Media Representation (B.E.26)

 4. The wealthy are presented as aspirational, the middle-class perspective is considered universal, and the working class is often considered a 'social problem' in the media. Media representations of ethnic minority groups is often associated with racist stereotypes and minorities are portrayed as threats. 

 

In my opinion the meaning of the quote is the following. I think the quote refers to the stereotypes that are created that can be racist or just something that people generalize about people or a group of people. I think it creates judgment of the wealthy being like a philanthropist and the ones below are less which is an issue. An Example of this is in the little mermaid. Ariel and her dad are depicted as saints and are very wealthy. While the class below them are supposed to help and are not putt in a negative but are for sure not in a positive light. I don’t think one can say that media socially represents each group properly in this case it doesn't because one might consider the wealthy to be Snooty or rude and the working class to be positive. I think it's subjective to each concept and it's not very consistent and the stereotypes are fueled by people playing into them and creating a sense of consistency with it. 

 

5. people with disabilities are often portrayed as objects of pity, seen as unable to participate fully in social life and in constant need of help or assistance. 

I think that this quote is very straightforward in the sense of what it describes. It describes as disabled people to be less of actual people. It could be taken that disabled people are laughed upon or in some cases are given an aggressive amount of pity. In the movie wonder we see a kid who is heavily worked on surgically due to a disability. We see the child treated differently and called the freak in a monster because the way he looks. On the other hand there is those who give him a lot of pity because of this. I don't think media in specially in this case represents society accurate because while there is some who get a lot of pity there's some people who are disabled who let's it empower them and becomes even more confident within themselves. And although they cannot live the typical standard normal life one cannot say that the quality of life will be lowered if the individual who is disabled is trying. So one can argue that if a disabled individual puts the effort and wants to have a better life to try to make their life better that it might not be normal compared to 1 but it will be there normal and there's still a possibility for them to be happy they just have to figure out how.