Racism in The Color of Fear
Let’s start with the definition of racism. Racism refers to the belief that race is the primary determinant of human capacities, that a certain race is inherently superior or inferior to others, and/or that individuals should be treated differently based on their ascribed race.
There are two main issues in the movie the “The Color of Fear” that I will discuss. These two issues include grouping people of color on the basis of the way one looks, and the attitudes of different races towards one another. Including also the idea that the white “do-gooder” feels that subconsciously racism is being taken care of, when in all reality it isn’t. The eight men in The Color of Fear candidly discussed racism not
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It is important that if one wants to understand a race that they have to have an openness towards that culture.
Depending on where someone lives also plays a large part on why they group by color. In the movie there were two Whites, two Asians, and two Blacks. They were all mostly from the west, and only portrayed the racism that is felt in that area. All over the United States racism differs, but grouping still emerges. It is natural for groups of people that feel close to one another to stick together. This is shown by how areas of cities will be predominately black, Asian, Hmong, Mexican or White. The colored men in the movie had difficulties with grouping. They mainly felt that whites needed to group outsiders that didn’t look white. One of the Asian men stated that he felt only white was American. He had troubles with how the white man would start to let in other cultures, but then in turn expected other races to give up their cultures to become American. The colored man does not want to give his identity to become apart of the white group, he feels that to end racism we should not have to all be the same.
Another issue in the movie was attitudes. All races have attitudes towards people that are not like their own, whether they are good or bad. Attitudes I believe are connected with experiences. What one experiences with another race can affect the way their attitude is towards them.
Racisms itself is defined as prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. The way to get away from racism and stereotyping is by taking a stand yourself; each person can donate their time, acceptance and open arms to each other.
Regarding the labeling theory, the theory holds that behaviors are deviant only when society labels them as deviant. As such, conforming members of society, who interpret certain behaviors as deviant and then attach this label to individuals, determine the distinction between deviance and non‐deviance. Influential people within society—politicians, judges, police officers, medical doctors, and so forth—typically impose the most significant labels. Labeled individuals may include drug addicts, alcoholics, criminals, delinquents, prostitutes, and sex offenders, to mention a few. The relation to the movie is that, the stakeholders used to, or maybe still label the people of color have higher tendency to do criminal activities compared to Caucasians, and that’s what the media portrayed back then, thus the case of mass incarceration of people of color, seemed not to be a big deal for the States in which the majority of individuals who resides here are the whites. Compton and other majority black areas that considered dangerous might arise because of this labeling
There are many reoccurring themes that can be depicted from this movie. This includes “racial discrimination and love. Racial discrimination can be seen when Mr. James Farmer accidentally ran over a white man’s pig, as a result he was charged a very high amount for the pig. We assume that if it were a white man he wouldn’t have been charged nearly as much. However, when the team challenged and defeated a few white
“ Some of these early productions have racial themes which reorganize the world in such a way that black heritage is rewarded over white paternity; they are schematic renunciations of the prevailing order of things in white American society where, historically, the discovery of black blood meant sudden reversal of fortune, social exclusion, or banishment.” (Gaines, P.3) Within the movie the amount of mistruths about African Americans was sad. Within the movie you notice that the blacks were always or seem to be yelling, acting uncivilized and doing
Racism can be defined by the formula prejudice + power = racism. Racism is when racial prejudice is turned into action that harms others. Racism is the belief that one race of people is superior to another because of their colour or race. Racism is simply based on the colour of a person's skin. Racism is destructive and it disembowels people by shattering their identity.
What is racism? The word racism is defined as “the belief that a particular race is inferior to another race or races.” The Anti-Defamation League defined the word racism as “the hatred of one person by another, or belief that another person is less, because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. It has influenced wars, slavery, the formation of nation and legal codes”
The degree of connection between all of the characters in the movie is so coincidental and interrelated to emphasize the point that we do not always know what is going on with everyone else we may encounter. It also accentuates the fact that racism is not one particular race against another. It also shows that we never know someone’s situation and what is happening in their life to make them act the way that they do if
What I also found to be quite interesting and perhaps a weakness of the film, was the sense of performative racism that four of the main white characters utilize and how the makers of the film appeal to such a phenomenon through symbolisms as well. In the movie, there seems to be two main kinds of racism the characters exhibit, one of them being blatant racism and another being subtle racism through microaggressions. For example, Katherine experiences blatantly racist and misogynistic behavior from her coworkers, especially from Paul Stafford, the lead engineer (making groupthink much easier) and Ruth, the only other woman working in the office. On the other hand, Al Harrison and John Glenn appeal to the subtler sides of racism and performative white pity, Glenn going out of his way to shake the hands of the computers as the film attempted to paint a positive, “not-all-whites” picture of inclusion, acceptance and tolerance, a kind of racism that almost all of the white people in the film come to, by its end. Examples of this can be seen in scenes like the one in which Al Harrison smashes down the “coloreds” and “whites” restroom signs as if implying that doing so will abolish all racial inequalities with a couple of blows of blunt force. One could infer it seems, that paired with the groundbreaking stories of these three women, white people being decent human
The reason many people in America today, as well as in the movie are racist is because this is how they were brought up, by the labels they were taught to live by. Past generations were exposed to segregation between ethnic groups, which has greatly carried on to how people look at others today. Up until 1967 it was prohibited for blacks to marry white people in 38 states
The main issue throughout the movie is racism and the perspectives on different cultures. The movie is set in Los Angeles, a city with a cultural mix of every nationality. The movie starts out at
Race, privilege, and gender are three key issues addressed in Lee Mun Wah's "The Color of Fear". Different characters in the film bring out these issues and discuss how they have come about and how they are apparent in our society today. Lee Mun Wah uses different variations of visual language and compositions to show certain perspectives on the different characters. Also there is a theme of interlocking hierarchies presented in the film.
The emotional reaction that the filmmakers intended for anyone who watch this film is that no matter what skin, hair and eye color is no one deserves to be labeled. No race should be discriminated and criticize. We should all get along and just be proud of where our roots come from. This film also intended for everyone who watch this film, is that there should not have to be obstacles to be proud of your own race.
One of the first connections the viewer has with the film is racism. In this scene, the audience is able to get a feel of what it was like when desegregation took
Racism is a belief that a particular race or ethnicity is inferior or superior to others. Racism is any act that involves a person being treated unfairly or vilified because of their race or ethnicity.
There specific themes represented throughout the film include racism, segregation, social and gender inequality. Racism and segregation play a big role in the storyline of the movie. Segregation of blacks and whites was a socially accepted way of life in the South in the early 1960’s. During this time everything was separate between the two races; for example, blacks lived in separate communities, rode on separate buses, separate transportation cars, separate restaurants, used separate bathrooms, and attended separate schools. When Homer Plessy, a man who was considered one eight blacks by the