Longest work ive eva dun in ma life

Independent Study.

“Who’s looking after the Kwiky Mart while you gone” [1] How are stereotypes used in the media to shows Asians? Paying particular attention to ‘Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle’.

Statistics show that 3.5% of the U.K Population are Asians, this makes Asians ‘The largest single ethnic minority group in Britain - making up almost one quarter of the total ethnic minority population’. [2] Since the influx of Asians in the 1970’s we as an audience of the media have seen many representations, mostly being stereotypes. Whilst there are many varied representations in contemporary 21^st century, we still see Asians in roles which conform to the typical stereotypes which are rife in ‘Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle.’ Comparing such a text with existing and historical texts, changes in representation, if any can be analysed using theorists such as Homi Bhaba, Stuart Hall and Laura Maulvey. Theorists such as Homi Bhaba and Laura Maulvey. The rise of the ‘brown pound’ combined with the political and social landscape has meant that Asians have become a more successful segment of society. Asians have become so successful they know rank amongst the elite names such as Lakshmi Mittal worth £14,881m have made there mark in the Asian Rich List in the UK. [3] This has inevitably led to the increase of power and status thus suggesting stereotypes are less commonly used. The British Asian genre broke through with the success of shows such as ‘Goodness Gracious Me (1998) and films such as ‘Bend it like Beckham’ (2002), with the break through of these the British Asian genre became a hit and helped with the success of Asians.

Ethnic minorities especially Asians have been subjects of stereotypes for several years now, despite gaining success within society, there are still outdated stereotypes that are present within contemporary society. ‘Stereotypes are seen by many as undesirable beliefs imposed to justify the acts of discrimination and oppression.’ Stereotyping is valid within many texts but rather than people being discriminated by it they know sees it as humour and a source of entertainment. Stereotypes are not always negative, texts do portray positive stereotypes. H&K shows the father and brother of Kumar as high positioned doctors this tie in with the stereotype that Asians are successful and hard workers.

Britain has now become more multicultural, this does not mean that British people are no longer racist. ‘Racism through representation has a long history.’[4] In H&K (Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle) we see one of the main protagonist being a subject of racism a white police officer says “What kind of name is that anyhow? Is that like five o’s or two u’s ” [5] this quote shows us that he is making fun of Kumar’s name thus inflicting a racial remarks towards him. Though this text may not be of an Asian British genre it still shows similar incidents that happen through the UK and America. Acts of racism are still valid in today’s date, evidence of this is shown through recent disruption in the media due to reality TV show Big Brother (2007). ‘Shilpa Shetty, a Bollywood actor and the alleged victim of racist abuse from several housemates, especially Goody.’ [6] Racism is still valid in contemporary society, Britain has become more multicultural over the years therefore racism is less mainstream but still evident.

H&K subverts the stereotype of Asians being hard workers, the character in role of Kumar is an Asian who is living out applying for a course in medicine, well that is what his parents think. ‘I am going to be honest, the only reason I’m applying is so my dad will keep paying for my apartment’ [7] we can see that the character of Kumar is challenging the stereotype that conforms to Asians being hard working. ‘The Asian Rich List is an annually published magazine and website, it list 300 most riches Asians within the UK’ [8]. This is a step forward which shows that Britain is accepting successful Asians, Britain has liberated over decades, successful Asians where not accepted as much in society as they are today.

Historical texts such as ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’ (1985), ‘finding an identity in a country which is your home but which can never feel quite like your real home’ [9]

Was a text that looked at serious issues which were affecting the Asian society at the time, whereas H&K is shown in a more comical way rather than in a serious manner? The two texts differentiate in many ways mainly through the values they show and how they show them. My beautiful laundrette shows the struggle of a family going through a very racial time period and to make things worse the Asian protagonist is gay.

A more contemporary text that can be compared is ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ (2002) Gurinder Chada, this is a light hearted humour text which shows a typical Indian family trying to teach there daughter to not be interested in football but more in household works. ‘What family would want a daughter-in-law who can run around kicking football all day but can't make round chapattis?’ [10] Similarly to H&K this text show that Asian families always have expectations from their children and these two texts similarly challenge the expectations and reach out to do what they want. Gurinder Chada is an Asian director yet she has producing a text which conforms to stereotypical Asian roles, thus showing that Asian producers know that people want to see this type of humour, British Asian Genre directors know the peoples needs so therefore they are producing texts which Asians can relate to and laugh amongst the other ethnicities, without being offended.

Two further media text that can be looked at are ‘Mind your language’ (1977) Vince Pownell, this was a text that showed a class of immigrants that were wanting to learn English. The class consisted of several ethnical background people who didn’t always get on due to race relations. It could be said that light racism was used in the programme, the producer of the programme was a white person, but due to the comical nature and a passive audience these remarks may have been passed. ‘All Sikhs are VERY BIG LIARS.’ [11] Another sitcom well known, ‘Goodness Gracious Me’ (1998), apart from this sitcom being very successful it was also labelled as having the ‘racial clowns’ as the cast were using light hearted humour with references to stereotypes of Asians. Whereas in contrast H&K uses past representations towards the Asians by the white character, in Goodness Gracious Me it’s the Asian characters representing themselves. Characters in Goodness Gracious Me are conforming to the theory of the ‘Brown Clown’ [12] this is where the characters uses stereotypes which are outdated, these stereotypes usually make the audience laugh. This theory shows postmodernism is in affect as Asian characters follow stereotypical roles as on screen this type of representation caters for the viewers wants.

H&K being the most contemporary text shows portrayal of characters different to all the other texts, ‘Gradually the shape of Britain's multi-culturalism is becoming clear - and nowhere is the outline more distinct than with the role Asians are playing.’ [14] This shows that society has become more multicultural as Asians are accepted within society whereas before it was hard for Asians to make a stand. The use of the accent within texts allows western viewer to feel less threatened as it gives them the satisfaction that the characters are still filling the ‘third space’ and that they are still ‘the other’ rather than one of them.

The father of Kumar conforms to the stereotypical profession of Asians of being doctors, the father carries an accent, this accent allows the western audience to feel safe as mentioned before, the father is known as ‘the other’. Whereas characters with American accents such as the police officer would be known as ‘one of us’. This shows that hegemonic values are existent within western culture, as they would define themselves as the ruling classes.

Asian and black characters are mostly seen in comedy genre texts which connotes that they are willing to entertain through comedy, thus labelling them ‘brown clown’. ‘One may or may not find something humorous because it is either too offensive or not offensive enough.’ [15] The comedy genre has to consist of offensive or stereotypical elements in order to make an appeal to audiences. ‘…Asians or race were usually the butt of the joke, these comedies tended to hit a racist note, but always in a well meaning, benevolent tone.’ Ethnic minorities have always been the joke it is just that they have always been portrayed this way in the least racist tone. Western audiences do not feel threatened by characters as they are making references in comical ways, whereas if this was not the case they would feel unsecured. H&K go through a night on a road trip adventure meeting many difficulties, the use of light-hearted humour makes the viewer laugh at the characters and situation, the seriousness of the scenes is not identify by the audience suggesting that the audience is ‘passive’.

Due to success of British Asian Genre texts has led to the genre growing dramatically, after the release of texts such as ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ the British Asian Genre has reached the mainstream market. Due to this it has led to American Asian films being successful such as ‘Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. H&K has been directed by ‘Danny Leiner’ who is middle class white producer, the representations shown in H&K maybe of a comical nature but it could be challenged that the producer has represented Kumar from his point of view, rather than how he should be in reality.

H&K are the protagonist throughout the text; they are represented as two potheads who love smoking weed and getting high all the time. This could be considered a misrepresentation as the director may have included this as his point of view. It could be used to raise awareness of how much there has been an increase of young adults and students taking drugs. ‘16-29 year olds were interviewed between January and April. They were asked about drug use (cannabis, heroin, methadone cocaine or crack) in the previous 12 months’ [16].

H&K is a light hearted humour text which appeals mainly to a male audience of age 16-29. This demographic is suitable as they can identify with characters and roles that they fulfil. This age group will also be going through a similar phase in life as the two characters are doing, as they either start work or they go to university. Apart from this audience there is also a bigger, mass audience; Hollywood and the British film industry have become more multicultural this is shown through the use of ethnic characters within films.

H&K has been produced by ‘New Line Cinema’ [17], this studio has created many big hit movies and trilogies such as ‘Lord of the rings: Trilogy’, ‘American History X’, ‘Austin Powers’ and other such big films. New Line Cinema is one of ten major Hollywood studios; founded in 1967 it has made its mark. New Line Cinema is a subsidiary of ‘Time Warner [18]’.

H&K follows an unusual narrative; the two protagonists are set out on a road trip in search of a specific burger bar named ‘White Castle’. H&K follows Todorov’s narrative structure as in the beginning of the film they are happy and smoking weed, this is the equilibrium. The hunger is the disruption, the advert then is the realisation of the disruption, the journey they embark on is the attempt to set it right and once they have reached there destination that is the restoration of the equilibrium. As the story ended on a cliff hanger this would be the new equilibrium.

The presence of females is shown as a negative stereotype, whenever we are introduced to a female character within the text, they are shown as sex object purely for the male gaze. This representation conforms to ‘Laura Maulvey’s’ theory, which states that women are shown as sex objects for the male gaze. Maulvey is also known for a text that she wrote, ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ (1973).

The Asian society as a whole has gained a lot of success, over the decades Asian have built up empires that are worth millions: ‘Brown Pound’, ‘The combined disposable income of ethnic minorities in the UK is £32bn’ [19]. Due to population growth and an increase in a more multi-cultural and diverse society, ethnic groups have been accepted, thus the recognition in the rise of the brown pound.

Bibliography

Books

Sarita, Malik(2002)Representing Black Britain:London, Sage Publications

.Jones,Marsha & Jones,Emma(1999),Mass Media.Basingstoke,Hampshire:Macmillan press Ltd

King,Geoff(2002):FILM COMEDY.London:Wallflower Press

References

[1] Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (2004) Danny Liener

[2] http://www.bl.uk/collections/business/asiandemographics.html

[3] http://www.asianrichlist.co.uk/richlist_more.asp?rank=1&id=1

[4] Representation, Race and Youth Culture

[5] Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (2004) Danny Liener

[6] http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1994833,00.html

[7] Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle (2004) Danny Liener

[8] http://www.asianrichlist.co.uk/aboutus.asp

[9] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091578/

[10] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286499/quotes

[11] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075537/quotes

[12]

[13]Representation, Race and Youth Culture

[14] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/442262.stm

[15] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedy

[16] http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/ssdataset.asp?vlnk=5938

[17] http://www.newline.com/movies/archive_h.shtml

[18] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Warner

[19] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3129178.stm

SELF EVALUATION

• Effort

3- i try n do my work do a good standard

• Punctuality

2-on time to lesson most of the time apart from once or twice

• Submission and quality of homework

3-most of my work has been on time and done to an exceptable standard

• Ability to work independently

3-i can work independently sometimes i may get confused

• Quality of writing

3-my quality of writing isnt the greatest but its not da worst. u unastand

• Organisation of Media folder

2- i thinkmy media folder good i got nearly all da sheets

• Oral contributions in class

4-i think i could contribute more in lessons

3 objectives

1.contribute more in lesson.
2.improve writing standard.
3.try not to get confused independently

Task 14- First Paragraph

How are stereotypes used against asians? Paying particular attention to Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle

In the past we have seen many representations of asians and many stereotypes of asians, over decades representations have changed asians are not now seen how they where several years ago. We still see asians in roles which conform to the typicall stereotype of asian but why is this done?, using the text named above i will explore the text in depth whilst comparing it to other historical and contemporary texts to see the change over time periods and see what types of represenations and streotypes are shown. Over years asians have become more succesful meaning that representation of asians as a community has become more powerful in society, this change has also led to power and status of asians becoming higher. To help me put forth my arguments i will be using theorist/theories such as, Homi Bhaba, Laura Maluvey, brown pound and the brown clown, i will further talk in detail about these theorists/theories throughout my investigation.

Task 13- Detailed essay Plan

i have chosen to do my independent study on the representation of Asians, in order to look at this subject in more detail i have chosen to use a text named 'Harold and Kumar go to White Castle'. i have chosen to use this text as it shows that certain stereotypes of asians are still present in contemporary society it also shows a different side to asians which may not be seen by everyone. throughout my study i will also look at how the asian society has gained recognition over the decades, looking back at society in the 70's we can see that hegemony does not somuch come in between asians and other cultural groups as society is becoming more multi-cultural. even though asians have made a mark within society you will still see that stereotypes and other forms of discrimination are still present within society.(S,R)

in order to gain full knowledge and to show my aruments i will compare my text to other asian texts and see how they differ and what similarities they consist of. i will be looking at text such as Bend it like beckham, Bhaji on the beach, My beuatiful laundrette and mind your laguage most of these texts are comedy genre texts. these texts will help me in comparing my text and see changes in society over time, these texts also show different types of stereotypes, certiain people will look at the stereotypes shown at luagh at the humour created but some people may look at the stereotyping in a different manner.(G,A)

• kumar being from a successful and respectable family is expectated to do well in life go to university and obtain a degree, the character is shown to challenge the what is expected from his family.(N)
• asians have a positive steroetype that they are successful and hard workers this is usualy led from gaining a degree or qualifications of some sort,within asian families getting a dgree is the most important thing if this doesnt happen they would think your a let down.(V&I)
• on screen we the character of kumar challenging the typical stereotype set by society of asians being hard workers, kumar is a pot head who is living of his fathers money in actualfact he is ment to be studying for a doctors degree in university.(S,R)

the asian character in the text is shown to be very scruffy and not very presentable, kumar is shown to be a pot head who wants to smoke weed al the time. comparing this text to 'Bend it like beckham' we can see what typical asian parents expect of there kids and in my text we see all asian parental expectations being challenged.

in the past when asian people used to have an accent and where shown on television people would mock them and make fun of them this was leading to racism and conflict between cultural groups , whereas now society has changed, now society look at things from another prospective because asians have made a mark in society and have become amongst the elite now people still laugh at the accent but they laugh with the characters not at them and asian comedians know that people like watching things so they do things that would make people laugh which is the typical accent, corner shops a good example here would be the well known show 'Goodness Gracious Me'.(H,G,R)

asians have become successful worlwide but concentrating on britain we can see that britain has definaetly become multi-cultural not only on television but in the business world,music, politics and sports, asians now rank amongst britains super rich. looking at asians in the business world they have spread into everything from financial services, cosmetics to mining, if we were to combine all there wealth togther it would not come in millions but billionsand maybe even more. asian music has taken a turn into mainstream we see alot of people listening to asian music a well know artist would be Talvin Singh from the asain dub, in the sporting world we have seen teenagers taking part in the olympics, amir khan was boxing in the olympics he made his mark by wining silver medal for britain at a young age.(E,P)

the text harold and kumar appeals to a mass audience as it is produced by one of hollywoods ten major film producing studios, so the text doesnt aim purely at asian it is for a teenage audience. the director of text is a white director who has produced text such as 'Dude wheres my car?' from this we can interprit that are we getting the right readings of asians, or is the director just sending out his own views.(I,V&I)

Task 12 - HiStorical Text

My Beautiful Laundrette-1985
Director-Stephen Frears
Drama/Romance
Synopsis-My Beuatiful Laudrette is set amongst the asian community within the London area, it shows an asian guy helping run his uncles laudrette with the help of a white friend who is an ex-NF supporter.
i could compare this text to my study as it challenges the usual stereotypes portrayed of asians within society at such a stage in time. at the time the text was produced it wasnt healthy for asians to be gay, this text caused a lot of controversy at the time it was released, the asian community found it very offensive that an asian character was acting as a gay man.

Mind your laguage-1977 till 1986
Created by-Vince Powell
Comedy
Synopsis-shows a class of immigrants being taught english, the class does not always learn english instead other mishaps happen throughout there lessons.
this text can be linked to my text as it shows several different ethnic minorities aswell as people from the asian community, Mind your language was a tv series which conforms to the stereotypes of certain ethnic minorities. as the series was created so long ago we cannot itendify the purpose of the text we cannot tell whether weare laughing at the sterotypes of the characters or if we are laughing at the jokes being made. the audience of the text need to take into consideration that the producers of the show where middle class white producers.

Bhaji on the beach-1992
Director-Gurinder Chada
Comedy/Drama
Synopsis-A group of indian women decide to go on a day trip to Blackpool, on there trip they come across many events that each woman as an indivdual faces and tackle.
bhaji on the beach is a more recent text, it shows asian women to be quite confused as they carry the asian woman stereotype but also at times they think, we are in britain should we be more western and liberated.

Sarita, Malik(2002)Representing Black Britain:London, Sage Publications

Some of her comments of the sitcom are as follows…

‘…Asians or race were usually the butt of the joke, these comedies tended to hit a racist note, but always in a well meaning, benevolent tone.’

‘…never before had so many diverse races been seen in the same television frame, but hey had also never clung so tightly to their popular crude national stereotypes. Conveniently set in an in an English-language teaching centre, Mind Your Language set up the perfect opportunity to show the differences between various ‘foreigners’. The source of humour was not just racial difference, but more specifically non-Englishness (denoted in their accents, customs, clothes and the situations they would find themselves in.’

‘At the time, Humphrey Barclay (then Head of Comedy at London Weekend Television, which produced the majority of these comedies about race) defended the programme on the grounds that seeing difference races on-screen would familiarize and naturalize them to a White majority viewing public. This standard defence based on an unpersuasive multi cultural philosophy, supposed that some representation was better than none, and that putting something on screen would necessarily ‘unshackle’ it. In fact, it is quite possible to flaunt a multi-racial society without displaying any multicultural sensibility or awareness, and laughter does not necessarily mean that we have ‘overcome’ racism, but that we can, in fact, be in the midst of reproducing racist ideologies.’

Maulvey essay ting

My text is mainly male dominated as, the two main characters are male. Maulvey links in to the essay as females are objectified as sex objects throghout the text. Firstly we see twins that one of the characters is introduced to it could be said that he is seduced by the women. Nearer towrds the ending you see another character who reveals her breast to the characters we dont see any phallic objects of any type.(she uses her finger not sure bout dat) ("_)

The text doesnt show any type of patriarchy, the audience is positioned to see things the way the two main charcters like it, taking into account they are pot heads, the audience is made to see things there way.

In one scene the text shows two characters who gain erotic pleasure by watching a film, where they see the female breasts on screen this helps reinforece the theory that Maulvey puts forth.

Maulvey

the mAle gaze was the theory which Laura Maulvey is behind, the male gaze is when fmales are used on screen for male pleasure and the male audience view the female characters through a sexual way. Maulvey is not only famous for her theory but she is also well knownfor her essay writing, ''Visual pleasure and Narrative cinema'' written in 1973 and published in a book in 1975.

Maulvey states that there are two ways of seeing this:
Voyeuristic- this is when the audience get pleasure seeing other people doing things.(sexual things!!!!!!!)

Fetishistic- this is when an object is used as a focus and is used to portray something or somenone in a sexual way

TV Commercials

Traditional women role: Retromercial: Persil (1958)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6880aSkS08

Sexually objectified women: Herbal Essences - Rainforest Flowers - Loin Cloth
http://www.ephinx.com/tvadverts/89/herbal-essences-rainforest-flowers-loin-cloth-advert.html

Professional active women:

1. SELF EVALUATION

Effort:3
i think that i have put in alot more effort in this year rather than last year. also i concentrate more in lessons.

Punctuality:2
i have been coming to all lessons on time i've just been late once or twice.

Submission and quality of homework:1
i have completed most of the homework tasks on time just the last couple of homeworks were late, and the quality of work is quite good so yeh.

Ability to work independently:2
i can work well independently but sometimes get onfused on what to do, but still i figure out what is needed to be done.

Quality of writing:3
i think i need to use more media terminology when writing things from my prospective, it will help in examinations and my independent study.

Otganisation of media folder:1
my media folder is sik.

Oral contributions in class:3
i think that i need to contribute more to lesson rather than just when i am asked a question.

Standard of module 5 blog:2
my blog is up to date and quite detailed so yeh i think is quite good.

Standard of module 6 blog:3
needs to be updated.

Book Research

1. Mullard,Chris(1985):Race,Power & Resistance.Leicester Square, London:Routledge & Ledge Paul plc

This links to my study as it looks at how and when it was that ethnic minorities protested against there rights and post-colonialism was challenged, it also looks at the white ideologists and the black utopians.

2.Jones,Marsha & Jones,Emma(1999),Mass Media.Basingstoke,Hampshire:Macmillan press Ltd
This text links to my study as it focuses on representation of gender, ethnicity and stereotypes, it looks into these areas at a depth and it also gives previous examination questions from whih you can revise and extract info to add to my study.

3.Downes, Brenda (1998) : Media Studies. UK: Hodder Headline PLC.

This text is relavant to mine as it discusses sterotyping in detail and the differences between representation and its realities from its assumptions.

4.Burton, Graeme (1999) : Media & Popular Culture. UK: Hodder Headline PLC.

This text links to my study as it focuses upon the representation of races. It features a range of theorists that we have not yet covered which could relate to the views that I am expressing throuhgout my study.

5.Clark, Vivienne & Barker, James & Lewis, Eileen (2000) : Key Concepts & Skills for Media Studies. Malta: Gray Publishing.

This text was useful for me as it discusses representation and ideologies as a key comcept in more technical and academic detail.

6.King,Geoff(2002):FILM COMEDY.London:Wallflower Press

This text links into my study as it looks at the comedy genre in detail, my text is a comedy genre text meaning that the book will link to my study perfectly.

7.Branston,Gill & Stafford,Roy(1996):the media student's book.New York:Routledge

This book looks at various representations of people gender streotypical roles, i could use this as it links to my study as i am looking at representation and stereotypical roles.