Category:Race Tropes: Difference between revisions
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'''Hispanics/Latinos:''' Less likely to be a [[Token Minority]] than blacks, much less be shown in a good number of TV shows. Many Latinos are either clownish buffoons or thick-mustached, greasy-faced villains, and are rarely ever portrayed seriously. A partial exception to this is the charismatic [[Latin Lover]], but even that depiction still presents the Hispanic as a slightly menacing presence because of his overt sexuality associated with his ethnicity. Latinas are almost always [[Spicy Latina|irresistibly sexy temptresses]] who have ample chests, skintight clothing, and are irredeemably gossipy and short-tempered--unless they are over 40, in which case they immediately transform into rotund, tempermental mother-figures. In many shows and films (most notably ''[[The Shield]]''), Latino gangs are generally portrayed as more violent and brutal than black gangs. There's some uncertainty in media over whether Hispanics are a "race" rather than a linguistic/cultural group, likely because they come from a whole spectrum of centuries of mixing black, white, and native but not many people outside Latin America know this. Not very many people are aware of race relations in the Hispanic world, where those with predominately Spanish or Portugese background are considered at the top of the chain, followed by Creoles, black and full-blooded Native. Accents also follow a hierarchy in the hispanic world, where the form of Spanish spoken in Spain is considered "proper," and Latin American accents are looked down upon by the snotty. One episode of ''[[Law and Order]]'' even featured a Hispanic white supremacist, fiercely proud of his "pure Spanish blood", much to the disgust of the Hispanic detective interviewing him, showing a dramatized version of [[Truth in Television]]. Films/series centering around Hispanic families seem to have made progress in recent years. For example, ''[[Spy Kids]]'', ''[[The George Lopez Show]]'', ''[[Ugly Betty]]'' and, yes, ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]''.
'''East Asians:''' Vastly underrepresented in American media. This is most notably evident in TV shows or movies taking place in cities with a very significant Asian population in real life but few, if any, Asian characters. The few representations that do exist are mired in stereotypes. Viewed as the "model minority" in real life, portrayed as having no financial problems, and not experiencing racism. Historically, they were referred to as model minorities because they were less likely to complain about mistreatment like other minorities, such as Blacks and Hispanics over Jim Crow, or Jews over Antisemitism. Even so, there's likely more than one average Asian out there. In reality, there are Asian groups who are considerably worse off than whites, but the model minority myth largely overrides this. Asian depictions are split between [[Asian and Nerdy|smart, hopelessly nerdy guys]] (but ''never'' [[Otaku]], mind you) with a knack for technology and [[Funny Foreigner
'''South Asians:''' Will occasionally appear as [[Asian Store Owner|corner shop owners]] or doctors, or cab drivers on U.S. TV. A handful may be portrayed as computer scientists or other science researchers, but all of them have a veddy veddy thick accent. Good luck finding South Asian women, and when they do appear, they tend to have very few lines. If a South Asian woman is portrayed as either having or being a [[Love Interest]], expect the man to be [[Asian Gal with White Guy|white]]. If she's already married, expect her husband to also be South Asian. All movie and TV South Asians are Hindu, and expect a number of [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades to be hung]] on aspects of the Hindu religion. Muslim and Sikh South Asians are vanishingly rare on TV, although Sikh-style turbans frequently appear on "Hindu" characters. More prominent in European Media, particularly in Britain where they are the second largest minority group (In Britain, the term "Asian" generally means South Asian rather than East Asian and East Asian people are called "Oriental." Also, the [[Asian Store Owner]] stereotype is switched to (usually) Pakistanis.)
'''Native Americans:''' Good luck seeing them beyond a few [[Noble Savage
'''Arabs:''' Still an [[Acceptable Target]], something that can even be seen here on TV Tropes, unfortunately. Almost always portrayed as brutal terrorists. If not terrorists, Arabs will be billionaires or belly dancers... although those depictions have become far less common after 9/11. Generally depicted as the only people living in the Middle East, apart from Israelis. Old Jewish stereotypes like the big-nosed miser are now frequently applied to Arabs. Positive portrayals are very rare, except again in Europe where they are given positive roles a little more often - particularly in France where Arabic and North African (Algerian and Moroccan) people are a significant minority. Since 9/11 almost every media work with Arab villains now includes a [[Token Minority]] Muslim good guy, who is usually misunderstood.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]
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[[Category:Personal Appearance Tropes]]
[[Category:Narrative Tropes]]
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