The media's role on influencing someone's stereotypical mindset of foreigners even further

Now, I know what you are thinking. "Megan, the media is this huge conglomerate term used to describe many tiny parts of countless outlets--all relating to how mass communication is distributed throughout the world" And yes, that's very true. So, you're probably wondering how could I possibly analyze the entirety of the media and see how it misrepresents particular cultures in a tiny little blogpost. That would in fact be a daunting task. But, just by looking at a few examples, you can begin to see there is an overarching theme of an Orientalism perspective in three large aspects of the media: film, advertisements and social media platforms.

Orientalism and cultural appropriation seems to be something that time and time again the media cannot really let go. In a Buzzfeed News article titled "Orientalism is Alive and Well in American Cinema," writer Alison Willmoore makes the comparison of cultural appropriation to a buffet--saying "people feel welcome to help themselves to whatever they're inclined to take and reject what they aren't interested in." The problem is not that the media and the general public are not aware of Orientalism, but it's the fact that nobody seems to see that there is anything wrong with it. These distorted perceptions of different cultures, whether it's portrayed in film, a comedian's stand-up material, celebrities social media posts or an advertisement on television, the global audience soaks up that information and believes that to be an accurate representation of a culture. People can think, "If Conan O'Brien allows someone to talk about loving Chinese people, I should be allowed to talk about it too right?" Willmoore states that it has become difficult for people to tell the difference between "objectifying homage and legitimate cultural exchange" and these lines are blurred even more due to Orientalism's continuous appearance in the media.

So, my goal is for my readers to begin to figure out that distinction and begin to move away from Orientalism. One way for this realization to come about is by analyzing forms of the media that could be improved upon in regards to depicting a culture respectfully. This website has already looked at how fashion and television have tried to get out of this rabbit-hole of continuing to highlight stereotypes, but what about all these other types of mainstreamed media? Are there any improvements or are we sticking to the same status-quo forever? And how could these false perceptions affect people who actually go and visit these cultures? Well, let's take a look at how those three aspects of the media take into consideration if there are any steps of progress or if it's stuck in its ways.

Film and Orientalism:

Looking at film, there are many examples to look at that highlight the idea of Orientalism (Disney's 2019 Aladdin, Blade Runner, The Outsider), but what I and writer Willmoore find worthy of talking about is Isle of Dogs. This movie, made in 2018 and directed by renowned filmmaker Wes Anderson, tells the story of these canine pets of Megasaki City who are exiled to a garbage-dump called Trash Island. Twelve-year-old Atari makes a group of furry-friends and ensues on an epic journey in order to rescue his exiled dog, Spots. When I first watched this movie, I thought it was strange that all of the dogs were voiced by American white males and when there is Japanese being spoken, it is oftentimes not translated. Although this city of Megasaki is a fictionalized, fantasy place created by Anderson, according to Willmoore, it's just a "hodgepodge of references that an American like Anderson might cough up if pressed to free associate about Japan." There is a large amount of stereotypes that many view the only characteristics of Japanese culture: anime, wasabi, taiko drummers and cherry blossoms. There is also the idea of a Western 'hero' in the film by having a foreign exchange student named Tracy Walker, who leads the group against the city's oppressive anti-dog leadership and who also gets the bulk of the English-language lines.

This film did not have any malicious intentions toward cultural appropriation, but that is in fact the problem we are dealing with. We are so unaware of when we are objectifying a culture for mere entertainment or when we are depicting it in a respectful and accurate way. Many people may think Isle of Dogs is exactly what Japan is like and could potentially affect their behavior when traveling to Japan in real-life. Film should be much more direct when it begins to show a particular culture, and not create just "another piece of art that treats the East not as a living, breathing half of the planet but as a mirror for the Western imagination." Filmmakers should not have a movie be focused in an Eastern culture because of the exoticism involved, but because of the rich history each and every one of these cultures have.

Advertisements and Orientalism:

In something like a Super Bowl commercial, your advertisement will be viewed by millions--so your message better be clear. Many advertisements try to be diverse in its casting, but oftentimes it is just stereotypes leading the way and not what a certain culture is actually like. For this 2013 Coca-Cola promotional ad, their message raised some eyebrows due to cultural appropriation and once again, stereotype after stereotype.

If you're unfamiliar with this commercial, it shows an Arab man walking a camel through the desert when he suddenly discovers a large Coca Cola bottle. The man is quickly passed by cowboys, Las Vegas showgirls and a group of bandits that all seem to relate to various eras of filmmaking in Hollywood. A great race ensues and the point of this campaign was to have viewers visit the website listed and vote who would "win the race" to the Coca Cola. But, when logging onto the website, the Arab man is left out of the poll completely. The only appearance this culture gets is in a stereotypical fashion and is then not even included with the other characters, why? Many people spoke out against this advertisement, including an article written in the Chicago Monitor, stating that the campaign highlights this "Westerners prevail over the east" attitude and said that the Arab had "no chance of keeping up with 'the West,'" which is why he was not included in the poll. The writer of this article, Brent Brewer, argues that there have been countless misrepresentations of Middle Eastern countries especially in the media. By constantly reinforcing stereotypes of foreign countries in the media, that only causes more harm to Westerner's perception of those cultures and makes it even harder to resolve this issue of Orientalism, An accurate portrayal on just a simple 60-second commercial could go a long way in dissolving stereotypes and focusing on an accurate cultural understanding.

Social Media and Orientalism:

Social media has always been a place where people can share their thoughts and content they have created, but it has also become a place for a cultural understanding to hopefully appear. But, it becomes even more difficult when celebrities share content that they think shows how 'exotic' and culturally aware they are, but in reality they are using stereotypes of a foreign culture to make themselves look better online. An example of this is this Tweet of Kim Kardashian West pictured above. These photos, which were posted less than a month ago, show West wearing jewelry called a tikka, which is sacred to hinduism and many South Asian cultures. After this was posted, the internet exploded with comments just like the response above, saying West should not assume she can wear items that appear 'exotic' since she is half-Armenian. Another response on this Twitter thread was "not all brown people are allowed to wear the same things, we're not all the same." Kim Kardashian West, who has over 64 million followers on Twitter, needs to be aware of the messages she is sending when posting content to her social media page. Many viewers may think they are allowed to stereotype certain cultures by wearing their sacred clothing if Kim Kardashian is allowed to do the same. This could create a ripple effect which is usually how Orientalist ideas spread in the first place. What is Kardashian instilling in her viewers when they travel to Asian cultures? What if we used social media to discuss the uniqueness of a certain culture instead of exploiting them for likes and retweets? Social media influencers need to be keeping these questions in mind so that we can move away from this Orientalsim perpsective.