because stereotypes are funny, right?

We all know White Chicks isn’t BEST movie, however, most audiences found this film funny and comedic because of the way it entertained its viewers, which was through the over exaggeration of racial stereotypes. The only reason audiences could find this film funny and laugh along with it, was because the movie was placed into the comedy genre, which kinda meant everything in the film should just be taken as a joke. Watching the film through a FTVMS210 perspective, there are so many thing you start to notice, like stereotypes, racist remarks and ideas of white privilege, that maybe other audiences watching from a different perspective won’t catch.

The movie has a whole lot of underlying themes of racism and racial stereotypes, that are based on being socially constructed rather than biological based. One of which is the stereotype of white people and the ideas of materialistic and socio-economic status attached to their characters, like how the Hamptons are only made up of snobby, spoiled and rich white girls. Another way the film portrays the idea of White Privilege and how white people have an advantage over others because of their skin. Over the years white people have always been the advantaged race in the social system. This idea might be unsought by white people, but that does not mean it does not exist. One example of how this film portrays white privilege is when Kevin says, “Dear Mister Royal Hampton, I am a white woman, in America”. In which he was given the room keys without the need to show ID and provide a credit card. This scene shows how white people can do whatever they want, when they want and avoid various circumstances because of skin colour. Because how ridiculous would it sound today if a black women said this? “Dear Mister Royal Hampton, I am a black women, in America”.This inferential racism of white people is racism that is inferred by the media text and is more subtle but is still a blatant disrespectful representation of a race.

Another stereotype that was presented about black men was Latrell Spencer who is one of the very few African American characters. This is important because there are only a few black characters and this movie portrays him as confident, athletic but also sexually interested in white women. Which is yet again another stereotype the movie uses to it’s advantage. Because of the lack of representation of his character and the underrepresentation of African American, this leaves a negative impact on African American peoples and societies.

However a really good question to ask and answer would be, if the roles were switched and reversed and 2 white men put on makeup and played the roles of 2 black men using stereotypes attached to the ideas of being black, would it go by unnoticed? Or would it spark way more controversy?

It goes to show how easily racism and stereotypes can be used in hollywood films, and how easily these movies are making money with the overhyping of stereotypes.