Thursday, November 11, 2010
One of our main discussion topics thus far in class has been the misinterpretation we have of different cultures, especially "Latinos." The aggregated image we have of Latinos tends to make us place all of the places south of the US as Latin America, including the Caribbean and Afro infused cultures. The images and associations we have developed over certain cultures are usually made up by the media and popular culture images that lack historical accuracy. These images and portrayals are usually for entertainment rather than educational reasons. One of the areas we have mentioned that display these types of portrayals are kids shows like Dora the Explorer or Maya and Miguel. The show Arthur, which also plays on PBS, is a kid’s show that puts more emphasis on the educational part. This episode shows Arthur developing a friendship with a Turkish pen-pal; however he develops an image of Turkish culture from a comic book.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This is very true. If we haven't been exposed to different cultures it's easy for us to misinterpret them based on the images and assumptions that media and popular culture have helped us create in our minds.
ReplyDeleteIt's easiest to make the mistake, I think, as kids because we don't know any better (sometimes). As adults we should always keep in mind the purpose of the things we read and watch, as many of the images portrayed by media and pop culture are, like you say for entertainment purposes rather than educational purposes.
I like the Arthur video too. I like how Arthur acknowledges that it was wrong of him to make assumptions based on the comic book.