Popular Culture Race and Ethnicity in the Movie King Kong Review

Popular Culture Race and Ethnicity in the faggot Kong - Movie Review manikinAccordingly, the representation of blacks and minorities, or innate populations in film, has become an issue of social concern. The objection which several critics evince towards King Kong (2005) and their denouncement of it as a racial film needs to be understood at heart the context of the larger social issues at stake and should not be dismissed as amplify reactions to innocent entertainment, as some have done. Indeed, King Kong is founded upon racial stereotypes and cements racial prejudices in its portrayal of indigenous populations as savages, its suggestion that blacks are wild beasts, such as is King Kong, who can only be tamed by the civilised Caucasian.Critical reactions to King Kong (2005) have tended towards its denouncement as a anti-Semite(a) film, on the one hand, to its defence as innocent entertainment, on the other. Espousing the former view, McCarthy (2006) maintains that the storyl ine and plot hustle around three of the oldest and most persistent of the known anti-black stereotypes. These are that all non-Caucasians are savages and that members of the black stimulate are hardly distinguishable from wild beasts (McCarthy, 2006). In this film, the non-Caucasians are represented in the hardly human, unco savage and completely unwashed approach pattern of the Skull island natives and blacks in the form of the gigantic and uncontrollable savage figure of the ape. The third stereotype upon which this film is founded and which its storyline propagates and legitimizes is that of the civilized Caucasians who, by the very nature of their appearance and the grow and civility which they symbolize, are able to tame, control and potentially even civilize the savage and the wild. King Kong (2005) promotes these stereotypes and should, accordingly, be classified as a racist film.For multicultural societies which are struggling to create a purification of racial toleran ce and acceptance to replace the culture of racism, films such as this can have a potentially detrimental effect. Pon (2000) highlights this potential consequence by arguing that racist nitty-grittys legitimize an audiences possibly racist sentiments and justifies their perception of minority races and groups as inferior. When these messages are conveyed in a multicultural society, they immediately conflict with multiculturalisms message and, accordingly, can contribute to racial tensions (Pon, 2000). In direct reference to Canadian society, popularly regarded as a successful experiment in multiculturalism, the message conveyed by King Kong (2005) does not simply conflict with decreed messages regarding racial tolerance and understanding but it touches upon the underlying racial tensions which exist beyond the surface. Studies have indicated that increase numbers of racial minority groups and indigenous populations feel marginalized and discriminated against. The number of blacks and natives feeling out of place in society is on the rise. In 2002, 35% of blacks and 20% of natives in Canada reported unfair discriminatory discourse sometimes or often (Statcan, 2002). Therefore, films which wrongfully portray the true nature of blacks and native/indigenous populations, have the potential to sharpen the mentioned feelings of marginalization and to deepen the racism which many Canadian minority groups feel they are subjected to.The fact that King Kong