Portrayal of Race in the Media

After discussing the influence of the media on shaping attitudes towards specific races, I have been noticing a lot of negative connotations and stereotypes being displayed. This afternoon I was watching Bring it On: In it to Win It, and it is a typical chick flick cheerleading movie. There is a competition between two squads, but the Shark squad caught my eye in particular. Each character on this squad represented a different stereotype. There is the blonde, ditzy white cheer captain, accompanied by a gay male cheerleader, a ghetto black friend, and a gothic Asian. Particularly the way Aeysha, the black cheerleader is portrayed caught my attention.

Aeysha is from a suburb in New York, however she acts as if she is from the “hood.” While training one day, her coach calls her out and goes, “Why do you talk like that?” Aeysha responds, “ This is how my people talk, so I talk this way.” That quote exemplifies how Aeysha feels as if she needs to fulfill the stereotypical ghetto black girl.

In lecture, we discussed how popular culture influences the way you see yourself, and how you look for validation. We also, explained how there are transcendent and non-transcendent symbols. A transcendent symbol is something you can see past and there are many different types including gender, class and race. A non-transcendent symbol is something you can’t get past including sexual body parts, income, and skin color. Aeysha sees “her people” and acts the way she thinks is socially acceptable. Meanwhile, she is just filling a socially constructed racial stereotype.

On top of Aeysha, feeling the pressure of being the only black girl on the squad. Each other character represents a different stereotype. Why must the captain of the cheerleading squad be a blonde, beautiful ditzy white girl? Or why must there always be a gay male. The media always displays different races, and sexual orientation in the way they “should be displayed.”

After watching the Sarah Silverman clip about chinks, and the various You Tube videos in lecture, I think that the media should stop portraying different races in the way they are constructed by society. I think there have been strides made from the past, but we still have a lot of progress to go. Even though Aeysha came from a wealthy family in New York, just because of her skin color she felt the need to act different from her true self. After the confrontation with her coach, Aeysha dropped the “black girl act” and became her true self, which was refreshing. Just because of her skin color, she felt forced to act in a different manor, but then realized it was stupid. Race is socially constructed, and still people feel the need to shape their beliefs around.