Turbo, a film created in the middle of the year of 2013, is about a snail overcoming the labeling of being unbelievably slow. However, the film is responsible for making several more generalizations about certain types of people. While the film does not necessarily target one specific group of people, it still enhances the stereotypes that society has assigned to multiple races. For example, the Mexican men are seen working at a taco stand. This image is often laughed at and not given much thought because of how stereotypical it is.
One of the Mexican men in the film has the name of “Tito”, who is the driver of the taco stand called “Dos Bros”. One of the men that works with the tacos is shown to be overweight and talks with incorrect English. While the scenes with the men are not major, they still raise the problem of stereotypes within the film. There is also an Asian woman that is significantly smaller than the other characters who also has a very thick Asian accent and works in a nail salon.
It is debatable whether the movie is trying to draw attention to the horrible stigmas that society has created, or is simply making a joke of it all. It is easy to create specific images of characters in animated films, which gives directors the opportunity to exploit the extreme stereotypes in order to get an extra laugh, which is then passed onto the young audience of these films, creating the vicious cycle of racism.
Although I have never seen this movie before, I do not think that the movie is just trying to make a joke of all the stereotypes. I think that these stereotypes are so ingrained into our society, that people haphazardly continue to perpetuate the stereotypes into the media.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen this movie either but it is very concerning to see these stereotypes being portrayed in a film that seems to be targeting a younger audience. Putting these generalizations in this type of movie is a horrible idea because it will instill theses stereotypes in the mind of younger children.
ReplyDeleteWow, I would have never played attention to that while I was watching the movie, that's extremely interesting. I am kind of shocked that it is in a kids movie and not noticed. Great writing and loved the read and subject.
ReplyDeleteI liked that you mentioned how difficult it can be to decipher between satire and downright stereotyping. I thought the same thing when analyzing New Girl about whether they are breaking down stereotypes or perpetuating them.
ReplyDelete