Before I pressed play, the first thing that caught my eyes where the three men. They were supposed to be the Mob/Mafia, the sizes of the men and the way they are dressed makes them the picture-perfect candidates for the Italian stereotype. The idea that this cartoon portrays them as this is very unfortunately, a harmful association of Italians being corrupt.
Stereotypes create a sense of control over the situation, it seems to the person that he or she always correctly interprets the information and provides himself or herself with security. However, stereotypes are formed for a group rather than individually. We are social beings which means that we are used to survive together. People trust the established opinions, because they think that it cannot be otherwise. People forget that they can also have their own opinion. Some of us might be frightened by the prospect of getting rid of stereotypes, because then a sense of responsibility will increase. In fact it will be necessary to be responsible for the choice independently, without referring to opinion of a society. Ultimately there are two sides of stereotypes. One side of stereotypes lies in the fact that it gives the most general model of human behavior in a particular society. The other side is that it is not suitable in personal relationships.
When I was looking at the video, before even pressing play, I saw that there were already some stereotypes about Italians. One being that they are mafia-like. I did not really understand the Amazon reference, but once the professor explained it, I was able to see how the stereotype works with the quote. The professor explained that Hachette is pressured by Amazon, who is represented by the the Italian mafia. I think that it is horrible that the New Yorker is using this stereotype to relay a message. If you specifically put a stereotype to relay a message then you are reinforcing that stereotype. That is the way everyone is going to think about that "tribe" because that is the only way they see them. It is horrible to see this going on. White people especially don't care about who they are exploiting in their cartoons as long as they get their point across.
It was in poor taste for the New Yorker to use a cartoon in that manner. It shows how they really look at Italian Americans. This views Italians as goons that use their muscles and intimidation to get what they want. I didn't know anything about the Amazon-Hachette feud but using a stereotype to get the message across wasn’t the smartest choice. I also feel bad because without even being told I knew the goons were Italians.
The first thought I had was, why is Amazon being portrayed as the mafia? I then watched the video and the explanation provided by the professor helped me to fully understand why Amazon is metaphorically being represented as the mafia. As sad as this is, the artist wanted to make a point across so he/she presented the cartoon in a highly stereotypical way that resulted in the representation of Amazon he/she wanted to portray. Humans are influence in many ways to be stereotypical such as daily interactions with media or by simply knowing someone. We naturally group things and people together and because we don't like to accept that we are influenced by stereotype we are susceptible to it's impact.
The first thing that I did notice when it comes to the cartoon was that it seemed like a shakedown of some sort .it definitely live up to the stereotype of Italian Americans being a part of the mafia, that most if not all individuals who are Italian looking have two strong men and one very short but powerful person who is in charge them. And most if not all mafia movies there’s always those particular characters start off with more than one really strong men who are willing to do anything to protect which seems like a very short but he seems to have a lot of power over all of them and this cartoon definitely lives up to that image that protrudes by the media that is the stereotype of what Italians are like.
Before I pressed play, the first thing that caught my eyes where the three men. They were supposed to be the Mob/Mafia, the sizes of the men and the way they are dressed makes them the picture-perfect candidates for the Italian stereotype. The idea that this cartoon portrays them as this is very unfortunately, a harmful association of Italians being corrupt.
ReplyDeleteStereotypes create a sense of control over the situation, it seems to the person that he or she always correctly interprets the information and provides himself or herself with security. However, stereotypes are formed for a group rather than individually. We are social beings which means that we are used to survive together. People trust the established opinions, because they think that it cannot be otherwise. People forget that they can also have their own opinion. Some of us might be frightened by the prospect of getting rid of stereotypes, because then a sense of responsibility will increase. In fact it will be necessary to be responsible for the choice independently, without referring to opinion of a society. Ultimately there are two sides of stereotypes. One side of stereotypes lies in the fact that it gives the most general model of human behavior in a particular society. The other side is that it is not suitable in personal relationships.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was looking at the video, before even pressing play, I saw that there were already some stereotypes about Italians. One being that they are mafia-like. I did not really understand the Amazon reference, but once the professor explained it, I was able to see how the stereotype works with the quote. The professor explained that Hachette is pressured by Amazon, who is represented by the the Italian mafia. I think that it is horrible that the New Yorker is using this stereotype to relay a message. If you specifically put a stereotype to relay a message then you are reinforcing that stereotype. That is the way everyone is going to think about that "tribe" because that is the only way they see them. It is horrible to see this going on. White people especially don't care about who they are exploiting in their cartoons as long as they get their point across.
ReplyDeleteIt was in poor taste for the New Yorker to use a cartoon in that manner. It shows how they really look at Italian Americans. This views Italians as goons that use their muscles and intimidation to get what they want. I didn't know anything about the Amazon-Hachette feud but using a stereotype to get the message across wasn’t the smartest choice. I also feel bad because without even being told I knew the goons were Italians.
ReplyDeleteThe first thought I had was, why is Amazon being portrayed as the mafia?
ReplyDeleteI then watched the video and the explanation provided by the professor helped me to fully understand why Amazon is metaphorically being represented as the mafia. As sad as this is, the artist wanted to make a point across so he/she presented the cartoon in a highly stereotypical way that resulted in the representation of Amazon he/she wanted to portray. Humans are influence in many ways to be stereotypical such as daily interactions with media or by simply knowing someone. We naturally group things and people together and because we don't like to accept that we are influenced by stereotype we are susceptible to it's impact.
The first thing that I did notice when it comes to the cartoon was that it seemed like a shakedown of some sort .it definitely live up to the stereotype of Italian Americans being a part of the mafia, that most if not all individuals who are Italian looking have two strong men and one very short but powerful person who is in charge them. And most if not all mafia movies there’s always those particular characters start off with more than one really strong men who are willing to do anything to protect which seems like a very short but he seems to have a lot of power over all of them and this cartoon definitely lives up to that image that protrudes by the media that is the stereotype of what Italians are like.
ReplyDelete