In my essay I will be discussing the representation of ethnicity, race and gender in the following films; Django Unchained (2012, Quentin Tarantino), Four Lions (2010, Chris Morris), Boyz n the Hood (1991, John Singleton) and Slumdog Millionaire (2008, Danny Boyle). All the films I will be discussing are contemporary except for Boyz n the Hood which is almost 30 years old, meaning it is still pretty recent. I chose Boyz n the Hood as it is based on events that would happen when are where it is based, it has also impacted many people and therefore has been referenced in music and films many times since. I picked Slumdog Millionaire as it focuses on an Indian man that lives in the slums, he gets tortured by the police as he is deemed too smart for someone that is a “slumdog”. When talking about ethnic minorities in these films I will be referencing the alvarado theory which states that people from ethnic minorities are represented as exotic, dangerous, humorous or pitied, I feel like this theory will be relevant to all the films that I will be focusing on. I will also be talking about film codes and conventions such as the enigma codes which is when a film asks a question then answers it later on.
In Django Unchained I will be focusing on how black people were represented, as the film is set just before the American civil war, America was very different to how it is today, black people were slaves owned by white people and had no rights or freedom. (Femi Lewis. 2018) From the very start of the film the alvarado theory is applied, in the opening scene there is a group of black slaves travelling with white slave owners, they are dressed in rags and chained up encouraging the viewer to show them pity and view them as weak. The protagonist Django is among these black slaves however his role changes when he starts to work with a bounty hunter, this does not change the way white people think of him however. He no longer wears rags and walks around in chains, he wears upper class clothes and rides horses, things that at the time only white people would be allowed to do. When white people see Django riding a horse with Schultz they are either confused or angered, this is because at the time black people were seen by white people as the lowest of the low, they didn’t even have basic human rights so to see a black man riding would be sure to anger any white man.
The film Four Lions is a dark comedy about terrorists that jokes about real life events that some people would be sensitive to such as 9/11, it gives a representation of terrorists that is different to how most films or media represent them, most films show terrorists as these criminal masterminds with plans to blow up important government buildings. Four Lions gives a really different representation of muslim terrorists, the five main characters are clearly shown to be stupid constantly saying or doing stupid things that show how unprofessional they are as terrorists, constantly comparing terrorism to a theme park, saying car parts are Jewish as an excuse for them not working and tripping over whilst carrying bombs which results in blowing themselves up just to name a few examples. The characters are constantly taking orders from Barry and Omar which again shows their stupidity, towards the end of the film many of the characters are unsure about suicide bombing, “I’m accidentally a suicide bomber”, this suggests that maybe the whole time they were unsure about it and were just taking orders from Barry and Omar as they are too stupid to think for themselves. The alvarado theory is used in the film when it comes to Barry as he seems to really fantasise terrorism which is strange as the fact he is white suggests that he was not born a Muslim and converted into one. Omar has a wife, kids and a job, this would make most people think he is a normal man and not a terrorist, he also doesn’t dress any differently from most people in the uk, he doesn’t stand out so he may not be seen as a terrorist. Omar’s brother who is not a terrorist and is shown to partake in regular activities such as football gets his house raided by the police because they assume he is a terrorist, this shows that people are sometimes judged more by the way they look rather than the way they act when it comes to stereotypes.
Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of Jamal Malik’s rough upbringing in a slum in India through flashbacks after he is accused of cheating on a game show, the game show host thinks he’s cheating as an “uneducated slumdog” shouldn’t know the answers to the questions asked. The enigma code is used as the whole film answers the question “How did he know the answers?” The alvarado theory is applied throughout the film as most of the main characters are either represented as pitied or dangerous, during the flashback Jamal and Latika are seen as pitied, Jamal’s mother being killed in a riot and Latika being forced to become a prostitute are examples of this, this also shows the differences between India and first world countries such as the UK, these events may be pretty common in India however they are uncommon in the UK. Jamal’s older brother Salim is seen as dangerous as he torments Jamal from a young age and ends up being part of a crime organization. Slumdog Millionaire represents Indians as poor people wishing for a chance to escape their poverty, when Jamal asks Atika why she watches “Who wants to be a millionaire” she says “It’s a chance to escape”. People try to escape the poverty by working legitimate jobs like Jamal who works in a call centre (a common stereotypical job for indians) or by getting into organized crimes such as human trafficking, most legitimate jobs definitely won’t get them enough money to escape the poverty so they try to get onto game shows in an attempt to get rich quick, this is shown in the scene where loads of people in the call centre are calling “Who wants to be a millionaire?” at the same time hoping one of them is the lucky one to get in. However before Jamal only one person from the slums has won the grand prize, this is the harsh reality they have to face, growing up in the slums means they are not educated enough to know the answers to the questions.
Boyz n the Hood focuses on violence in the African American community in South Central Los Angeles, the alvarado theory applies to most of the characters, Doughboy and Furious are seen as dangerous as they live a crime ridden lifestyle and do not try to change, Ricky and Tre are seen as pitied as they are also get involved in violence even though they don’t want to be and clearly want to change their life around and get out of the “ghetto”. Boyz n the Hood is set in Crenshaw, a neighbourhood shown to be inhabited mostly by black people that are used to hearing a gunshot, the main characters (Tre, Ricky, Doughboy and Chris) are seen to be getting into trouble with gangs and the police from a young age, it is implied throughout the film that growing up black in South Central Los Angeles can be tough and even dangerous, it is hard to stay away from the violence and a lot of African Americans don’t make it past their teenage years. A lot of iconic codes are used in the film such as gunshots and police, these will have different meaning depending on the viewers past, most people may associate a police officer with safety, however people that were raised in similar situations may have experienced police stereotyping and brutality, in fact as the film is based on events that would happen in these areas I feel like people that have experienced these things will really take the film in differently and will understand it more. Ricky is represented differently to most characters in the film, he tries to stay away from gangs and violence and was aiming to get a scholarship from a private university, although he is smart enough to qualify, he is judged by the university recruiter due to his background, home and family. The next day Ricky is shot dead by a rival gang member and it is later shown that he did in fact get into the university, this is a very important scene of the film as it shows the viewers the harsh reality of black peoples lives in these neighbourhoods, it is hard to stay away from violence when your life is surrounded by it and just because you think you are headed on the right path it could all change due to the neighbourhood you live in, many get stuck in an endless cycle of violence which can only end with death.
In these four films I have found many stereotypical representations, however they made sense in the context they were used in, for example in Django Unchained black people are shown as lower class compared to white people and this is because at the time this is what white people thought was true. It is important to only use stereotypical representations with the correct context and in a way that it doesn’t offend anyone. I feel like my findings will influence my work as I have learnt that different people can interpret things in different ways due to past experience, I will try to use this in my work along with connotations to try to make my work less straight forward and make the viewer think about what they have seen. It is important to show a varying representation of race, ethnicity and gender as each piece of media will have a different meaning or message, however it is important to not use inaccurate representations as this may cause people to dislike your production or deem it offensive.
Reference List
Igor Regdos College 