The Representation of Minorities in American Cinema Essay -- Movies Fi

The Representation of Minorities in American Cinema As the semester progressed and we continue learning how Latinos grow been misrepresented through American movie during the twentieth century, I began to wonder about my own heritage and how Jews were portrayed in icons of the same era. I grew up learning about the various stereotypes that have been associated with Jews throughout history, but n of all told time have I explored the portrayals of Jews through film history in the United States. My curiosity led me to research Hollywoods image of the Jew, providing me with a better understanding of the role Jews and Judaic family life have played in American Cinema from the precise beginnings of film history. I was able to relate the facts about the representation of Jews in the media to what we have studied this semester about the representation of Latinos and Latinas. Although in class we focus on the portrayals of different Latin American cultures in American film, we m oldiness realize that other minorities, social classes, and ethnic groups were mistreated by movie theatre as well. As Keller states, One of the side effects of American cinema was often crushingly brutal portrayals of other races and cultures, depictions that spread to larger audiences than ever before possible around the nation and even around the bollock (Keller, 5). Overall, the American film industry felt it necessary to depict all characters but the dominant Anglo in a negative light. In briefly, Keller explains, white Americans believed in the transcendency of the white race and depicted this superiority on the silver screen. Every other race was evaluated in birth to the attainments of the white race and with respect to its approximation to the white race whic... ...//www.grapevinevideo.com/fairbanks.htmThe chink of Zorro. Produced by United Artists and Douglas Fairbanks Productions directed by Fred Niblo, 1920.Cortes, Carlos E. Chicanas in Film explanation of an Ima ge. Rodriguez, Clara E. Latin Looks. Boulder, CO Westview Press, 1998. Pp.121-139Flying Down to Rio. Directed by Herbert Brenon. Produced by Louis Zarecky, 1932.All Movie Guide, Dolores Del Rio.http//www.allmovie.com/cg/x.exe?p=avg&sql=bp18330Mexican Spitfire. Directed by Leslie Goodwins. Produced by Cliff Reid, 1939.Erens, Patricia. The Jew in American Cinema. Bloomington Indiana University Press, 1984. Friedman, Lester D. Hollywoods Image of the Jew. saucy York Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1982.Hangin With the Homeboys. Directed by Joseph Vasquez, 1991.West Side Story. Directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, 1961.