Ethnic stereotypes in American media

The name "White Media" is a term given to the mainstream media's (particularly in North America) constant use of White people in important roles within storylines for films, fashion, commercials, computer games, comic books, porn, theatre, etc. while limiting the involvement of Non-Whites to secondary backdrop roles. Such a term may also pertain to the news industry as well, but not so much in the sports and music industries even though those fields are considered to be major aspects of the media as well. It is a term that has been generated throughout many decades of social movements fueled by the increasing amount of public awareness into the affairs of the mainstream media's repetitive tactics of downcasting Non-Whites onscreen while simultaneously elevating Whites through protagonist roles. The effects of the repetitive nature of the media may have had a profound impact on how past, present, and perhaps even future generations subconsciously perceive Non-Whites as being secondary to Whites in society. Henceforth, White normalcy or "Whiteness" (see Whiteness) would be considered long established and deeply rooted in western culture.

There is a significant amount of information throughout the internet that may indicate that White people are continually being cast as protagonists in the majority of storylines in every film genre, while Non-White people continue to be limited to the supporting roles (even when those films' storylines are centered around Non-White characters). A group of professors from the University of Florida have conducted a report on this observation by stating that even though Non-Whites are gaining more leading roles in films, Whites still continue to play the central and most progressive elements in most storylines: News.ufl.edu

There is speculation that such an ongoing behavior by the media for limiting the roles of Non-Whites in films is directly (or indirectly) influenced by many early social ideologies and attitudes derived from Colonialism in the early history of Western society such as the concept of "Whiteness":[1], Whiteness_studies, and the Eugenics Movement [2],[3]-- w/ quote stated by I. I. Gottesman, a director of the American Eugenics Society (1970): "The essence of evolution is natural selection; the essence of eugenics is the replacement of 'natural' selection by conscious, premeditated, or artificial selection in the hope of speeding up the evolution of 'desirable' characteristics and the elimination of undesirable ones.". For the chronology on the history of slavery and racism in America go to: [4]

Media being ran by White Men

A survey during the 1990's which was conducted by FAIR reported that 80% of ABC's Nightline guests were professionals, while 89% of those professionals were male, and 92% of those males were White. Fair continued to find consistent numbers done for other shows as well. For example, 90% of the guests in PBS's Macneil and Lehrer NewsHour were White, while 87 % of those guests were male, 67 % of those men were from the government. In 1996, there was a survey that reflected the numbers of the subjects interviewed in American network news to be around 86% for White men.

Such statistics are consistent with the argument that White men seem to be the leading force behind the structures of the mainstream media -- quote: "white journalists dominate the mainstream media; and white people hold most creative positions in the entertainment media as actors, writers and directors. All these factors contribute to the prevalence of whiteness in media, and help to reinforce white privilege as the norm....Most mainstream media content also reinforces white privilege by featuring white characters and addressing white interests and experiences. When programming does feature non-white characters, they usually appear in supporting roles." Source: Media Awareness

Non-White Population outnumbers Whites in California (Hollywood)

There is a growing argument from the public which states that Hollywood should have more Non-Whites than Whites in leading roles in its films because California is a state which has more Non-Whites combined than that of the White population. See California demographics: California#Demographics.This could strongly argue that Hollywood is left with no excuse whatsoever for its refusal to consistently increase the opportunities for Non-Whites in its films. Such a situation also applies for Texas where the Non-white population has been estimated to be around 50.2 %: [5]

Non-White People and the Mainstream Media

Other reports concerning the mainstream media's attempts to limit the roles of Non-Whites in films may be found at:[6]. A quote from the source states: "Hollywood typically restricts its portrayals of Asians to a limited range of clichéd stock characters. And this has affected how Asian Americans are perceived and treated in the broader society.". Such an argument reports that the media's repetitive actions for limiting the roles of Non-Whites have directly affected the public's perception of Non-Whites in general, which in turn have created highly contagious negative stereotypes in modern society. Unfortunately of course, the fall-off of such a mainstream impact could eventually affect and influence the consensus of future generations as well.

Many critics have consistently pointed out that the mainstream media has very rarely considered Asian male actors in romantic leads in movies and has portrayed their sexuality as non-existent and even as far as being negative: [7]. A quote from that link states: "Asian male sexuality as negative or non-existent. Although Asian women are frequently portrayed as positive romantic partners for white men ("Sayonara"-Sayonara, "The World of Suzie Wong"-The_World_of_Suzie_Wong, ad infinitum), Asian men are almost never positively paired with women of any race. Western society still seems to view Asian male sexuality as a problem. Consequently, Asian men are usually presented either as threatening corrupters of white women or as eunuchs lacking any romantic feelings. For example, in the action movie "Showdown in Little Tokyo" -Showdown_in_Little_Tokyo, the Asian villain forces himself upon a white woman and murders her before threatening the Asian female love interest. Predictably, the white hero kills the Asian villain and "wins" the Asian woman--while the hero's Amerasian sidekick is given no love life at all."

On the subject of Non-Whites being limited by the media in films, a report was published by Ka Leo Staff Columnist Andrew Ma on February 26, 2004 which observes that anyone who was not of European heritage during the early stages of western film production was considered to be inferior. A quote from the report states "At the dawn of American cinema, Asians, Blacks and anyone else of Non-European descent were not allowed on-camera. Instead, Whites came up with the blatantly offensive practices of "yellow-face" and "black-face", using white actors to play Minorities. That wonderful idea continued for over half a century; as you can see in "Breakfast_At_Tiffany's." Or for an even more laughable example, watch John Wayne playing Genghis Khan in "The_Conqueror."

Another quote from the link states, "American portrayals of Asians have historically been designed with a very specific agenda in mind: to alienate, ostracize and otherwise paint a picture of Asians as rejects, outsiders and foreigners - in short, as less than human and less than truly American. In the eyes of mainstream media, Asians have been universally reduced to one-dimensional caricatures whose sole purpose is to serve as an "exotic" backdrop for white America." Source: [8]

This same pattern of White people playing Non-White characters may also apply to the movie Starship Troopers which was partly based on the novel by Robert_Heinlein [9]. In the original novel, the main protagonist Juan "Johnny" Rico was supposed to be Filipino man Starship_Troopers#Politics, although Paul_Verhoeven made the decision to change the background of that character into being a White man from Buenos Aires instead.

The media may be guilty of such trends in the movie industry, but there is also a strong argument which points to the direction that the media has downcasted the image of Non-Whites in other aspects of mainstream presentation. For example, this next report done by history student Misty Handy and of which is titled "Racist media tears down image of black males" [10] states that "By creating a monster-like image of Black Men, the media strategically teaches the nation to be unresponsive to the dilemmas in the Black community.".

Racist trends in the media may also be evident in news presentations. A report was done [11] which observes that Latino issues whenever put out into the mainstream, is almost always portrayed negatively: "A more important consequence is the narrow, distorting lens through which racial minorities are frequently portrayed in mainstream news. Studies commissioned by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists have found that only about 1 percent of the 12,000 stories aired yearly on the three network TV evening newscasts focus on Latinos or Latino issues -- and roughly 80 percent of these stories "portray Latinos negatively," often on subjects like crime, drugs and "illegal" immigrants."

Women are romantically paired with White Men more than with Non-White Men onscreen

Observations have also been made which concerns that Hollywood has used White men in romantic leads with Non-White females more than Non-White males have been used opposite of their very own racial female counterparts. Denzel_Washington is widely considered to be an example of a Non-White actor who has been restricted by the White Media as well. For example in this link [12], New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof asks, "when will Hollywood release a major motion picture in which a black man and white woman fall in love. Kristof raises an interesting point, but we feel his complaint misses the real problem, which is that Hollywood has shown a frustrating reluctance toward depicting romance between black men and black women." It also indirectly argues that most Non-White actresses have kissed and made out with White Men in movies, commercials, fashion, etc. more than they ever have with Non-White men in those same fields of entertainment.

The pattern of White men more than Non-White men being the protagonists in films (especially romantic films) while pairing up with women (whether those women are White, Asian, Black, Latina, Multi-racial, etc.) might be suspect in the current movie and/or television careers of Reese_Witherspoon, Jessica_Alba, Tia_Carrere, Thandie_Newton, Jennifer_Lopez (although Jennifer Lopez has done many intimate scenes with Non-White men in her music videos - just not in Hollywood movies), Jennifer_Aniston, Kristin_Laura Kreuk to name a few. For example, there seems to be no evidence whatsoever that suggests that the actress Reese_Witherspoon has even kissed a Non-White actor in any of her movies (although she has done many romantic films in her career).

Jessica_Alba, Thandie_Newton, Tia_Carrere, and Kristin_Kreuk could also be examples of multi-racial women who have, through careful observation, only seemed to cater to White men's romantic needs in storylines of various genres throughout their careers. Thandie_Newton, in Chronicles_of_Riddick has had several kissing scenes with the White actor Karl_Urban, yet (even though her character seemed to exude a sense of seductive lust towards Vin_Diesel's character Richard B. Riddick still did not do a kiss scene with him). Note: Vin_Diesel is a Multi-racial man. Such a "coincidental" observation is considered to be consistent with such a pattern - that these women for the most part, usually only do sex scenes with White men. There is even public speculation that observes White men making out with women of all races in action movies more than Non-White men (especially Asian men) do normal kissing scene with the women of their same race in romantic films.

A list of onscreen projects which have Jessica_Alba usually pairing up with White male characters, and of which in at least one instance in each storyline, has her getting intimate (to some degree) with those men:

Into the Blue

Sin City

Idle Hands

The Sleeping Dictionary

Fantastic Four

Dark Angel

Note: Currently, there is no clear and definitive evidence indicating that Jessica_Alba has gotten intimate with any Non-White male character in any of her movies and / or television shows.

Jennifer_Lopez has been romantically paired with White male protagonists in at least 6 romantic movies:

Maid in Manhattan

Shall We Dance?

Monster in Law, The Wedding Planner

Gigli

Angel Eyes

A listing of some of the films in which Tia_Carrere is cast as a love interest for White male protagonists:

High School High

My Teacher's Wife

Showdown in Little Tokyo

Jury Duty

Wayne's World

Note: Currently, there is no clear and definitive evidence indicating that Tia_Carrere has gotten intimate with any Non-White male character in any of her movies and / or television shows.

A listing of some of the films in which Reese_Witherspoon is cast romantically with a White male counterpart:

Note: Currently, there is no clear and definitive evidence indicating that Reese_Witherspoon has gotten intimate with any Non-White male character in any of her movies and / or television shows.

Public questioning seems to arise concerning these women (whether they be Non-White, Mixed, or White) are actually aware of said repetitive pattern, and whether they are so awestruck by only White men that they cannot see themselves kissing an Asian, a Latino, A Black, or any other Non-White man for that matter.

Of course, statistics cannot not lie; the majority of western movies, videogames, comicbooks, storylines, fashion commercials, and commercials in general do have women from different backgrounds (Asian, White, Black, Latino, etc.) interacting with White men (usually in lead roles) most of the time - more than they ever do with Non-White men in general. The public may even argue that there is more lesbianism in the media (sometimes in threesomes with a White man) on screen more than women attempt to do a simple kiss scene with most Non-White male characters (especially Asian males). This may very be most evident in the adult industry, but such a pattern's existence seems to be widespread in most other avenues of the media as well.

The probable cause as to why such a pattern seems to be happening is said to have been influenced by the very old and deeply-rooted Hollywood trend of repetitively promoting White men through protagonist leading roles, which in turn has resulted in the brainwashing of many women (regardless of color) in past, present, and unfortunately future generations. Sadly, even though we have seen progress (very slow progress) throughout the decades, Whites are still instinctively accepted as the social norm and ideal in the greater bulk of the entertainment industry because of their deliberate repetitive association with protagonism. White men are in fact, being subconsciously accepted as the ideal male standard while women (regardless of race) answer to White men first and foremost.

The public may also argue that these women might have been a result of the impact of the long and deeply rooted trend of the entertainment industry's strategy for putting White men in a heroic light through protagonist leading roles. In other words, such female actresses have been influenced much too long because of the repetitive White Influence in western media all these generations. That could be considered as the key to explaining why they choose roles which usually cater to White male protagonists - possible reaction from the repetitive heroic stereotyping by the media to elevate White men (which in turn may put an illusion of magnetic attraction and leadership skills for the general White man in the real world). Unfortunately, society is naturally receptive to what they see and here through the media and because the trend has been so deeply rooted for such a long time, many people of all races could be unknowingly be regarding White men as the most powerful and attractive.

Racial Cliches in Films

Racial cliches refer to the certain recognizable patterns within films which have been consistently identified by viewers as being negative towards Non-Whites. Racial cliches are considered offensive towards Non-Whites and have been said to be responsible for influencing society's broad perception towards Non-Whites negatively and on a subconscious level. For example, a racial cliche that has been identified by the public would be when a Non-White character predictably dies, or is associated with drugs, criminal tendencies, hostile behavior, or at least gets the lower end of the bargain in comparison to White characters. Likewise, if Non-White characters do play protagonists in storylines, they often team up with a White protagonist as well (making Non-Whites appear as inferior aspects, unable to solve challenges by themselves). Racial cliches often come with a "catch" attached with the circumstances surrounding Non-White characters (whether those characters are antagonists, or protagonists). Such a racial cliche can be identified in such media presentations like (note - the following list may also include other aspects of the media as well, such as video games, comic books, television commercials, etc.):

The 6th Day (2000) - At most, there were 2 black people present in this movie and both of them were secondary antagonists who were eventually defeated.

Final Fantasy: Spirits Within -In this animated movie, the major characters was a White male and a Multi-Racial female. The only Black character in this movie was killed (heroic martyrdom).

Planet of the Apes by Tim Burton -A film done by Tim Burton which is actually consistent in following the trends of the earlier versions that have all the Black characters die in the storyline. Only Michael_Clarke_Duncan survives (although he was cast as a Non-Human, but was under the authority of the lighter skinned ape played by Tim_Roth).

Queen of the Damned - All the black people die in this movie. All the survivors happened to be White.

Equilibrium -Taye_Diggs is the perhaps the only Black character in the future setting of this storyline, but predictably plays the antagonist (bad character). Unlink the White character in this movie, he is unable to overcome the evils of his surroundings. He happens to be the only Non-White character in the entire film who happens to be evil and happens to be killed off.

Dreamcatcher (2003) - There is one Non-White character (not including background characters) in all of this film and he happens to be killed. The character was played by Morgan_Freeman and dies in a gun duel with a White man. He does play the bad guy however, but antagonists are always inferior to protagonists in most storylines.

Ghost Ship (2002) -The film has about 2 Non-White characters in the crew which sets out on a mission to salvage a Ghost Ship. Both of them die, and the first death from the salvage crew was a Latino male character. Isaiah Washington's character of Greer (Black male) and Alex Dimitriades character of Santos (Latino male) both get killed in this movie. Even though many Whites also die in this movie, the remaining survivor happens to be White.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines - Most, if not all the Black characters in this movie (and its trilogy) have been killed off or killed off early. Of course the nuclear holocaust is a major part of the trilogy's base storyline, however, the remaining characters who were supposed to survive happened to be White. In fact, there is only 1 Black character in this film that had a speaking role, yet was still cast as a victim.

Saw (2004) -There are two Non-Whites in this film who get killed off. The Black cop Danny_Glover and his Asian partner Ken_Leung die, whereas the only remaining survivors happen to be White.

Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation -This film has about several Non-White characters. The Asian male character dies early while most of the platoon kill each other because of an invasive alien influence hijacking their bodies. In the end, the Hero (a White character) dies while a White female survives.

The Fast and the Furious -There are many Non-Whites in this film and the main protagonists in the storyline are played by Vin_Diesel (Multi-Racial actor) and Paul_Walker (White actor). Rick Yune (Asian male) is type-casted as the villainous influence in the storyline who leads a corrupt Asian street gang. In the end, Paul Walker's character overcomes them all.

Lethal Weapon 4 -Danny_Glover (Black Cop) and Mel_Gibson (White cop) overcome the hostile Asian male villain played by Jet_Li. In the las fight scene however, Danny Glover's character gets knocked out (making him unable to continue for awhile). On the other hand, Mel Gibson's character stabs and eventually shoots and kills the Asian villain (making him the direct and last cause of the Asian's demise).

Training Day -Ethan_Hawke (a White police recruit) prevails over the main character (Alonzo Harris by Denzel_Washington)in the film. Even though Alonzo Harris was the central character in the storyline, he was still a villain.

Bruce Almighty -Jim_Carrey (White character) is the central character in this film. Morgan_Freeman (Deity in the human form of a Black male) plays the wise spiritual influence to Jim Carrey's character (he props him up). Even though Morgan_Freeman played God so to speak, ultimately, he only serves to play a support role to the central White character in this film. Note: The Racial Cliche here can be classified as the Magic Negro character (which could be designed to play subordinate to White protagonists in films): For more read - Definition, and Black Magic

The Matrix - The Matrix films have the main White protagonist (Keanu_Reeves) destined to save humanity (note that most Media Messiahs are White; examples include John Connor from the Terminator Series, Ripley in the Alien Series, Johnny Rico in Starship Troopers, Superman in the Comics, Batman in all his movies, James Bond in all his movies, all the protagonists in the Lord of the Rings series, etc.). In the Matrix, the "Magic Negro" character could be identified as Morpheus played by Laurence_Fishburne. Ultimately though, the fate of humanity can only rest in the hands Neo.

Executive Decision -In this film, the U.S. special forces team were composed of many Non-White characters. The Villains were Non-White as well. Halle_Berry was the Non-White female who found herself caught up in the hostile situation. Ultimately, Kurt_Russell who played the White protagonist and the other White character (the one, who through sheer luck, diffused the bomb) played by Oliver_Platt end up saving the day. The Black soldier (the one who was supposed to diffuse the bomb) gets paralyzed (making him unable to continue); such misfortune creates the opportunity for Oliver Platt's character to be the difference maker in that critical situation. In the end, the White protagonist played by Kurt_Russell saves the day and wins the heart of the Non-White female.

The Lord of The Rings Trilogy - The only Non-White human characters in this film were played by the Haradrim and the Easterlings, and they happened to be bad.

Starwars Trilogies -Billy-Dee_Williams] and Samuel_L_Jackson were the only Non-White characters to play major roles in the Starwars mega series. Even though both of their characters were major players in the storylines, they are ultimately playing subordinate roles (support characters) to the central White characters.

Kill Bill -Uma_Thurman plays Beatrix Kiddo (a White female protagonist) and ends up killing scores of Asian men (portrayed as insignificant and disposable extras], a Black female hostile (played by Vivica_A._Fox, a Eurasian female villain, and ultimately an Asian female villain (played by Lucy_Liu).

Final Fantasy VII - A Japanese video game (which has recently been turned into a CGI movie - Final_Fantasy:_Advent_Children has its main White protagonist (Cloud Strife) destined to save the world. The Non-White characters in this movie (Yuffie Kisaragi -Asian, Barret Wallace -Black, and Tseng - Asian) are not the central characters, even though Final Fantasy was created by the Japanese. Other Final Fantasy protagonists such as Squall Leonhart from Final_Fantasy_8 also happen to be White as well.

The Incredibles -Samuel_L._Jackson voices a Black CGI superhero who is only secondary to the entire family of White Superheroes. The main superhero in this CGI film is "Mr. Incredible", a White superhero voiced by Craig_T._Nelson.

The Lion King - In this cartoon animated movie, Matthew Broderick voices the main protagonist lion named "Simba". Non-White celebrities Cheech_Marin uses a thick Mexican accent to voice the character of one of the subordinate villain hyenas (Banzai), while Whoopi_Goldberg voices one of the other villain hyenas (Shenzi), and Robert_Guillaume uses a thick Swahili accent to voice the wise Mandrill monkey named "Rafiki", who acts as a spiritual guide for "Simba" - props him up (support role). James_Earl_Jones voices t"Mustafa" (father of "Simba"). Unfortunately "Mustafa" is not the main protagonist in this film and in fact, he even gets killed.

Pantene "Winter Rescue" television commercial (airs in Canada) - In this commercial, the female subject character is Asian. The only other character in that commercial later greets her as he steps inside a house or room. The man who greets her is White. The racial cliche might imply that Asian men are less of a normalcy than White men are for Asian women (might be consistent with the usual pattern of pairing White Men with Asian Women). See Lib.berkeley.edu on the repetitive pattern concerning Asian men being downcasted in western culture, while Asian women being perceived as more suitable mates for White men.

An excerpt from that report done by Peter Feng states: "In the American popular imagination, Asian women are depicted as ultrafeminine sexual objects for white men, and that sexual formula leaves Asian men literally out of the picture. For example, a recent episode of the CBS television series Chicago Hope featured Julia Nickson as a Chinese American woman who helps a doctor played by Vondie Curtis-Hall to diagnose and treat an elderly Chinese immigrant. Although virtually all of her scenes were played opposite an African-American doctor, at episode's end Nickson's character accepted a date with a peripheral white character. Anxiety over black male sexuality certainly accounts in part for this resolution, and indeed actor Curtis-Hall seems constantly to downplay his sexuality - as if intelligent black men have to suppress their physicality in order to succeed in the white-collar world - but the complete absence of Asian American men (excepting the feeble-bodied patient) is even more striking."

Movies such as the Joy_Luck_Club might be particularly consistent with this racial cliche in a broader sense that, it portrays Chinese culture (especially Asian males) as being negative and restrictive to their female counterparts. This in turn might allow for a refreshing picture of White men to somehow liberate Asian women. About the time the movie made its debut in theatres, many Asian Americans (many from the Chinese American Community) were offended by the negative portrayal of Asian men in this film. Such screen potrayals are said to be relative to the fact that Asian American masculinity in films has been constantly restricted and made to be purposely absent onscreen by the western media. See Lib.berkeley.edu - report done by Amy Kashiwabara of University of California, Berkeley; titled "Vanishing Son: The Appearance, Disappearance, and Assimilation of the Asian-American Man in American Mainstream Media"for more information about the western media's false portrayals of Asian men (particularly Asian American men).

Another report, this time done by Joan Kee of Harvard University (see Desexualized Asian Male in the Western Media), observes the same consistent pattern:

"Asian American male sexuality has long entailed a discourse of nothingness. The Asian or Asian American male is perhaps best known for his absence in the colonizer's sexual hierarchy. This strikes a sharp contrast to the colonizer's perception of the Asian female as an embodiment of excessive sexuality. Asian American males have been consigned to positions of inferiority within the hierarchy -- the Asian male as sexually impotent voyeur or pervert is a reoccuring icon, appearing throughout American cultural history and especially in film. Notable examples of this include Mickey Rooney in "yellowface" as the bucktoothed Japanese landlord who sneaks peeps at Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) or the pathetically asexual nerd Long Duk Dong in John Hughes' adolescent classic Sixteen Candles (1984).

Source materials:

Racial cliches identified in several films

Racial cliche identified in the film "The Fast and the Furious"

Asians type-casted in "The Fast and the Furious"

Magic Negro

Lib.berkeley.edu

Lib.berkeley.edu - report done by Amy Kashiwabara of University of California, Berkeley; titled "Vanishing Son: The Appearance, Disappearance, and Assimilation of the Asian-American Man in American Mainstream Media"

An extensive analysis on Racial Cliches in Entertainment can be reviewed via: "Offensive Ethnic Cliches in Movies: Drugs, Sex, and Servility" - written by Stuart Fischoff, PH.D., Ana Franco, Elaine Gram, Angela Hernendez, and James Parker from Media Psychology Lab. California State University, Los Angeles (based on a paper presented at the American Psychological Association, Boston, August 21, 1999)

Regressive Mentalities vs. Progressive Mentalities

There is a defensive reasoning mentality that has been used by many supporters of the current White Media which insists that Non-Whites simply cannot generate enough impact and worldwide gross in leading roles, unlike the current bulk of White protagonism in films. In the eyes of the anti-media movement, the main problem with such an argument could be that there aren't enough Non-Whites in leading protagonist roles to begin with, which in turn, cannot provide for a consistent comparison of statistics. In fact, for the few Non-Whites (in proportion to the ratio of Whites permitted to be cast for protagonist roles), Will_Smith is a factual example of Non-Whites being an extremely competitive force in the entertainment industry:

A listing of some of the movies starring Will_Smith as the main protagonist in the storylines:

Independence Day : $816,969,255 Worldwide Gross

Men In Black 2 : $440,200,000 Worldwide Gross.

Men In Black : $587,800,000 Worldwide Gross

Bad Boys 2 : $262,000,000 Worldwide Gross

Bad Boys : $140,800,000 Worldwide Gross

Hitch : $357,855,338 Worldwide Gross

Wild Wild West : $217,700,000 Worldwide Gross

Enemy of the State : $250,300,000 Worldwide Gross

I Robot : $346,701,023 Worldwide Gross

His numbers and career totals can be found via: [13]. To emphasize, Will_Smith according to that source, has been able to generate $3,923,512,439 Worldwide gross, $1,827,463,970 U.S. gross.

The next defensive argument which advocates of the current white media adhere to insists that Hollywood is nothing more but a business and therefore, doesn't have to prioritize itself for the needs of society. This could suggest that the current Media is doing nothing wrong because it is only functioning the way it was designed for - entertainment; hence it needs not be morally conscious. Perhaps the problem with such a defensive mentality is that the media cannot literally separate itself from society, for society is the ultimate recipient of what the media shares (since the public is naturally receptive to whatever the media presents and influences upon the mainstream general consensus). For this inescapable interaction between media and public, the media (as a whole) may have an undeniable obligation to the necessities of society; it really has no choice but to be aware of the public's concerns.

Other Regressive and Progressive Approaches that deal with Media Affairs

Many argue that attacking the media's racist tendencies requires the public to be able to identify which approaches are regressive to society, and which approaches are progressive for society. There are two common approaches shared by modern society into dealing with the current media's trends: 1.) Leave it as it is, or 2.) Expose its deceptive patterns and continue to proliferate public awareness so as to pressure the entire industry into persistent change.

Upon the analysis of the first approach: "Leave it as it is."

- This approach might seem to be the more regressive mentality because instead of addressing the deceptions, the decpetions are allowed to continue. Furthermore, it's critical to realize that the media is everywhere. Even though most people do not rely directly on the media for guidance and wisdom, human beings are helplessly receptive to what they watch, hear, read, and interact with. The entertainment industry has been deeply rooted in social affairs far too long to be ignored and shut off completely. "Leave it as it is" could be regarded as an impractical approach to most people of the modern age.

Upon the analysis of the second approach: "Expose its deceptive patterns and continue to proliferate public awareness so as to pressure the entire industry into persistent change."

- This is could be considered as the more progressive mentality of the two because it advocates direct intervention from the public into the affairs of the media by sheer awareness. Through constant and repetitive pressure by the public's voice, the media will be in the receptive position instead. Since the public always outnumbers the media, society has access to a stronger resource through unity than what the media can counter with. This mentality simply means "in order to remove a problem, don't run from it, but instead, just face it directly".

Diversity in media presentations should not be limited to storylines only central to race issues

Many people have often said that in order to fight racism effectively and to establish normalcy for Diversity, the public must continue to pressure the mainstream media into fully changing itself while allowing more protagonist roles in media presentations not central to race issues (to balance out the Diversity in all aspects of western media). It is widely considered to be a logical step towards gradually reversing the effects of the already deeply rooted stereotypes plaguing modern society. In other words, the point emphasized by the public enforces that the media must consider more Non-Whites in leading roles in every movie genre, while not constricting them to only support roles or in storylines that are centered around the very subject of Racism. Such a step would likely construct a fresh image for Non-Whites in everyone's minds, which would then establish normalcy for all people (reversing the effects of White normalcy which has been influenced on society for over a century by the mainstream media).

This may be considered as a necessary and mandatory step towards gradually eliminating the negative stigma of which the mainstream media has deviced upon the public's mentality towards the concept of "Diversity" and its repetitive association with race issues. For example, it argues that, if diversity is increased in the media but only in presentations that deal with race issues (such as movies like "Crash" Crash_(2005_film)), the public will continue to be stigmatized by the exterior image of Diversity - because the subject "Racism" carries a lot of negativity. Since "Diversity" is a mainstream term which concerns Non-Whites, then Whites will only continue to be subconsciously accepted as the social standard/norm, and such a stigma cannot be reversed if Non-Whites are tainted with racial issues. In short, more Non-Whites must be cast in storylines and presentations belonging to all avenues and genres of the mainstream media. This includes, commercials, comicbooks, novels, movies, computer games, fashion, the adult industry, news, theatre, etc. and not just in music and sports.

In essence, the ultimate goal is to establish Diversity as the social norm instead of "Whiteness" in modern society. If Diversity could be established as the standard normalcy for society, then the term "Diversity" would be perceived as a concept belonging to everyone (Blacks, Asians, Whites, Latinos, etc. equally). People would then no longer instinctively identify with 2 general groups like "White" or "Non-White", since the normalcy of Diversity has been successfully established. However, since "Whiteness" continues to be the subconsciously accepted norm of society, everything Non-White is coined the term "Diversity"; for "Diversity" is not an established normalcy yet, making it subconsciously accepted as being inferior so to speak.

White Racelessness in Western Culture (excerpts from "Whiteness in America")

Excerpts from the article entitled "Whiteness in America: a State of Racelessness and Culturelessness?" (see Whites and Racelessness) read:

"so many self-styled "open-minded" white Americans subconsciously equate celebrating their European/Euro-American ethnic heritage to being a "white supremacist" or a neo-Nazi. Pride in being European/Euro-American does not have to go hand in hand with a sense of superiority towards non-Europeans/non-whites. By abandoning European/Euro-American pride and the celebration of European/Euro-American culture to the care of white supremacists, so-called "non-racist" whites are doing European heritage or white American heritage a disservice. And certainly NOT doing non-white Americans a favor. Individual whites become "raceless" when they deny that whiteness or European racial heritage is of any relevance. One would think that this "color blind" approach bodes well for interracial relations, but actually, this "racelessness" is anything but "color blindness" because many of the same whites definitely don't see people of color as raceless. A "raceless" non-identity is the basis for whites seeing themselves as the "normative" humanity free from race or ethnicity, and non-whites as abnormal humans with race and ethnicity. We set whiteness as the norm that others have to measure themselves again.

How did we end up equating whiteness to "the real, normal humanity"? I was glad to read One Drop of Blood: The American Misadventure of Race, which was reviewed on your site. This book traces the origins of many of our weird modern attitudes towards race and culture back to the early history of our nation. Author Scott Malcolmson suggests that white America's rejection of race was an attempt to distance us from the history of slavery and other wrongs done against people of color. The American revolutionaries' belief in universal humanity as part of their new American identity clashed with the reality at that time - the presence of black slavery. Unwilling to deal with the issue of slavery, their response was to blame England for the existence of slavery. Malcolmson continues: "... the new white Americans felt they had nothing else for which to apologize..., the newness of their country, in terms of moral responsibility... was precisely a repudiation of the white racial past.

The following passage from One Drop of Blood further elaborates on the point:

The belief in race, then, had an enormous pressure placed on it by Revolutionary thought. White Americans reacted to this pressure by denying the relevance of their racial past, placing the blame for it on others, excluding the nonwhite physical reminders of that past from society...clinging tightly to the ideal of a humanity beyond race that was nonetheless... restricted to white people... They knew that blacks and Indians were human... In this predicament they could either sacrifice their humanity to whiteness or make their whiteness into humanity... To be at the head of humanity's march was both to be white and to be beyond race - to be fully human.

Whites are the "standard" humans against which all other humans are compared

An example of how Westerners see themselves as the norm for humanity is our usage of the term "world music" - often used to refer to music originating outside Western Europe/USA. It makes one think that Western Europe/USA is not part of the world. Western music is "default, normal" music. Other music is "world music." The use of term "international student", referring to foreign student, follows the same logic. One can only conclude that the U.S. is not part of the "international" scene, and that each foreign student belongs fully to the "international scene", not just to his/her individual country.

Another term whose common usage I find annoying is "tribe" or "tribal". A tribe is a unit of political organization - the number 1 definition for "tribe" in Webster's dictionary is "esp. among preliterate peoples, a group of persons, families, or clans believed to be descended from a common ancestor and forming a close community under a leader, or chief." In casual American conversation, the word "tribal" has little to do with political organization. You hear phrases like "tribal music", "tribal clothing" and "tribal dance", which beg the question, "which tribe?" If you look at the context in which the word "tribal" was used thus, you would find that the speakers are almost always talking about African, Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander or aboriginal Australian cultures. While tribal affiliations sometimes exist, or did exist in these cultures, it must be remembered that Europeans organized themselves as tribes too. In fact, the word "tribe" originated from the 3 groups into which Romans were originally divided. The everyday use of "tribe" and "tribal" in American speech has become so tainted with the image of the primitive savage that some Americans of African descent have asked that the word "tribe" not be used in referring to African descent groups, preferring the phrase "ethnic group".

When we talk about "ethnic" food, we commonly mean non-European food, like Indian food, Mexican food and Vietnamese food. We usually don't call French food or Irish food "ethnic food". It seems like we think whites don't have ethnicity. This attitude amazes me and I have always wondered where it comes from.

One Drop of Blood proposes that since the frontier days, "racelessness" has been the prerequisite towards becoming truly American. Paradoxically, it was at the same time taken for granted that the true American can only be white. Malcolmson describes the contradiction:

... only "white" immigrants were eligible for citizenship. When Brandeis said that the United States alone "recognizes racial equality as an essential of full human liberty," he immediately followed with, "It has, therefore, given like welcome to all the peoples of Europe."... Americanizers did not, however, advocate a white America. Neither did Brandeis...Americanizers were against racial identity... Races were what European immigrants had and would go beyond... To be American was to be raceless... The people who, by general consensus, had races... were non-whites.