Stereotypes on Hotel Babylon

Stereotypes on Hotel Babylon

Task 1

Stereotypes are not always negative

This is the case in Hotel Babylon as there are some positive stereotypes. One being the blonde white woman at reception, she is portrayed to be powerful and authoritative over the rest of the ethnicities in the hotel. The Asian woman is portrayed to be clever which is a typical positive Asian stereotype. She is portrayed to be clever through her ability to hide the immigrants successfully. However many of the stereotypes in the clip are negative. The Asian woman is shown to be submissive, the immigrants are shown to have very low payed medial jobs and the black man at the start is portrayed to be stupid. These are all negative stereotypes.

They are not always about minority groups or the less powerful

The white immigration officer is not part of a minority group but is portrayed to be evil, corrupt and racist, these are negative stereotypes. However most of the negative stereotypes in the clip are aimed at the minority groups and less powerful. 

They can be held about one's own group

Being a white person myself I didn't see any stereotypes that were accurate about white people in the clip. In modern times it doesn't matter what ethnicity you are you do not have the right to be authoratitive over other people purely because of the ethnicity they are. 

They are not rigid or unchanging

If you contrast Hotel Babylon with British TV from the past such as the programme Tin Tin it becomes clear that stereotypes are not always rigid or unchanging. The program Tin Tin had a very racist portrayal of Black people as it showed them to be monkeys and lazy. The more modern programme Hotel Babylon has a much less racist portrayal of Black people although it still does give a subtle image to the reader of black people being inferior to white people. Another example of stereotypes changing is the placement of a woman in charge of the hotel in Hotel Babylon. If this was shown on British TV 40 years ago it would of been seen as a disgrace as views on women back then were very mysoginistic and sexist.

They are not always false

Hotel Babylon contains a lot of stereotypes, many of which are untrue, however some could be seen as slightly realistic. There have been racially motivated crimes committed by police officers and government officials in the past which has given them a racist image amongst much of the public. This evil, racist image is portrayed in Hotel Babylon through the character of the main immigration officer.

Task 2

Explain how Festinger an be used to explain the popularity of programmes like Hotel Babylon or other similar TV dramas 

As a young person who has been brought up in a modern world with very little stereotyping in it compared to past times. I find the stereotypes in Hotel Babylon ridiculous and find myself resisting to agree with them due to my beliefs and attitudes. This is an example of Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance as i am resisting adjusting my attitudes when watching Hotel Babylon due to a lack of overwhelming evidence. The popularity of programmes such as Hotel Babylon, which convey a range of stereotypes, will mostly come from older generations who are seeking confirmation of their stereotypical beliefs. They have different attitudes to ethnicities than young people like me as they were brought up in a more racist and misogynistic world. This is why they enjoy Programmes such as Hotel Babylon more than me as it confirms their beliefs and attitudes. This is an example of Festingers theory of cognitive dissonance and how it explains the popularity of Programmes such as Hotel Babylon.