Communist Sterotypes in Penguins of Madagascar

     While most cartoons in the 1950's and 1960's victimized and oppressed certain cultural groups, primarily minorities, I found it fascinating that these stereotypes are still openly swimming in today's cartoon industry. As a nanny, I usually shift the children's leisure time away from television programs and any materials associated with the mainstream industry. However, during my shift this week I softened my standards and got pushed over into letting one of the girls to watch an airing of her favorite cartoon "Penguins of Madagascar". During the viewing of the episode, I encountered  yet another alarming element in the media.One of the characters in the show, a plumber,  Gus portrays a clumsy, Russian meat-head, who owns a business entitled Babushka Plumbing.
 As comical and innocently funny as his character might be, this depiction provokes the already existent negative connotations of the Russian community. Gus's broken English, his Lenin-based work ethic, and immense physical strength all translate into the endorsement of the Cold War tension that hurricaned through United States from the late 40's til the early 90's. As an immigrant, I found this episode to be extremely detrimental and offensive to the Russian demographic.It's immensely disappointing to see these constructions being fed to the youngest generation, due to the fact that such negative portrayal formulates a vicious cycle of oppression. Despite the fact that Cold War ended in 1991, American television still holds the division ground between  United States and  the "Soviets".

Question: 
     Do you find that the depiction of  the above stereotype is directly correlated to the previous historic and political events? What do you think is the primary driving force for its release?

For India the arrival of cable television and Western fashions and films has given today's teenagers the idea that thin is beautiful.

We spoke about this happening in Fiji.
Now, we can add India to the list.

If in fact media is our # 1 export, what is our national ethical responsibility around eating disorders?

Click on the image or here for a link to the story.

Media Moment, "AXE Noah's Ark Commercial."

Being a Christian is something I truly take to heart so when I came across this Axe commercial, mirrored from the Bible story of Noah’s Ark, I was beyond LIVID!

Trying to type a full explanation of the immoral content of this ad, not only for Christians but also for females, would cause my keyboard to catch on fire so I will keep this in bulleted format.

•  The ad it itself is a blaspheme of God, the Bible and it’s message. The story was not built to secure women for sexual purposes of one man- FAR from the Biblical truth.  
• Nowhere does it state in the Bible that Noah was a white man.
•  Noah didn’t use signs of Anarchy or the world ending to build the ark- it was constructed on a message of salvation. 
•  Biblically, the ark itself was built to house animals; a male and female of every kind so that once the Flood was over, there would be offspring (it was to house people as well, those willing to go). The women in this ad are belittled to animals in the same fashion, two of a kind. The Noah-like actor is their Sheppard, directing them to sexual escapades, exercise, poll dancing, music and other “goodies” in his life saving ark.
•  The Axe cologne is the only thing that draws these animalistic women to the ark- not by their own sense of safety from the fast approaching anarchy.
• The women shown were mostly white, longhaired, slim, wearing skimpy, extra short, extra tight or flimsy clothing exposing body parts and the pairs were almost always twins.
• Notice that the fruit “Noah” was cutting to eat was in the shape of a woman’s bottom, not only objectifying a woman’s body but also sexualizing it.
•  At the point of the world’s end, “Noah”, spraying Axe to save the women of the land can be seen as the male savior for all women.
• Lyrics in the song says, “Oh no oh yes no man can walk alone, this is chemical/ this is critical,” which I assume means a man can’t be alone so its very important that he gets women to “walk” with him. This is done by a chemical reaction, which is in this case, the Axe men’s body spray.
•  Throughout the whole ad, “Noah” has a dog, an actual animal (man’s best friend) faithfully by his side showing that these women are merely play pieces in his game. It’s not realistic for a woman to be trustworthy or loyal so he uses many for one purpose- sex.
• “Have a happy end of the world” is said at the end playing on the cultural ideas of the Mayans that the world will end in 2012. This basically says, since we’re all going to die this year, guys get some Axe 2012 and wait for the women and sexual escapades to begin- let life end with a bang. And women, because these guys smell undeniably good, get ready to be sex slaves because you wont be able to resist.

 I may have missed a couple of things but overall this Axe advertisement is disgusting. I understand its creative, definitely unforgettable and risqué and that the company, Unilever (the same company that makes Dove and their “Campaign for Real Beauty”- how ironic) wants to make money but I feel like standards have gone too low.

What I’d like to know is why do you think Axe is using Christian Biblical stories to promote their brand (there was also a “Fallen Angels” commercial as well)? Why not use a Jewish custom, a Hindu story from the Bhagavad Gita, or something from another religion? Why even use religion at all? Do you think the advertisement would’ve gotten much more flack had it been a play on another belief other than Christianity? 

Discussion Points for "What Does Race Have To Do With Ugly Betty?" by Jennifer Esposito

INFO: The article "What Does Race Have to Do With Ugly Betty?" by Jennifer Esposito examines the use of affirmative action by exploring the episode’s focus on race and privilege. After being told that she was chosen for an internship only to meet a quota, Betty begins to doubt her own abilities and starts to question the value of meritocracy. This emphasis of race over meritocracy in the episode exhibits how race still continues to structure our lives. Esposito also discusses the reverse discrimination that the character Marc faces since affirmative action allows minorities access to education and employment. Since affirmative action is present in society, it is debatable whether or not it is actually beneficial or unfair. The article shows the two separate views from minorities on affirmative action, between Betty (who thinks it is unethical) and her family (who think it is a great advantage). The author concludes the reading by advising that the only way to abolish racialized hierarchies is by examining the ways race, popular culture, history and the political economy support it.

QUESTION: In our society, what is the dominant ideology on affirmative action? Who is actually benefiting from this dominant ideology? Why do you think the ABC network is promoting this social ideology through it’s programming?

Discussion Points for Debra Merskin, Three Faces of Eva

Info About the Article: Merskin describes how Eva Longoria's character on Desperate Housewives falls into the three categories mentioned in the article which are the Cantina Girl (the sexual object), the Faithful, Self Sacrificing Senorita (the good girl, gone bad who protects her white love interest) and the Vamp (uses her intellect and sexuality to get whatever she wants and she brings men to act violent).  Longoria uses the fact that she is Hispanic and her sexuality in real life which does not make her so different from her character on television. The author ends the reading by stating that these stereotypes on televison make male viewers not  expect much from Hispanic females based on how they see them portrayed in real life and that leads to Hispanic females not expecting much for themselves.

Questions for the class: Do you guys think that all Hispanic actresses on American televison fall into the "Latina Stereotype"? and for the ones that do fall into that stereotype can they be taken seriously in Hollywood or are they stuck playing these roles in any other project they do?

Discussion notes for the article "The myth of the Latin woman: I just met a girl named Maria" by Judith Ortiz Cofer

The article by Judith Ortiz Cofer discusses the struggles of both cultural differences and stereotypes that Latin women face here in the united states and abroad. Judith bases these struggles in the idea that because of the cultural differences of Puerto Ricans and Caucasians, certain cultural identifications for the Latin female are often misinterpreted by White males and are thus perpetuated in mainstream society through the media. For the dominant white male culture all that is seen are these stereotypes instead of a consideration for their cultural differences and personal individuality. This occurs both publicly and within the business sector in which women are taken advantage of as a result of these misinterpretations and because of their lack of education. Judith emphasizes the importance of education for young Latin women as a means for social transformation first on an individual level and then in society at large.

Questions: Are the issues of misinterpretation presented by Ms. Cofer truly issues of misinterpretation or could this be a segway into a larger discussion that should be centered around gender roles and feminist arguments? How have you individually processed a situation where an individual identified you by a cultural stereotype? 

Media Moment, "Shit White Girls Say . . . to Black Girls"

Comedian Franchesca Ramsey posted her "Shit White Girls Say . . . to Black Girls" video to YouTube on January 4, 2012. Now, almost two months later, it has around 8.5 million views and 32,829 online comments. It's become one of the most viewed and most famous videos from the "Shit People Say" meme.

Franchesca got a lot of media attention for this video. The video's online comments made charges of racism, stereotyping and divisiveness, and media outlets covered the responses as a controversy. Franchesca pushed back. In this appearance on the Anderson Cooper Show she defends her video and her position.




For the class discussion tomorrow, think about these questions:

1. How do you read the "Shit White Girls Say . . . to Black Girls" video? Who is the intended audience? What is the video trying to say? Is it effective?

2. On the Anderson Cooper Show, how is Franchesca put on the defensive? What arguments does she make to defend herself?

3. Why did Anderson Cooper bring Franchesca's white friend on the show? What role does she play?

4. What is the ideology at play in this clip from the Anderson Cooper Show? How is racism treated and/or defined?

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