China Doll

http://0-proquest.umi.com.maurice.bgsu.edu/pqdweb?index=4&did=493897741&SrchMode=3&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1195137557&clientId=3340&aid=1

In this article from ethnic newswatch we are told about Yue-Sai Wa Wa a Chinese doll that has been recently introduced in the United States. The doll is a Chinese version of the more well known American dolls. I chose to write about this because although the Chines designer of the doll thinks that it is helping the image of Asians in the United States I think that the doll is much too stereotypical to change the ideas that Americans have about Chinese.

This article relates to Takaki chapter 10 because in this chapter Takaki tells us about Japanese picture brides that were often very young. Although we are talking about a Chinese doll the similarities are still there, especially when the doll appears in her "Dream Bride" form. The doll also appears in very stereotypical Chinese roles such as "Panda Protector" which just continues the traditional stereotypes of the Chinese and further more extends them to young Americans.

I think that this doll marketed to young girls is a bad idea. Kids develop the ideas that will shape their world at this age and giving them dolls that are representations of traditional stereotypes just warps the children's views of Asians.

Jello

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCKxWQCs3f0&feature=related

In this commercial for Jello from the 60s we are shown a Chinese baby trying to eat "the great western invention," Jello. The baby is trying to eat the Jello with chopsticks but cannot pick up any of the Jello. Not only is the baby and mother very stereotypically Asian in appearance, but the narrator speaks with a thick Chinese accent, and we are shown “Chinese symbols.” The baby in this ad is shown as being not only stupid but very neat as well; the baby tries to use utensils instead of its hands.

This relates to the video “a threat to democracy.” In the video the Japanese were said to be submissive, although in the video Japanese were the subject, it still relates to the Chinese baby. In the commercial the baby is submissive in the way that it does not dive right into the Jello but instead waits to be given a better tool. The spoon which is also a show of American superiority is given to the baby and the baby becomes happy.

I think this ad is loaded with underlying racist content and my analysis just starched the surface of this commercial.

Asians serve whites

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8179115239563497066&q=controversial+tv&total=957&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=6

This is a commercial for Bud Light that features two Asian looking men that have apparently made a serious mistake while serving white customers. The commercial begins with two Asians in an Asian looking restaurant whispering about apologize to their white customers. They decide to send a robot to do their dirty work, which is to tell the man that they feed him poison, and then the robot dispenses beer for all.

The reason I choose this peace is because it shows the Asians as servants and submissive to the white group of friends. The Asians are so submissive that they can’t even go to tell the man they accidently feed him poisonous blow fish. The fact that they made the mistake in the first place shows that they are not very bright.

This peace connects to the discussion that we had in class about the comic book covers. On many of these covers the Japanese were terrified of the American superheroes, and perhaps that is why the men in this commercial feel the need to send a robot while they cower in the kitchen.

I think that this commercial is very odd because on hand it portraying Asians as bumbling servants who mistakenly serve poison to the customers but on the other hand they are smart enough to operate a robot. It makes me think back to a discussion we had very early in the year about blacks being inferior but when the beat whites in sports they are said to have an extra muscle in their leg which makes them more wild, and animal like.

Survivor

http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/cbs-reveals-survivor-cook-islands-cast-confirms-racial-tribe-division-4307.php

The media I decided to do this post on is the popular long running reality television show Survivor. From the start of the show’s run on CBS many have criticized it for the lack in minorities that are contestants on the show; producers have claimed that it is because of a lack of minority interest but in the latest season of survivor the producers took the search to add minorities too far. In a controversial move the producers decided to split the group of contestants into four racially segregated tribes.

This season is now less about who is backstabbing who and more about which race will dominate the others. The four tribes of this season are the Caucasian, Asian-American, African-American, and Hispanic Tribes. As a former fan of Survivor I know that the show use to be about trying to form alliances with other tribe members at the same time as trying to beat them for the shot at a million dollars. This season however seems to be beat the other races to show that you are superior.

This relates to both Takaki’s chapter 3 (The Giddy Multitude) and Zinn’s chapter 2 (Drawing the Color Line). In these chapters both authors explain that lines between ethnic groups were created. In previous seasons of Survivor the tribes were racially mixed and even though they were predominantly white the members of the groups had to work together to win challenges. In this season the point is to smash the rival tribes same as it has been for all other Survivor seasons but this time it is also crushing a rival race.

I think that this was a horrible idea for the show to do. When I use to watch the show I always thought it was interesting to see how people interacted with the other contestants of different races, and it was always exciting to see if one team member’s racist feeling toward another member would cause group conflict. This season the tension and racist feeling are in the open and there is no reason to “watch to see what happens. No matter what tribe wins someone will claim superiority over the other ethnic groups.

Hot Topic

This media portfolio post is about Hot Topic, their ads and the store’s general appeal. If one goes to the Hot Topic website or visits one of their many locations located in malls all across the country you will see in the ads and it the customers who shop there, typical white middle class teenagers wearing white makeup and black baggie clothing.

In Hot Topic’s ads and stores one rarely sees an African American. Although Hot Topic never overtly supports white superiority in some of the female t-shirts that the store sells say “I dig pale white guys.” Although the saying was more in reference to the style of makeup that is worn by the teens that Hot Topic is trying market rather than race the meaning is still there.

This relates to McBride’s article about Abercrombie and Fitch in the way that both Hot Topic and Abercrombie and Fitch market to a specific audience and that both market whiteness. Although Abercrombie and Fitch and Hot Topic are marketing to two very different subcultures both are portraying a very similar message, “African Americans don’t wear our clothes.”

As a person who formally frequented Hot Topic once a week or more I never really thought about what kind of people were shown in the ads, I always noticed that the clothes that they wore were stylish and that they were always shown with a group of other young people that were dressed like them. However I never paid attention that all the teens shown were white.

Shools in Africa

http://www.blacklooks.org/2007/07/muddy_uneducated_uncivilized_people_who_need_to_be_educated_probably_by_any_random_westerner.html

This post is about a group of ads from Germany featuring white children in black face with the ad saying “I’m waiting for my last day in school, the children in Africa still for their first one,” “in Africa, many kids would be glad to worry about school,” “in Africa, kids don’t come to school late, but not at all,” and “some teachers suck. No teachers suck even more.”

These ads portray all Africans as uneducated savages. Saying that the children in Africa children do not attend school is stereotypical and although I’m sure that there are some children in Africa who have not received a formal education all of these children are not necessarily black. Also many children in many countries do not receive formal educations this is not an issue limited to African children.

This relates to Johnson chapter 6 in the way that although we see the image we do nothing about because we do not want to cause problems. It also relates because most people would look at this ad and believe the stereotype presented in the ad campaign.

I think that this ad campaign could have been a successful if they had not featured the children in black face and if the ad would have presented statistics about education in Africa. I believe that these ads could have brought awareness to the issues that Africa is facing but they went about it the wrong way.

White is coming

This is an ad for the new white Playstation Portable. The new white version of this previously all black gaming system was advertised in a series of controversial ads like this. In the ad you can clearly see a black women in a fight with a white women.

This ad fits in with what was being said about blacks after their emancipation. This ad is much like the movie "Birth of a Nation" in which the blacks were savages. The black women seem to be not be as dressed nicely as the white women is, her hair is not done like the white womens, and the black women is winning the fight which makes her appear more savage.

I think this ad is very strange and quite racist. I can hardly believe that people looked at this ad and thought it would be alright to put forth into the world.

The Five Chinese Brthers

The Five Chinese Brothers is a book I read when I was young. The story Is nothing to get excited about, it is simply a story that has probably been passed from generation to generation and was finally put in to into a book. The story however is not the problem it is the pictures that make this book what it is. All the pictures are much like the one above. All the pictures feature Chinese people with eye that are slanted, they are all happy, they are yellow in color, and they all are typically wearing the same thing.

This is similar to the way that African American slaves were shown as happy and willing to work. This book also relates the comic book covers that we looked at in class. The Chines in these illustrations are the same way, they seem happy all the time and willing to serve. As well as the Chinese that are shown are very stereotypical in the way they look in the artwork that is displayed in this children's book.

I think this book pokes fun at Chinese people and I'm a bit concerned that this is being shown to children. I remember reading this story as a child and the story itself is not something I would want me child to be exposed to, that combined with the art makes for a child with a skewed outlook on the world.

Hannah Montana

The part of this clip I'm referring to is the character "Roxy". She is the body guard of the main character in the popular TV show Hannah Montana. Not being a regular viewer of the program I am a bit fuzzy on many of the details surrounding the relationship of Roxy and others on the show but from the few episodes I've seen that feature Roxy she seems to play the role of mammy to Hannah and the other kids that appear in the show.

Much like what was explained in the video, Ethnic Notions, that we viewed in class Roxy is given the role of the children's mother. She is obviously not any relation to any of the other characters. She is classic mammy, she cares for the children and the absents of any other mother figure on the show leaves ample room for Roxy to be de-sexualized and to become the mammy of the children. She is very classic in appearance as well, she is a larger women who often is betrayed as being from the south. In the clip that I provided she also presents another stereotype, she is aggressive much like the blacks were made out to be after emancipation. In this clip she says she is a "puma" which furthers the thought that she is "wild" or "uncivilized".

I think that this character is very normally seen is programs for children and these show are so often successful that others try to replicate that success by making the characters in their new show like the ones in the program that has had success. I don't think that the makers of this show places the character Roxy in the script because they wanted to include a stereotyped black women, but maybe because they need a mother figure and this actress just fit the part.

Mario Text

This something like the text I received a few months ago from one of my friends. In the text Mario was running after Yoshi who was being ridden by a black man. At the top of the screen were the words "Nigga stole my Yoshi."

I choose to write about this peace because at the time I received this text I really didn't think much about it, I saw it laughed a bit, and went on with my day. Then while watching the video "Ethnic Notions" in class I began to think about it again, about how it fit right in with what I was seeing on the screen.

This is also how it fits in with course material, the man in the text was much like what was being said in the film. After emancipation blacks were made into brutal savages that in the movie "Birth of a Nation" were almost wolf-man like, they chased a young white woman off a cliff. This text was classic brutal blacks stealing because blacks are unable to survive in civilized society.

This text was sent to me from a very good friend of mine who I know never meant to hurt anyone, and I think that's part of the problem with text such as these they seem harmless, funny, "it's a cartoon, who could it hurt." The thing that surprised me most about this text came when I was looking for some kind of screen shot of it. I put the words "nigga stole my yoshi" into google and was give thousands of matches, several being videos. One such video featured two young black men one cashing the other yelling "that nigger stole my yoshi" this reminded me of the black men that preformed in black-face just so that they could be on stage.