I found this podcast very interesting because I come from a multicultural background. I am half white, half Indian, and my white side is Jewish. Rather than saying that I have three different cultures I believe that those three aspects of my life and traditions that go with them make up my culture. I think that saying the idea of culture is a “combination” of elements is a really good way to put it because there’s so many aspects and ideas that contribute to a culture. A lot of the time when I think about culture my mind immediate goes to race and ethnicity but it doesn’t always need to be categorized by that. When thinking about all the elements that make a culture I’ve realized that different people in the same ethnic, racial or religious group can have extremely different cultures. Many people relate race to culture which is why I think stereotypes are so prevalent and generalized.
It’s important to recognize that people of all cultures can be stereotyped or represented incorrectly. I agree with the idea that having minorities and people of color play a positive role in pop culture is really important for the younger generation. I also think that if children see a person that looks like them shed in a positive light then they will be more accepting of their heritage and skin color. However, it’s important to recognize there’s a huge distinction between representation and inclusion. This brings about the question of is it better to include diversity in pop culture even if it’s inaccurate or should we not include diversity if it incites stereotypes and generalization. Obviously it’s best if we accurately depict people in movies and shows but that hasn’t been the case so far. The podcast made me wonder why stereotypes are so commonly portrayed in children’s movies and if they contribute to racism and biases.
You made some great points here, and I appreciate the perspective you brought to this blog. Connecting race to culture seems natural to most people, and I definitely thought of it that way before reading this. I see how it is wrong to do this, and I think you did a great job explaining this. I like the connection to stereotyping here as well, because it is still such a big problem today.
While reading the assigned chapters, one of the hardest parts to swallow is learning that at one point in the author’s life, misrepresentation had made him hate people of his own race. This truly demonstrates how unequal and stereotypically portrayals of minorities in entertainment are extremely dangerous. I agree that greater representation in entertainment most certainly needs to exist to prevent future generations from experiencing the same self-loathing as the author, but that it must be done carefully as to not encourage furthering stereotyping of marginalized groups.