The Effect of Stereotypes: Inside and Out
At the beginning of this week, we focused on Native American stereotyping in films like 'Stagecoach' and 'The Lone Ranger'. In these two examples, the devaluation of Native Americans seems obvious and cruel. Yet, in 'Smoke Signals', the first film made with input from a Native American, the characters seem to be over-exaggerating the cultural stereotypes imposed on them to show their knowlege of the humor their antics provide.
When Thomas jokes around with Victor on a bus scene, Victor instantly castigates him for "looking too happy". This plays on the well-known misconception of Native Americans being a stoic and callous ethnic group. Moreover, Thomas is perceived as naive and inexperienced in the ways of the world, which is how early Americans viewed the Native Americans.
This reminded me of the guest speaker's presentation in school this week. Michael Fowlin is a excellent orator who specializes in the human nature to evaluate and categorize people. He reminisced about how "I had to learn all the black jokes and tell them, so people wouldn't ridicule me for the color of my skin."
These sources indicate that people who are labelled a certain way grow to think of themselves differently, and link cultural stereotypes to their individual identities. Not only does this lower one's self esteem, it reduces any sense of pride and power from his heritage.
