Question A- Bell Hook Response

            Bell Hooks video on cultural criticism and transformation discusses the interesting issue of white supremacy displayed in different forms of media.  I do agree with majority of Hooks assertions.   The media does have a powerful affect on its audiences, and can sometimes affect the opinions and actions of the population.  Hooks stated that we should strive to be an “enlightened witness”, meaning to be critically vigilant about the world we live in.  We should not just take everything we see or hear in movies, television or other media as fact; we should explore and make our own conclusions.  One example, Bell Hooks included, was the film “Smoke”, in which the director, Wayne Wang, chose to use a black actor as the thief.  When asked why he chose that actor, one of his responses was so that there would be a clear bad guy and good guy quality to the film.  This decision to cast that particular actor as the thief, in my opinion, was based on stereotypes, racism, and feelings of white supremacy.

            Due to the fact that movies, as well as other media sources, show majority of the “bad guys” an African Americans does emphasize these existing racial, and supremacy issues.  If mass audiences are viewing particular films, and television shows that all cast the bad guy as a black person, this causes certain effects, and assumptions to form in the minds of the viewers.  Even after someone is finished watching the show, those ideas stay with him or her throughout their day.   I have seen people get nervous, or uneasy when a young African American boy walks past them at night in the city.  Its terrible, however, the media is one of the sources of this judgment because this scene is often shown in movies ending with a shoot out or robbery.  The media is a strong form of persuasive propaganda, and can teach particular ideologies, whether on purpose or not.   Although, the director of “Smoke” claimed he only did it to clarify the good and bad characters, the decision essentially reinstates white supremacy, and certain stereotypes of African Americans.  Why couldn’t the good guy be black, and the bad be white?  

            Media functions perpetuate power and privilege by simply depicting certain ideologies through media outlets that portray who and what is to be considered more superior, and dominant.  Many people in our society are reliant on gaining information from the media, making it a very strong influencing tool.  Yet, most viewers do not ever stop and think whose behind the media messages that are being told to them.