Your Culture/Ethnicity or Race Being Portrayed on Television and Movies

@ CallusedSilk
The main point is though, whether there were Middle Eastern beauts in Africa or not, the point still stands where they are people that are not white. But every country has had people of all races/ethnicities go through it. I guess the big thing is that most people think that people of Egypt are white...no, it's in Africa. There may be some, but the majority of the people's skin color in the country were either my color, or darker.

And it really sucks when they get someone that isn't even Egyptian to play the part of one. I have a huge issue with that too.

Many of the paintings in the pyramids depict people of either a darker brown color, or a cafe-au-lait color, not so many with very white skin.

But, as I said before, people immigrate and move around a lot, so of course everyone comes in different shapes, sizes, and colors. No matter what country you're from. Mexico has afro-indigenous/afro-Mexican citizens, and that actually blew my mind, because like natives from that country they're discriminated against.

But I totally went off topic there, point is I agree with some of your statements, and just wanted to add my silly two cents.

@ SmilingScarlet
I've never talked to people and heard them think Egyptians are white. Also, I do think it's kind of funny that you seem to make it sound like just 'cause something is in Africa that its citizens can't be white, and my brain immediately went, "If you're from Africa, then how come you're white?" followed by "Oh my god, you can't just ask people why they're white." There are white people in Africa, just FYI.

Also, I asked the original poster in which movies she was seeing Egyptians being portrayed as white, because other than the biblical movies with obvious white bias, I haven't really seen many modern movies about ancient Egypt where the Egyptians aren't POC. Or are you also annoyed that the POC aren't technically Egyptian? Because then we get into the argument of how much percentage is enough and then like whether it even matters for ancient Egypt since the boundaries weren't as clear. You also get into the thing that we'd then be expecting Hollywood to just ignore most of the people auditioning, regardless of racial background, simply because they're not literally from Egypt.

Race doesn't even technically exist anymore beyond social constructs that we assign each other, so it's not as simple for someone to completely 100% fit something as people think it is.

@ CallusedSilk
There is no argument to be had. I said I agree with some of your statement. I'm well aware that there are more than just black people in Africa, ignorance is not bliss, therefore, I don't like living in it. I'm hell bent on there being more PoC than white washing a whole cast, period.

@ SmilingScarlet
If the point wasn't to have a discussion/argument then why go beyond saying you agree with some of my statements? After all, you didn't agree with all of them and went into detail of why you didn't with at least some of it. I then in turn disagreed and also tried to get clarification about what exactly you meant. I only pointed out the fact that there are white people in Africa, since you yourself said in your post, "no, it's in Africa" when in relation to people hypothetically seeing an Egyptian as white, and I, apparently incorrectly, interpreted that as you thinking that Africa = absolutely not white.

Mostly I'm just trying to figure out what exactly people are hoping for or expecting when it comes to media, hence why I was asking for specifics and explanations. I'm not trying to be rude or basic or whatever; I'm honestly just trying to understand where people are coming from. I'm trying to get more detail beyond just 'have more PoC in a cast' because I've also then seen people get annoyed by types of PoC. You yourself said you get annoyed when someone isn't Egyptian gets cast to play one. So does it also matter 100% if they're not the right nationality or from that area as well? I mean, would then a black person that's not actually African at all playing any type of African be bad? Would casting a Jamaican in the role of an African be bad?

@ CallusedSilk
And then mentioned twice that a lot of people have gone through Africa, and there wouldn't be just black Africans.

When I say PoC I don't care for percentages of whatever they are, simply put I want more people of color. I never said that only 100% Egyptians should be used.

Refrain from bringing up my posts in other threads. That was not about you, my world does not evolve around calling other mibbians basic. I've no time for that.

I don't see an issue with casting a Jamaican as an African, maybe they'll have a thick accent, but I still see it as not that big of an issue.

When the movie Selena movie came out they cast a Puerto Rican woman to play a Mexican woman, there was a bit of arguments about it, but we were all blown away by her performance in the end.

But really I have no ill feelings toward you, I want more PoC that are a little closer to that particular ethnicity/nationality. I'd rather that than someone that isn't even.

@ SmilingScarlet
You mentioned that other people went through there, but the comment about Egypt being in Africa and therefore that's why their not white still confused me. I should have worded that I needed clarification from you better, so I apologize for that.

Once again, I was looking for clarification since you pointed out that you were upset about non-Egyptians being cast as Egyptians.

I didn't reference any posts from other threads, but I will say that you are not the only person on this planet that uses the term 'basic'. Seriously though, it's kind of a thing now. Or at least it is where I am.

That makes sense. Thank you for the clarification.

Stating that you hold no ill feeling towards me wasn't actually necessary since we're just having a polite discussion, but thank you.

After reading most of the comments it's clear that every race or ethnic group is portrayed negatively by media. And it sucks.
For example, Christians. Since when did Pastors turn into no-fun, strict, don't-believe-in-God-and-you-die people? Ex. Footloose.

@ CallusedSilk
Why does the thought of the Frozen movie characters make you upset? What happened to make you dislike the movie?

@ January Rose
I'd like to point out that 'Christians' aren't a race or ethnic group, so it's not really relevant to the conversation.

Also, I dislike Frozen because I work for Disney, and it's been all people have been able to talk about/complain about/demand/treat me badly over for the past like year. Although I was mostly referencing earlier to how I think it's odd that people call characters from Frozen whitewashed since it's a fairytale from a predominantly white area.

But seriously though, I am 19,873 kinds of done with Frozen.

One character says it all for Scottish portrayals: Groundskeeper Willie.

Even outwith satirical cartoons, I've found that Scots are portrayed as either alcoholics, overly-angry or just plain stupid. A lot of UK-based shows really play on the anger issues point as well. One of the medical dramas my mother watched has, so far, had three angry Scottish characters in it who keep getting pulled up for anger problems down their storylines.

I'm constantly quoting Josh Lucas's character in Sweet Home Alabama because I feel like this line pretty much sums up how I feel about myself and how a lot of people from the Southern US are portrayed in the media:

"Honey, just because I talk slow don't mean I'm stupid."

Grammatical error aside, I feel like this definitely rings true because as soon as people hear my thick southern drawl, they immediately assume that I'm this stupid, uneducated, backwoods hillbilly because that's exactly the way Southerners are portrayed in the media.

I can't stand the stereotype that gets brought up so often in TV shows and films that most southerners are inherently racist, uneducated, and diehard conservatives. While there's no doubt that a good chunk of southerners fall into at least one of those categories, we're definitely not all these inbred heatherns in full KKK regalia

There are a ton of endearing and awesome things about Southern culture, and it makes me sad that those things tend to get passed over in the media.

So, because I live in a border town right next to my home country, I get to see the different portrayals that Mexicans have in both of these countries (U.S. and Mexico).

In Mexico every Mexican is white or white-washed as fuck. The only time you see a brown or black Mexican is when there's a maid, a farmer, a janitor, a blue-collar worker, or people living in poverty. That's it. The rest of the casts are white and are usually middle, upper middle, to upper class. In Mexico racism looks very different and it's actually called colorism, so you get to see that in mass media as clear as day.

In the U.S. you normally see Mexicans as immigrants who work minimum wage jobs or on jobs that require a lot of physical labor; sometimes they're gang members, other times they are portrayed as lazy. I can't think of one movie that depicts us in a different way.

I don't like how Filipinos are portrayed to be domestic helpers but it's the truth so

Rastafari people are always seen smoking weed and talking about Bob Marley. People equate Rastafarian with "weed" when there's actually an entire Pan-African RELIGION behind it. And I hate the whole Rastafari worship of Bob Marley. Bob Marley isn't worshiped in Rastafarianism.

There are two sides to the Mexican portrayal here in America. You've got the Mexicans that come straight from el rancho and the Mexican-Americans that are dubbed as Chol@s.

I hate how either are portrayed. We are not some gang-bangin', brainless heathens. Thank you. Siiigh.

TheUnNoted:

Rastafari people are always seen smoking weed and talking about Bob Marley. People equate Rastafarian with "weed" when there's actually an entire Pan-African RELIGION behind it. And I hate the whole Rastafari worship of Bob Marley. Bob Marley isn't worshiped in Rastafarianism.

ALSO THANK YOU! YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE HOW MUCH THIS BOILS MY BLOOD!

@ SmilingScarlet
Exactly! I'll see college kids who smoke a bunch of weed call themselves Rastafari and have like twenty posters of Bob Marley in their dorms! And the thing that hits me the hardest is the "Rasta Flag". There's no such thing; it's the colors of the Ethiopian flag where Selassie- you know, Ras Tafari- was from

SO, definitely things like this:

She Said Poptarts:

I want Native American characters to be played by Native American actresses. *cough* Tiger Lily *cough*

And also I am /so/ sick of the idea that Native women are submissive, at home, are slutty, etc. or that Native men are alcoholics or violent. And also the way Natives look - hiring non-Native actors because they "look" Native (dark skin, long hair, etc. whatever) when in fact, there are many Black Natives and other mixed Natives that don't even "look" Native - they definitely need to stop whitewashing and just start hiring Native actors/actresses *combusts*

I'd like more Indian actors/actresses to have lead/major roles and also less stereotypical ones. For example, I was really excited to find out that there was an Indian character in Sense8, but I was disappointed that they went with the typical 'arranged marriage' storyline for her. And people don't seem to realise that not all Indian characters have to be in a medical field :p

the archandroid:

I'd like more Indian actors/actresses to have lead/major roles and also less stereotypical ones. For example, I was really excited to find out that there was an Indian character in Sense8, but I was disappointed that they went with the typical 'arranged marriage' storyline for her. And people don't seem to realise that not all Indian characters have to be in a medical field :p

I feel this hardcore. I started watching it (but then quickly stopped) and got very excited, but then had the same reaction, "Oh, cool." And some people have gotten mad at me 'cause I'm upset that she's a stereotype? And say I should just be happy that there's representation at all? And I'm over here like, "Don't get me wrong, it's great that an actual Indian actress is included, but goddamn, I can still be upset about her storyline. I'm upset about a lot of the stereotypes in the show."

Quote is from Bellamy Blake

Quote

I'm constantly quoting Josh Lucas's character in Sweet Home Alabama because I feel like this line pretty much sums up how I feel about myself and how a lot of people from the Southern US are portrayed in the media:

"Honey, just because I talk slow don't mean I'm stupid."

Grammatical error aside, I feel like this definitely rings true because as soon as people hear my thick southern drawl, they immediately assume that I'm this stupid, uneducated, backwoods hillbilly because that's exactly the way Southerners are portrayed in the media.

I can't stand the stereotype that gets brought up so often in TV shows and films that most southerners are inherently racist, uneducated, and diehard conservatives. While there's no doubt that a good chunk of southerners fall into at least one of those categories, we're definitely not all these inbred heatherns in full KKK regalia Facepalm

There are a ton of endearing and awesome things about Southern culture, and it makes me sad that those things tend to get passed over in the media.

I agree with this so freaking much.

Whenever I see a movie, TV show or Video Game about the South, I always want to cringe because everyone says we imbreed. When in reality, it's the shows and movies, and our ancestors that put that in their mind. The south is completely different now, and they still portray it like we're pigs. I absolutely hate it.