Different Representations of Enthnicity

Exotic - Shah's of Sunset

 Shah's of Sunset is an American reality television show following the lives of a group of friends as they live in Beverly Hills. The cast of friends are all Iranian American and the show follows the friends as they try to balance socialising, breakout careers but also the ties to their families and traditions. The show has been criticized for the way the cast is represented as materialistic and vapid, however all of the cast are shown as proud of their heritage. The show does bring together a clash of different civilisations, showing the difference/similarities between Western and Middle Eastern civilisations. Reza (middle male) is openly gay and joined the show to show a positive message as suicide rate in teenagers was rising, by having an openly gay cast member of the Persian/Iranian heritage it conflicts with the traditional values of the country/civilisation.

Dangerous - O'ren Ishii (Kill Bill)

Kill Bill has become a cult classic in cinema, Quentin Tarantino created the notorious action/thriller created a line of characters, each as deadly as the last. In Kill Bill Vol. 1 you are introduced to O'ren Ishii, the deadly assassin is of Chinese-Japanese-American heritage and is the leader of the largest crime organisation in Tokyo. The film represents Asian people in a negative way as a lot of the asian characters are antagonists with stereotypical qualities - like being experts in karate. The predominant negative representation creates the impression that people of the Chinese/Japanese decent are crime lords and are incredibly dangerous/deadly. The film tells the story of the ultimate revenge, with characters like O'ren as a deadly reminder of the past. O'ren is the leader of the Crazy 88 and her bodyguard Gogo Yubari who again are all of Asian decent and all pose a threat for Beatrix (Uma Thurman). O'ren is played by American actress Lucy Liu. 

Pitted - Real Housewives of Atlanta

 The Real Housewives shows have turned into a multi million dollar franchise, with shows featured in 7 states as well as international spin offs. The Atlanta edition of the show features all of the women being of African-American heritage, with the only white cast member Kim Zolciak leaving half way through season 5. The show has created a negative impression of African-American women as the show heavily focusses on the on screen drama and cat fights between the women and husbands. As it is a reality TV show, all of the women are real however some of the scenes are edited to be constructed in a certain way, only the most dramatic and entertaining scenes make the final cut. The females on the show are criticised for being bitchy, spoilt and backstabbers - they have also been criticised for playing up to the 'ghetto' stereotype. On the other hand the show has created a seemingly ignored positive representation for the women as all of the women are at a high level of success (some earned more than others) but all the women are also proud of their heritage.  

Humorous - The Mindy Project 

The Mindy Project is an American sitcom created by Mindy Kaling, the show focusses around a group of doctors trying to balance their personal lives with their professional lives - with the main protagonist Mindy basing her life around romantic comedies. The show features a range of diverse ethnicities each represented positively, the main protagonist Mindy is an established, successful OB/GYN which is an incredibly positive representation for the Indian heritage, as Mindy is put in a high and well respected job as well as being driven for success. The receptionist Shauna is hispanic and offered Mindy relationship advice as well as being an independent and driven character - being a positive representation for the Hispanic ethnicity. The male doctor Jeremy is white British and generally lacks in common sense which could be a negative representation of British people, however his job contrasts with this. The show has been praised for its portrayal of different ethnicities as opposed to stereotyping certain characters based on their ethnicity. 

Sexualised - Rihanna - Pour It Up 

 Rihanna has undoubtedly become one of the biggest artists on the planet with a songbook of number one hits from 'Umbrella' to 'S&M', her mark on the pop industry is a force to be reckoned with. The controversial music video for 'Pour it Up' featured Rihanna on a throne whilst she was surrounded by videos of pole dancers and people twerking. Rihanna heavily uses sex to sell her music as a vast majority of her videos feature the artist dancing provocatively, dressed suggestively (if wearing anything) and singing lyrics with sexually aggressive meanings. She is originally from Barbados and creates a negative representation for Barbados and women as she uses her body in order to market herself, it also creates the impression that Barbados perhaps has an apt for creating people with low morals, or sex driven women. On the other hand Rihanna has become a global icon and is again proud of her routes therefore a positive representation is viewed as Rihanna is a massively successful person and is driven to succeed - qualities which a good role model has.