Week 8

As both an artist and individual of Asian descent that has been the butt end of many stereotype jokes, I totally believe stereotypes are necessary in design and representation. I have personally been a target for stereotypical representation, and about 99% of them were offensive or demeaning, but I can’t imagine this world running the same without stereotypes. In the first place, stereotypes originated from a root, meaning its not just a straight up false insult, but it came from somewhere. Many people are too lost in victimizing themselves to realize the bigger picture. Stereotypes are not only used to generalize and insult a group of people. It may be mostly portrayed that way in today’s media, but stereotypes are actually crucial to entertainment and the design process that goes behind it. Designers and artists use shape language, color, many things in order to push their designs to match their vision and goal. One of the best tools to achieving a design that reaches the audience is through the use of stereotypes. The evil queen/witch would not have looked the way she did. Disney’s Snow White would not be the movie it is now. Almost every choice behind the design of a character is met with the aid of stereotypes.

Aside from art direction, I am generally just totally against censorship and abstinence for what is perceived as social justice. People need to learn to be able to laugh at things that were meant to bring laughter or entertainment, and compartmentalize the things that actually influence the beliefs that any of these stereotypical portrayals may have “brought.” What I find crazy is everyone that genuinely complains about stereotypes are just as guilty. I can’t speak for anyone else, but in my logic, you can only take stereotypes seriously if you’re taking them seriously, and that is the main issue with stereotypes people have, not the stereotypes themselves. If everyone can acknowledge the portrayal in films and games and stories of a group of people are just that, stereotypes and nothing more, no one would be offended and take it personally as everyone seems to. Those same people laugh at other stereotypes and complain when it comes to stereotypes that target themselves. If the root of the cause is racism or whatever, we need to tackle that actual issue. Trying to erase stereotypes is like trying to erase history. We need to acknowledge our history and learn from it to move forward, not bury it.