Stereotypes

One way to define racial stereotypes is as the ascription of a limited set of social behaviors to a limited set of physical characteristics. The result obscures individual differences and often denigrates a particular group of people. One example is the stereotype that "they all look alike." J-A, commenting on an episode of Without a Trace, muses:

It was a much more thorough presentation than the 007 film set in North Korea where the extras were all talking in Chinese, which to me implied that from a non-Asian point of view, Asians all sound the same and it doesn't matter that there are all these different countries and cultures in that region.

On blackprof.com, Paul Butler cites examples of the phenomenon in reverse. He describes television portrayals of African Americans in embarrassing conflicts portrayed for entertainment value in a two-part post (part 1 and part 2). What cultural assumptions make the conflict between a black quarterback and a black receiver fodder for television drama? What cultural assumptions induce an African American talk show host to broadcast a show about an African American woman and her gay African American husband? Professor Butler's point seems to be that cultural stereotypes define these individuals for the mass media, blurring their individuality and reinforcing the stereotypes.