Matt Dominik
The three sources of stereotyping that I chose to write about are a few advertisements, a prime time television clip, and a cartoon.
I. Sources
A. Prime Time Television Clip – Seinfeld: “The Cigar Store Indian”
View Video Clip: http://tinyurl.com/SeinfeldClipINT202 [Note: Link goes to YouTube video]
YouTube Information: Title: Seinfeld: Cigar Store Indian Owner: phunit
The episode of Seinfeld that I chose to use is primarily based around the Native American stereotype. In this episode, Jerry played by actor and comedian Jerry Seinfeld, and Elaine played by actress Julia Louis Dreyfus, two of the main characters, get into a fight one afternoon, and Jerry is out with George, his best friend, and decides he should buy something to make up for the fight because he felt that the fight was his fault. Jerry is at an antique store with George, played by actor Jason Alexander at that time, and decides to by a replica “cigar store” Indian. The Indian is about five feet tall, and very large, and obtrusive. The evening after Jerry purchases the Indian he takes it over to Elaine’s apartment, and she is having a few of her girlfriends over, one of them a woman named Winona, played by actress Kimberly Norris. Winona is a character that earlier in the episode Jerry had expressed a romantic love interest in, and thought that besides making up his fight with Elaine, he would also impress Winona.
That evening Jerry knocks on Elaine’s door with the Indian, but has a trash bag wrapped over the top of it, so suddenly it impresses all the women seeing that jerry brought over a gift, as he explains they had a fight earlier, and Jerry takes off the bag, and everyone is in shock at the site of the Indian, and he tells Elaine to read the card. She does not want to read the card out loud, as she feels rather awkward so Jerry reads the card, as it says “Let’s bury the hatchet. We smoke um peace pipe.” At that point Winona decides to leave, and Jerry doesn’t understand why, and then makes the stereotypical movie noises of an Indian, saying “Hey-yah, ho-ah, hey-yah, ho-ah.” Once Winona leaves, Elaine explains to Jerry that she is a Native American, and he suddenly realizes the impact, and says he has to go, and apologize.
Jerry goes to Winona’s apartment, and apologizes, and she accepts his apology, and they decide to go out to a restaurant to eat. While Jerry is at Winona’s, Kramer played by actor Michael Richards, stops by Elaine’s to pick up his bowling ball, and sees the Indian, and she tells him that he can have it. As Jerry and Winona are walking out to eat, Kramer drives by them in a taxi with Indian sticking out the window, and starts making Native American noises such as Jerry was doing earlier in Elaine’s apartment.
In the end Winona forgives Jerry, but throughout the episode Jerry has some difficulties stopping himself from saying terms that may offend a Native American. When talking about where he got New York Knicks tickets from, he stops himself from referring to the man on the street as a scalper. When Winona asked what they were doing that night Jerry stutters when telling her he made a reservation at a restaurant. Also, Jerry had asked if he could have her TV Guide earlier in the episode, and Winona then told him she needed it back, as he then paused when referring to her as an Indian giver. (phunit, 2008)
B. Cartoon – “Scrub Me Mama With a Boogie Beat” by Don Raye
View Video Clip:http://tinyurl.com/CartoonINT202 [Note: Link goes to YouTube video]
YouTube Information: Title: Scrub Me Mama With a Boogie Beat Owner: VortexFilms
This cartoon is set in “Lazy Town” in the rural Southern United States. It is considered to be a jazzy tune cartoon, and focuses on a laundry woman from Harlem, New York who has a very unusual for scrubbing clothes, that people come from all over to watch her scrub the clothes. The cartoon starts by portraying all of the African-Americans as very lazy, and tired, as all they are doing is sleep. All of the characters are portrayed to look like monkeys as they were in the videos in class, and to have big bright lips. One man who isn’t sleeping is sitting in a rocking chair very lazily picking cotton. The men have very large hands, and are speaking in slang saying things like, “I’ll bust ya head!” The men and women barely have any teeth, as they have big gaps between all of their front teeth. They show a man who is in the town eating watermelon, which is stereotypical of what African-Americans eat. Even the children are made to look like smaller versions of the adults, and resemble what does not look like humans.
There is a boat the pulls into the dock at the town, and a tall, white woman gets off to show how to wash the clothes, and children. The woman is portrayed as a completely normal looking human being, unlike the African-Americans throughout the video. It is almost like through out the video that the African-Americans are portrayed as somewhat dumb, silly almost, and that they are all mesmerized by the white woman, not just because of her scrubbing, but almost as if like she was an idol to the African-Americans. A lot of the women throughout the film were portrayed as very large women with clothes that barely fit them. Another controversial scene seemed to be also when one man was doing a shinning stand that would look like it should be used for shining shoes, but he was shining a man’s foot, as it suddenly turned a very shiny black. (VortexFilms, 2007)
C. Advertisements -Intel Core 2 Duo Processor & Mack’s Earplugs
View Advertisements: Please see the advertisements attached at the end of the paper.
I chose two different small advertisements that have been used in magazines for my last choice of sources. The first advertisement that I chose to use is for an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor that is advertised as having 40% more performance for business. The main headline for the advertisement is “Multiply computing performance and maximize the power of employees.” The advertisement shows a white business man, surrounded by six African-American men who have running suits on with black and yellow, almost as if they are about to run “lightning” fast as they are crouched down as a runner may typically do. The advertisement was actually pulled due to an extreme backlash of racist anger, as it seemed there was a white superior who is extremely proud of his new fast computer that is depicted by the African-American gentlemen.
The second advertisement that I chose is for Mack’s earplugs, and 201 World Champion Masters Triathlete, Laura Sophiea is featured in the advertisement. She is sitting on what appears to be a surfboard in a pool with the earplugs in, but her back is to the camera, as it seems to focus on her lower back, and buttocks region. She also has a tattoo for the company on her lower back, which has often been mislabeled by society for its different interpretations when a woman has that. The quote at the top of the advertisement says, “She’s not your typical librarian.” I think the company is trying to say because she is a mother and a full time librarian, she is also a multi-talented athlete, but the sexual persona of the advertisement makes people believe that maybe librarians cannot be attractive, and presented how she is in the image. The sexism of the picture is fairly high, as it is using a woman’s attractiveness to get consumers to purchase earplugs. (The Intel ad that was recently pulled: from an art historian’s perspective, 2007) (Kneale, 2007)
II. Reflections on Sources
A. Prime Time Television Reflection
The Seinfeld episode presented some stereotypes, while obvious; I think it was fairly innocent. This episode aired in 1995, and I think that that was a different time, when stereotyping wasn’t taken as serious, I mean it was a lot more serious than say back in the 1940s, but it wasn’t even as drastic as it has become in the last five years. The stereotype arose because of Jerry not knowing of someone’s decent, and that does not make stereotyping right, but also in the show he played the role of a comedian, and just like some of the comedians we have watched in class, we see that sometimes they make fun of nationalities, and aren’t doing to offend anyone, but to make people laugh, and pursue their career. The possible sources for this stereotype are the history of Native Americans and their history as how they became to grow throughout the United States.
A lot of Native Americans would probably see most of the depiction of this stereotype to actually be true, as the Indian did resemble the way most Indians dress, and the noises that Jerry, and Kramer made at different occasions in the episode are usually the typically native ritual noises. I think that most of the stereotyping of the Indians may be true, I don’t feel that it is right, because they were using real facts, and almost mocking the Native Americans in a way, and I found that to be somewhat offensive, so I can only imagine how a Native American Indian may feel if they were to view this episode.
There really isn’t too much about the stereotyping in this case that may be helpful to others other than how not to represent a Native American, and the noises to not make, as it teaches others about the true ritual of the Indians, and is not to be mocked in a joking manner. I found the fact that the Indian culture was presented on a prime time television show is helpful to make the viewers aware that Indians still do exist, and helpful indeed to the Indians as it lets a lot of people who may be unaware that they still exist to this day throughout the country.
I wouldn’t necessarily say there was anything harmful, as much as there was some hurt involved to the Indians, as well as myself. I wouldn’t want to see someone mocking my family on television, and that’s how Winona felt as Jerry bought Elaine the statue, and used it to replicate native Indian hums, and noises, that took her upbringing, and made fun of it. The intention was not truly to make fun of the Native Americans, it was more for Jerry to show that it was an Indian statue, and to represent it with the Indian culture, but it was still found to be offensive if you’re aware of Native Americans history in anyway.
The most concrete way that I can lessen this stereotype in my opinion is to probably really understand more of the cultural history of Native Americans. I won’t lie, and say I know a great deal about their history, because I don’t. To stop myself from ever saying something that may be offensive to or about the Native American Indians I need to understand more of their culture, and realize the triumphs that they have gone through, just as I, myself, or anyone should do with any nationality, race, sex, or any other category that could be stereotyped. (phunit, 2008)
B. Cartoon Reflection
The cartoon “Scrub Me Mama With a Boogie Beat,” brought about drastic stereotyping in my opinion, as it depicted the African-Americans during the early 1940s. The stereotyping arose because of the time period that the world or the country was living in at that time. Despite seeing nudity, profanity, and so much more on television right now in the year 2009, there were things that aired on television 50 and 60 years ago that would never stand a chance of staying on air for two minutes in this day and age. The world was in a tough time in the early 1940s entering World War II, and a lot of stereotyping existed, and one of the big ones was against the blacks. The main sources that this cartoon came directly from was how the African-Americans were portrayed down in the southern United States and how the were considered to be lazy people, as well as how people actually thought the African-Americans looked.
By no means do I think that any of the stereotyping in this cartoon to be true, and I do not think that anyone of African-American decent would feel any different. The way that the blacks are drawn throughout this cartoon is absolutely horrible, and does not reflect what any human being looks like. The white woman in the cartoon is represented as a gorgeous woman, who some may see as a “sex symbol,” and everyone else looks run down, and lazy, as if she is better than all of them. Other than the fact that they colored everyone the color black there is nothing presented that seems to be true, as African-Americans are proud of their heritage, and their color, but they don’t find any of the stereotyping in this cartoon to be in anyway valid.
The stereotyping that took place I found useful for others to see how wrong it is to depict other races, as it is so clearly obvious within this cartoon, and presented in such an unfashionable matter. Every aspect of this cartoon is hurtful, as the African-Americans are shown to not look human, and in a town called “Lazy Town,” with a trance around a white woman. I found all of the stereotypes very hurtful to myself personally, and ashamed to see a horrible rendition of a cartoon. The first way to lessen the negative effect is to not air the cartoon on television, but I think also to possibly re-do the cartoon in an appropriate way that does not take demeanor away from any races, and to show America that this is not African-Americans should be treated in the present day, nor how they should have been treated 60 years ago. (VortexFilms, 2007)
C. Advertisement Reflection
The three stereotypes that I chose for the advertisement portion, are all different, and I think arose in essence to help marketing of different products, not to be in anyway offensive parse, but they did come off that way. The Intel advertisement had the idea of showing runners that run very fast, that represent the computer working very fast, but the six African-American men were a bad choice, as maybe an African-American man can run very fast, it does not mean that all can run extremely fast, which in essence is the idea and concept Intel used. As for the earplugs advertisement I think the stereotyping arose because they decided to use an attractive woman to market something that really didn’t require you to see any of her body other than her ears. Obviously the stereotype of this is sexism, and highly true, as it is clear they are using a woman to market their product, and which a lot of women may find this offensive to see, as their using their sex to market a consumer product. It seems as if they want men to see the advertisement, and say something like “Well, I need earplugs, and this really attractive woman wears them so I may as well buy these.”
The Intel advertisement shows that you shouldn’t even stereotype against others when it comes to athletics, as they clearly did here in this advertisement, by showing six African-American men, and saying that their as fast as your computer basically. This advertisement is helpful to show that you can’t automatically assume that a black man can run really fast, and was helpful to show that by pulling the advertisement completely. This is hurtful in a way I’m sure to someone of color as it is basically mocking anyone who does have the talent to run extremely fast, like the Olympic runner Urain Bolt, who broke world records this past summer for his speed, and sees an advertisement showing that basically anyone of his color is supposed to be able to run that fast.
When it comes to the Mack’s advertisement, I find it hurtful as a business major, and having studied a lot of consumer products, that to make sure they sell their product they need to use an attractive woman who will reach out to consumers to make them purchase their product, by using a stereotypical attractive woman. This advertisement could be helpful to women everywhere if it could show how not every woman has to look like a super model to be considered to be beautiful. I find it hurtful for women, as someone who may not consider themselves entirely attractive will see this, and wonder that’s how they’re supposed to look because that’s how the woman in the advertisement looks.
The ways to lessen the negative effects of these advertisements is farily simple. Just like every other stereotype that exists in the world everyone needs to respect others, and see that just because someone says something about a specific stereotype does not mean that it is true. I need to understand that maybe some African-American men can run really fast, but that does not mean that other races cannot run as fast. Also, while a woman who society labels as being very attractive does not mean that she is the woman who everyone finds the most beautiful in their life, as inner beauty is the most important aspect, and understanding that will go a long way in having a sexist stereotype in my opinion. (The Intel ad that was recently pulled: from an art historian’s perspective, 2007) (Kneale, 2007)
Citations
(2007, August 11). The Intel ad that was recently pulled: from an art historian’s perspective. Retrieved February 21, 2009, from Art(h)ist’ry Web site: http://arthistorian.wordpress.com/2007/08/11/the-intel-ad-that-was-recently-pulled-from-an-art-historians-perspective/
Kneale, Ruth (2002, June 27). You don’t look like a librarian. Retrieved February 21, 2009, from Librarian Image Web site: http://www.librarian-image.net/2002/other.html
phunit (2008, January 28). Seinfeld: Cigar Store Indian [Video file]. Video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV16ECAAACM
VortexFilms (2007, March 18). Scrub Me Mama With a Boogie Beat [Video file]. Video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7cvsh2iIwQ
