Day 41 : Alvardo et al

Alvardo et al found four key themes in terms of racial representations in the media. 

1. EXOTIC

2. DANGEROUS 

3. HUMOROUS 

4. PITIED

It is a current issue of ethnic minorities being misrepresented in the media. I was curious to whether society still sees ethnic representation as an issue as after all it has improved compared to the situation of the past. I personally believe that media has changed for the better, however there's still a sense of "othering" and out casting those not of the host culture if representing them at all.

I decided to do some research on contemporary opinions in regards to ethnic representation, when I came across an article on "Newstateman" which was published on the 14th of October this year. Samantha Asumadu is a documentary film maker, campaigner and founder of Media Diversity UK.

Here's the article hyperlinked below:

Challenging the lack of ethnic minority representation in the media

Asumadu's aim was to tackle the limited representations of ethnic minorities and enable people to have a deeper understanding of global issues, rather than demonizing and blaming a whole subgroup of individuals. This reinforces the "Dangerous" and "Pitied" representations in which Alvardo et al argued is prevalent  however I believe the "Humorous" and "Exotic" is more relevant in terms of film and shows. 

In hybrid Horror movies ethnic minorities are often the joke and due to them not being represented a lot they are exotified and presented as different to the norm.  The Scary Movie series is a clear example. 

Scary Movie - Brenda Meeks is incredibly stereotypical with her loud and brash personality 

which is comedic. I can't help but wonder whether some Black actors/actresses are sick of playing the same marginalizing roles over and over. 

Scary Movie 5 - Maria : This role was incredibly stereotypical and cringeworthy, I personally didn't find it funny however Scary Movie is known for playing on typical representations and making a joke out of it.

The representation of ethnic minorities is clearly still an issue in current times, which is why I believe subverting the representation of ethnic minorities in our trailer could be more effective as the audience would love to see something new.