol jk). I’m not saying that everyone is influenced by the media, but do you all get what I’m trying to say? Because of such image or information that the media shares, a lot of people can be offended or insulted. For instance, I knew a girl from high school who did not shave her legs. Kids made fun of her and called her disgusting and dirty. I do not know the real reason why she choose not too shave; maybe because of her culture, religion, or maybe she simply wish not to. Who really says that hairy legs is disgusting and dirty? We all do; the media, you, and me (lol). It’s because it is part of our norm. And if someone decides that he/she does not want to follow the norms of our society, then he/she is considered as taboo.
Movies! Have you seen any Asian in movies that has acted the main role, that has nothing to do with kung fu? What I found funny was when a crappy movie titled, Dragonball: Evolution that ruined an absolute amazing Japanese anime series that is based from, casted Justin Chatwin (a white dude) to play the main character, Goku. There are a bunch of hot buff Asian men out there that has amazing martial art skills that fits the role 100x better than Justin Chatwin. Some people felt insulted because of how the movie industry cast roles base on stereotypes. I don’t take it personally. All I do is laugh about it, because in reality the stereotype in movies are mostly true (lol).
To be honest, I don’t think that I’ve been affected by insults towards my ethnicity, gender, or race from the media; well at least not often. The reason is because; I guess you could say, I learned to accept the “reality.” Some of you are probably saying that I’m nuts to accept such ugly things. I do not accept the ugly part of it at all. What I accept is that no matter where you go, prejudice exists. If I choose to continue to stress about it, then I will constantly have mental sufferings. Instead of arguing about how wrong it is, I change the way I think about it; in a positive way. How is that possible? For example, we now have Youtube. And in Youtube or other video-sharing website, there are a bunch of offensive videos posted by “trolls.” A lot of people take these videos seriously, and I know “why do people make others mad on purpose?” I really don’t know (lol). I guess they find it fun. I recently found a video rant about a white girl from UCLA who . . . just watch the video of you haven’t yet.
. . .
The media, in my opinion, is a bunch of mumbo jumbo and oddly entertaining at the same time. It is such a powerful tool that can manipulate people’s mind.Everything we like or do is influenced by the media. The way we dress, act, eat, etc. Our media says that hair is disgusting (except your head), so we shave; but if you’re a man who shaves, then that’s not manly (except if you have an excuse for being a swimmer). They say girls are hot if they have big boobs, so they get boobie implants; they say you’re good looking if you put a bunch of makeup on and outline every single thing on your face (lol jk). I’m not saying that everyone is influenced by the media, but do you all get what I’m trying to say? Because of such image or information that the media shares, a lot of people can be offended or insulted. For instance, I knew a girl from high school who did not shave her legs. Kids made fun of her and called her disgusting and dirty. I do not know the real reason why she choose not too shave; maybe because of her culture, religion, or maybe she simply wish not to. Who really says that hairy legs is disgusting and dirty? We all do; the media, you, and me (lol). It’s because it is part of our norm. And if someone decides that he/she does not want to follow the norms of our society, then he/she is considered as taboo.
. . .
Movies! Have you seen any Asian in movies that has acted the main role, that has nothing to do with kung fu? What I found funny was when a crappy movie titled, Dragonball: Evolution that ruined an absolute amazing Japanese anime series that is based from, casted Justin Chatwin (a white dude) to play the main character, Goku. There are a bunch of hot buff Asian men out there that has amazing martial art skills that fits the role 100x better than Justin Chatwin. Some people felt insulted because of how the movie industry cast roles base on stereotypes. I don’t take it personally. All I do is laugh about it, because in reality the stereotype in movies are mostly true (lol).
. . .
To be honest, I don’t think that I’ve been affected by insults towards my ethnicity, gender, or race from the media; well at least not often. The reason is because; I guess you could say, I learned to accept the “reality.” Some of you are probably saying that I’m nuts to accept such ugly things. I do not accept the ugly part of it at all. What I accept is that no matter where you go, prejudice exists. If I choose to continue to stress about it, then I will constantly have mental sufferings. Instead of arguing about how wrong it is, I change the way I think about it; in a positive way. How is that possible? For example, we now have Youtube. And in Youtube or other video-sharing website, there are a bunch of offensive videos posted by “trolls.” A lot of people take these videos seriously, and I know “why do people make others mad on purpose?” I really don’t know (lol). I guess they find it fun. I recently found a video rant about a white girl from UCLA who . . . just watch the video of you haven’t yet.
A lot of Asians and even other ethnic groups found this video really offensive. When I saw this video, it did not affect me in anyway. It did not get me mad, sad, offended, or whatever. Simply because some part of what she said is true. We are loud! (lol) Well because that’s how we speak normally, and it really does annoy the crap out of me; I always think my mom is always yelling but that’s just how she talks. But to get to my point, instead of taking this video negatively, I told myself that hey, there’s a lot of Asians in that school especially in the library (lol jk). There’s always going to be a silly girl like her out there. Prejudice will exist for a very long time. I know it's wrong, and brave people do a bunch of things such as awareness. So when you see something that may be offensive, you can just laugh about it so it would not mentally hurt you. It's only the media after all; don't let it affect you.
The media exists for the sole purpose to control you by making you feel that you are informed. This alleviates the urge to do something at the same time putting events in such a spot light that their rectification seems larger than life and only achievable by some other huge entity.
ReplyDeleteThere is a politically orientated major news network that provides your flavor of news whether conservative or liberal, republican or democrat. Then there are the independent cable channels. You can literally pick the news you want to hear and its scientifically and psychologically constructed to swing you to a diametrically oppose view point from the rest. We are as citizens consistently played against one another when the culprit is the power elite and rich that owen the media.
I don’t know any one who watches CBS that isn’t a republican or any one that watches fox that isn’t a conservative IDIOT! Sorry, and CNN is just the NOW at its best. AN plus they lie constantly and people just say, well I heard it on the news. For years editors of newspapers just picked what there localities would read of the AP soures and reuters and assign some one to spin the article to the editors flavor, a good article would be covered by everyone from the Newyork post to a small home town paper.
Along with media mogiuls like Ted turner and Rupert Murdoch owning all the franchises and now being allowed to control cable channels and systems, we have mind washing, highly censored crap. Talk radio and Sites like drudgereport are the only press I read. They will be beaten and drug throught the streets like prophets in the bible someday along with out freedom of speech. P.S. I liked your post!!!
I like how you look at life with prejudice people and how you deal with it. You are right there is always going to be that one person that is prejudice about everything. And if a person worries about it too much they may go crazy. I sometimes laugh about it too because I think it is silly really people let’s all grow up now. Name calling and not sharing with others should be left behind in kindergarten.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that the Media has many affects towards people’s thoughts and behaviors. I almost got drag into the media’s advertisements on how people should look. Everywhere I looked on television or in magazines, I saw thin beautiful women. I wanted to shape myself to become as beautiful as the media said I should look like. Luckily for me I am smart and realized that is crap. The people I saw on TV and magazines all sort of looked alike, the girls were thin even their faces looked alike. After a while it freaked me out why would anyone try to change the way they look when they are beautiful the way they are. The reality is that people on TV are not real, the women on the shows spend hours in the makeup room to change their appearance.
I’m glad that you use humor when faced with media stereotyping. I understand that this issue is a big deal and that we must try to combat it whenever possible, but like you said there will always be that silly person who feels the need to say stupid things. It is always funny to me that they really are saying these things to millions of people, because they always seem to post it online where everyone can see how dumb they are, and do not understand that they are coming off very racist. We also have to admit to ourselves that in every stereotype there is some shred of truth in it. I hope everyone gives me a chance to explain myself before they call me a racist. Stereotypes do not just pop up overnight like mushrooms, they are created through long periods of time. I am Mexican and will tackle some of the stereotypes aimed at my culture. The first one is that we are illegal. Truth is that there are thousands of illegal’s here in American. Another one is that Mexicans only eat rice and beans. Truth is that that is a stable of many Mexican’s diet and I eat rice and beans a few times a week. It is nothing to be ashamed about or ridiculed and I think everyone needs to lighten up a bit. I know that there are many stereotypes that cause people to be offended and there are people out there that really truly believe these things. But theye are many more normal people around that are much more accepting to others. Let’s not let the few bad apples ruin our lives.
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