Everytime we turn on the television, a mention of race is deeply imbedded usingsubliminal messages. In this analysis paper I am going to discuss, different imagesfrom the media and analyze them. I am mainly going to be focusing on”controlling images” and “racial ideology(ies).
” The book Race& Racism A Critical Approach by Golash- Boza defines controlling images as raced,gendered, and classed depictions in the media that shape people’s ideas of whatAfrican Americans are and are not. The book Race & Racism A CriticalApproach by Golash- Boza also, defines racial ideology as a set of principlesand ideas that (1) divides people into racial groups and (2) serves theinterests of one group. I will be discussing three different racialstereotypical advertisements that I came across that stood out to me the most.The first advertisement that I am going to advertise is the Vogue magazine thathas Lebron James and a Caucasian model on the cover compared to the King Kongadvertisement that has already been around for decades published.
Secondly, Iam going to delve into the Dove commercial where the Black girl takes off hershirt and turns into a Caucasian women. Lastly, I am going to evaluate the advertisement that dealt with anAfrican American and a Caucasian man in London that was advertising for areal-estate company that was blatantly disrespectful to African Americans. “Colorblind ideology can be applied can be applied to almost any arena of society,from mass incarceration to the educational gap between blacks and whites andeven to acts such as the killing of Trayvon Martin.” Race & Racism ACritical Approach by Golash- Boza gives a great example of racial ideology thatis present and current to today involving color blind ideology. Iwant to, first, discuss the Lebron James Vogue cover. This is verydisrespectful. The model even has the same outfit on as the Caucasian women onthe other cover.
Lebron is perpetuating a stereotype that black men are wildsavages like in Zootopia. It is in there DNA like the predators. The whitewomen is like the bunny. This ‘King Kong capturing the damsel in distress’..
.is offensive. This advertisement is a prime example controlling images paintingLebron James to be a salvage or an animal at its finest. Dove,posted a three-second video clip over the weekend of images of a black womanremoving a brown shirt, then below a white woman removing a white shirt.
A”dirty” black person cleansed into whiteness. This is an example of both racialideology and controlling images because it shaping the audience view to thinkfrom the perspective of the black race being un pure or dirty and the whiterace being pure and clean. Racial ideology plays a big part in thisadvertisement as because it is geared towards the interest of the white racebeing the most purest and cleanest. Theadvert by the Notting Hill-based firm Strutt and Parker was displayed in inLondon’s underground.
The poster features a black male stood next to the slogan”Some Notting Hill folk were born to dance” alongside a smartlydressed white man dressed in a suit with the caption “Others to sellflats”. This advertisement refers to both racial ideology and controllingimages. Controlling images that African Americans are great at accomplishingone aspect, which is entertaining while White men are much successful. Racialideology because this is geared towards one race being superior over the other.
In,conclusion all of these advertisements are very much offensive. As defined”controlling images” and “racial ideology(ies)” are expressed in each one ofthese three advertisements that I discussed. The Lebron James advertisement Lebronis perpetuating a stereotype (that of the brutal, wild savage) that helpedenslave, lynch, and murder hundreds of thousands of our black men forcenturies. In the Dove advertisement, it evoked a long-running racist trope insoap advertising: a “dirty” black person cleansed into whiteness.
Finally, inthe last advertisement displaying a clear racial divide in the affluent area ofWest London of the Caucasian and African American man. Racism and stereotypesare still persistent in this day in age and do not show any signs of lettingup. That is why it is important to stay educated and to know your history so wecan try not to repeat the same mistakes. Every person on the advertisement teamshould have thought about the impact before sending these images out to theworld.
