Averie Singleton

Joshua Samson

Film 1070

28 Feb 2019

Cultures In Hollywood

There is a big stereotype with racism in Hollywood films. A character of color who isn't

as rich as others in the film is often depicted as unsuccessful. In movies it is most common that

the super rich person with the big house and the best cars is always an older white male. There

are not many movies where the super rich person of the movie is not a white male. Usually those

who are not white are portrayed as struggling or just living but not striving. Additionally, often

you see a, “White savior” who saves the day and they are rarely of a different race. “Protagonists

and antagonists are not the only ones simplified in a Hollywood film, as other roles are also

represented by quickly understood stock characters such as the love interest, the best friend, or

the comic relief. Such “instant characterization” often draws upon pre-existing social and

cultural stereotypes. Some may seem benign, like villains wearing black. Others, like repeatedly

casting Asians as mysterious mobsters, or Hispanics as gang members, can have vast effects on

how those identified as Asian or Hispanic are treated outside the movie house” (Benshoff, Harry

M., and Sean Griffin)

“Actors, filmmakers, and moviegoers have blasted Hollywood's deep legacy of diversity

issues and racism in recent years. In response, Hollywood has greenlit more diverse TV shows

and the Academy expanded its membership pool in the hopes of diversifying the Oscar
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nominees. Still, Hollywood fails to hire diverse actors and filmmakers, routinely whitewashes

movies, and perpetuates racial stereotypes. So, is Hollywood doing enough to address these

issues?” (Tylt)

In the film, “The Rabbit Proof Fence,” the white people are controlling, well off, and

wanted to be seen as knowledgable. The white people are ruining the Australian culture, and

trying to switch how they do things and even how they think.  In this film you see how the white

men were the ones in power. They were shown to be very controlling and "knowledgeable" about

what the best thing for a different culture is, but really they were stripped of their identity and

culture. The natives were looked at as savages and the white people felt as if they were superior

and needed to help the natives to be more like them. The natives’ clothing is different from that

of the white people, as well as the language and their actions. Another way the film portrays the

natives is by using the camera movement and landscape around them that gives the viewer

information on who is superior (white people) and who is inferior (natives). We see often that the

stereotypes are negatively showing the intelligence, work ethic, and dignity of other cultures.

“For instance, the most classic stereotype of Mexican women in the media today is the role of the

maid — that almost every Mexican woman is a maid on television or in real life. Examples can

be found all over TV and movies, even in shows like “Family Guy,” in which the character

Consuela is a maid with a heavy accent and all she does is clean. Nevertheless, the craziest part

is not why we have these stereotypes, but why they keep getting circulated with such popularity.

Stereotypes generalize people, and the worst part is that they’re believable. Stereotypes repeat
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the same nonsense over and over again in harmful ways — and stereotypes about Mexicans

ignore the rich and vast diversity that Mexico and its culture have to offer. In the United States,

that diversity is not recognized. We are seen as a homogeneous people with the same “crazy”

tendencies.” (Alejandro Lara).

The fact that the white race just barged into their land and thought that they could dictate

everything about the Australian culture is ridiculous. The thing that was good about the movie

and made it more interesting is the fact that Molly was portrayed as the protagonist and then she

out-smarted them and got back to her home. The reason it stood out to me was because it proved

the point of the movie which illustrates how one culture might think they know best but really

we need each other. We are all smart but not one culture is smarter and better in any way. Each

culture can make their own choices. Molly knew what she was doing and knew what she had to

do to make it back home with her family. “The racism faced by Doris Pilkington’s family (and

virtually all other Aboriginal people) at the hands of white Australians is rooted in the colonialist

practice of exploiting and eventually eradicating entire peoples and cultures under the banner of

“civilization.” This process is made possible by the false idea that colonizers are somehow

“protecting” or “helping” the people they oppress, saving them from their “primitive” ways. By

writing about the racism her family encountered under colonial rule, Pilkington situates the far-

reaching effects of racism and colonialism within the history of Australia, and the much longer

history of the Aboriginal people.” (LitCharts)

Rabbit Proof Fence is different from the Hollywood films because it’s filmed in Australia,

it’s filled with culture, it doesn’t have any graphic scenes that you usually see in Hollywood, and
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it has only one well-known actor and the rest are unknown. They don’t draw out emotional

moments, the clothing is real and the characters don’t change their outfits all the time. The villain

seems nice and his reasoning is that he cares about the girls when he really just wanted power.

The ending is not Hollywood, because they add the depressing reality of how long this continued

to go on for their culture and what other sad things happened to Molly later on.

In many films we see racism toward other cultures but where it is reversed is on the

television show, “This Is Us.” The show is emotionally involved and you see a lot of real-life

scenarios happen to the main characters. It is filmed like a Hollywood film, but the storyline is

not the normal Hollywood stereotype. To understand how it is different from the normal

stereotypes, here is a summary of the show: A married couple decides to have children and find

out they are having triplets. When the wife, Rebecca, gives birth she loses one of the babies. The

husband, Jack, finds out there is an opportunity to adopt a baby. Rebecca and Jack were

mourning the death of the third baby and decided to take this baby that was left at the hospital.

The baby they decided to adopt, who they named Randall, is African American, while their other

children are white. There are a lot of difficult parenting moments Rebecca and Jack face from

adopting a child of another race and culture. The show deals with issues regarding how

challenging it is for them to raise two white children and one African American child. Randall is

treated differently throughout his whole life. Rebecca and Jack do a good job in raising Randall

though because he grows up to believe he can accomplish anything and be successful no matter

his race. It’s different from the typical Hollywood films, because the two white children aren’t
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the successful ones, Randall is. As the children keep growing up, you experience life a little bit

with them through their different perspectives.

In conclusion, Hollywood should make more of an effort to portray race like, “This is

Us”, meaning movies and television shows should portray characters of color as successful and

good people who are relatable to people of any color. The movie, “Rabbit Proof Fence”, is a

good example of the negative ways race is most often depicted in Hollywood. It shows how

cultures have been treated and the intensity of white people overpowering what they view as

inferior cultures. Whereas, the show, “This Is Us”, is more of a positive influence of how a race

or culture can be portrayed in Hollywood as just as or more successful than white people.
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Works Cited Page

LitCharts. “Racism and Colonialism Theme Analysis.” LitCharts, www.litcharts.com/lit/follow-

the-rabbit-proof-fence/themes/racism-and-colonialism.

Tylt, The. “Is Hollywood Doing Enough to Address Racism?” The Tylt, thetylt.com/culture/is-

hollywood-doing-enough-to-address-racism.

“Mexican-American Stereotypes in Film.” The Aggie, 30 Jan. 2018, theaggie.org/2018/01/30/

mexican-american-stereotypes-film/.

Benshoff, Harry M., and Sean Griffin. America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and

Sexuality at the Movies. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.