Racial stereotypes have been found in media for a long time, ever since the beginning stages of popular media such as film, comics, and art. However, for the most part, the characters depicted were given designs and characteristics that were never truly their own, but where more than likely just a quick and cheap way to show an audience that they weren't white and enforce any misconceptions on that particular people. It is a literal example of quantity over quality. For instance, in many works from artists of the 1900s such as Winsor McCay, people of African descent were depicted as extremely black skinned, with large lips, and often depicted as native savages or cannibals, stupid, or the civil war "mammie" archetype, just to name a few. They were also generally shown to speak with a broken English dialect, often in a form of what a white man thought someone from a ghetto talked like instead of how an African American person from that area actually spoke.
When I was growing up, I have, and still do, always seen all people as equal human beings, no one being superior to the other. Concerning media, particularly in comics and movies, there have been many depictions of people, especially of African American people in older media, that I find completely unnecessary, so I enjoy when works such as the comic strip Beetle Bailey by Mort Walker have depicted different races in their own style so that they fit into their world as equals. However, I will say that I am personally against all the radical accusations some people make concerning the appearance on a certain character, sometimes demanding a change in design or a complete removal, especially when said characters were clearly never meant to represent said race to began with or an older icon that represents that dark point in history. Recently in my home town in Texas, there have been many trying to have a statue of a Confederate soldier removed, because some consider it racist. I disagree completely with that action. While I admit it was a horrible time in American History, statues such as these now serve as a reminder to Americans of the terrible things that we once did so that we will never forget them, and so that we can insure that we as a people never revert back to what we once were.
Due to this, I found the comic Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi to be very enjoyable and insightful. This comic depicts the real life events that Marjane experienced growing up in Iran during the Iraq and Iran War, having to adjust to the new radical thought of the regime and religion, her life in high school after leaving for Vienne until her return to her home town, until finally leaving and living in France. What I find most fascinating was that basically the people of Iran acted exactly like many other people, especially American ones. They enjoyed smoking, drinking, dancing and partying, listening to music, free speech for not just men, but women as well and so much more. But now, because of the change of power, they have lost all of their original rights and even had friends and family murdered by the government. As such, many , including Marjane, have grown to despise the current state caused by the Islamic Revolution.
With all of the past and recent events such as 9/11 or the Paris Bombing, people have grown to despise all of those from the Middle East or of at least of Middle Eastern descent. But as a work like Persepolis shows, not all Middle Eastern people are violent or agree with the actions and ideas of others. It reminds us that the true danger is not the people, but it is Radicalism and those who believe and practice it. Because of this I think more people should read Persepolis, mainly in part because to show not only are we much closer to the Iranian people than we thought, but it shows where the real root of our current problems lie.
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