The two shorts, The Black Hand and The Skyscrapers of New York present a large amount of subtle and not so subtle stereotypes used as signals to the viewers of that time. Be it a name or a scenic object, they all had the double effect of
EXPLOITING and REINFORCING STEREOTYPES.
EXPLOITING and REINFORCING STEREOTYPES.
In light of this observation, who is willing to review and come to different conclusions about the New Yorker's cartoon on Amazon?
Does it really come as a surprise that the most enraged about it were Italian American readers of the magazine?
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Yes, It does still come a surprise that the most enrages about it were Italians American readers of the magazine. I say this because if this was published in the New York Times this means it was pretty recent like within the last 5 years or so. We are living in the 21 st century where we all suppose to accept and not judge by the stereotypes. We all supposed to be treated equally and with just. The New York Times being one of the most popular newspaper should indulge with this type of negativity or bashing of one ethnicity. That cartoon was offending and I stand by that.
ReplyDeleteI totally believe in what you are saying, it is unjust and the cartoon was offensive. Although I am confused as to why you mention New York Times? Is it related to the New Yorker? Are they not separate magazines?
DeleteI cannot come to a different conclusion about New Yorker's cartoon. I do agree that stereotypes are often reinforced, but that does not make it okay, nor does it make it tolerable. Of course it does not come as a surprise that the most people who were angered at the cartoon were Italian Americans, in fact, I wouldn't be surprised of anyone was enraged at that cartoon. Whether you are Italian American or not, it is still disrespectful, and tacky to put that in a magazine. They could have done better.
ReplyDeleteVery true, any other race would of done the same.
DeleteI too think it was very disrespectful and I think it made the magazine look like racists. They should have definitely picked a different way to approach the situation.
DeleteI would assume Italians would have a different conclusion about the cartoon on Amazon. Sure if it were Americans, Americans would come out and respond as well.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't come to surprise if Italian readers are the ones that were enraged. It's about them and they want to defend themselves. Who wouldn't?
As we learned, wanting to defend yourself and others you associate with puts you into a "tribe". I agree with your statement that it comes to no surprise Italian readers are the ones enraged.
DeleteIndividuals who are falsely accused of course do want to defend themselves and the people they are close to. As well as any other tribe, Italian Americans all consider themselves family and stick together.
DeleteItalians like any other ethnicity do not want a bad reputation. They have a right to get defensive and stick up for themselves. The media should focus on good characteristics of different ethnic groups, not stereotypes.
DeleteI would like to stay true to my conclusion that the cartoon is offensive to Italian Americans. It is no surprise that the ones most enraged by the cartoon are Italian Americans as they are being generalized. If anything the films reinforced that these stereotypes existed then and still exist to this day.
ReplyDeleteIn these cases they try to pacify the readers, or the people that has taken offense by claiming it was "taken out of context." "The cartoon was meant to be funny" is another one you'll hear from the people standing behind the prejudices of society.
DeleteIt does not surprise me that Italian Americans were the ones more mad about the cartoon. I believe that if the cartoon was about another race or nationality, they too would be angry about the cartoon. I feel like it's a natural instinct to get defensive when a stranger offends your nationality.
ReplyDeleteThere is that tribe instinct coming into play. Do you think that the cartoon, while being racist and stereotypical, achieved its goal? Personally I think the article while a failure morally and socially probably got many people talking and brought a lot of attention to The New Yorker and the issue of Amazon vs Hatchette. Amazon's beginnings were similar to that of Italian immigrants. Like the political cartoon we viewed, nobody believed in Amazon when it was started. Now people are calling them "mobsters" for achieving their own kind of success. As a simile the cartoon functions. "Amazon has had an experience like Italian american Immigrants".
DeleteWhere I had initially placed myself, on-the-fence, I will now be siding fully with, "yes it's an offensive cartoon". Italian American deserve the abandonment of this conceptualization of their people. It's clearly a format placed upon them, against their will, by bigoted and racist ideology. The continuation of the imagery will only continue the argument and racist stereotypical generalizations. The New Yorker needs to get with the times and totally blew it.
ReplyDeleteI can't. The cartoon was intended to be offensive and was outright disrespectful to Italian Americans. I could understand if it was a subtle jab for comic relief, but I guess it all boils down to your level of sensitivity, because it can be taken as the cartoon not depicting Italians.
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm not at all surprised because it seemed obvious that the cartoon on Amazon were targeting Italian Americans. Even if I'm not from that lifestyle or culture, if I can grab some sort of correlation between an experience I had and an outside source of misconduct, then I also have a right to empathize with those remarks. The keyword is tasteful and they showed none.
The New York cartoons discriminated against the Italian culture. It is completely obvious as to why the Italian Americans were s frustrated and felt betrayed after seeing these cartoons. The Black Hand was mainly focused on the mafia and really showed how harsh and careless Italians can be. Many of these Italian stereotypes still exist today in 2016.
ReplyDeleteIt does not come to a surprise that Italian Americans were offended by this cartoon. Being an Italian American, I am very quick to defend my "tribe" whenever it is being targeted. I can't speak for all Italian Americans, but my family has a lot of pride with where they came from. They do not want others to look down on them or judge them in any way. Italians want to be known and respected for the good they do and not the bad that some people do.
ReplyDelete