Turning Points 2: Hip Hop Has No Color

               In the article “Hip Hop has no Color” the author looks at Save the Last Dance, seemingly a good multicultural movie, and reveals its true meaning.  Looking at the movie I can see a lot of what the author is talking about.  The African American Characters are in stereotypical roles and the white girl is in her role.  This is set in a poor neighborhood and it might be realistic that this is the lifestyle that the characters deal with. The attitudes and behavior of the characters are what is stereotyped.  The females are jealous, angry, and one is a teen mom.  The males are involved in crime.  The intellectual characteristics are diminished.

                While this movie was made almost a decade ago, I see a lot of these ideas presented in media recently.  It is difficult to find a movie with African American characters in the lead. When they are it seems they are stereotypical roles.  I think of the Tyler Perry movies with the angry black females.  The popular music is the rappers that show over-sexualized females.  I see it in reality shows too.  VH1 is filled with the dating shows like Flavor Flav in which females seem to fit into the stereotypes.  I think we are seeing this kind of thing with other minorities too particularly the Latino population.  There are many people that are African American and Hispanic that go to college and are successful.  The only shows that I can think of are The Cosby Show, Family Matters, and even George Lopez. 

                I think also the white characters are stereotyped as well.  It is tough to find white characters dealing with poverty.  Only in the last couple years with Teen Moms, Secret Life of An American Teenager, and even Glee are white teenage moms shown.  It seems like in many movies with white characters the families have money and can afford to go to Georgetown, and Julliard. Stereotypes are often emphasized in the media.  Save the Last Dance is a good example of how the dominant ideology can be reinforced.
               I also thought of the movie Freedom Writers which MTV also was involved in.  Some of the ideas of Gunner's article could also be applied to this movie.  This movie shows a minority culture including asian and Latino communities.  A lot of the movie has a basis in the real life struggles of teenagers as it is based on a  true story.  Gunner talks a lot about the stereotype of blackness in Save the Last Dance but I wonder how much the author knows about the reality.  A lot is caused by poverty and being held back in society by language barriers, and economics.  These two movies do have some real life truths in it.  What is the ideal Asian, or African American, or Latino or caucasion?

http://www.racialicious.com/2007/01/18/a-skeptic%E2%80%99s-view-of-freedom-writers/