Spike Lee is widely known for his important messages on often overlooked topics such as racial inequality and sexism. In many of his films, Lee sets up very obvious but realistic scenarios that depict these kinds of acts in his attempt to make viewers aware of their existence. If people are not informed about the cruel events happening in society, nothing will be done to change them. Often, Spike used extreme stereotypes to make his points as clear, obvious, and direct as possible. His use of stereotypes in films like School Daze, Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever and Bamboozled particularly highlights how people of different races and groups have interacted with each other throughout history and how the same stereotypes that existed in the 80s are still present in today's society. The two main stereotypes that Lee implements in these films are those of people of color and women. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay One of Spike Lee's first films, released in 1988, was School Daze. This movie focused a lot on Greek life in college, like sororities and fraternities. The majority of students seen participating in Greek life were either lighter-skinned people of color or people who tended to ignore the fact that they were people of color. These students, particularly Dean Big Brother Almighty and his sexual interest Jane Toussaint, were unaware of their racial backgrounds and tried very hard to identify as something they were not. In School Daze Lee uses "wannabes" and "jigaboos" to show how lighter-skinned and darker-skinned women of color acted differently toward each other and in their own personal lives. Jane and her sorority sisters, for example, were known for using chemicals and numerous styling products on their hair so that it was less frizzy and resembled the hair of a person who was not of color. The lighter-skinned women in this film felt they had more prestige because they looked more “white” while still being able to identify as women of color. On the other hand, the darker skinned women of color in this film were very proud of their natural hair and darker skin and tried very hard to prove that having darker skin did not make them less than people with lighter skin. The personalities of the characters in this film are very dramatized. There's an entire music scene in which "wannabes" and "jigaboos" compete over who's better. This kind of thing doesn't happen in real life, but Lee chooses to make this scene so crude and obvious because it brings out the racism even more. The types of hateful remarks that were exchanged in this film between lighter and darker skinned people are still used today, which is why viewers can still understand and empathize with what Lee is trying to raise awareness about near 30 years later. If he hadn't used such obvious and strong stereotypes, these messages wouldn't be as clear. Unlike the bickering we see between people of color in Lee's School Daze, his 1989 film Do the Right Thing focuses more on Italian-American stereotypes. Many times, Italian-American characters like Pino express racismtotal hatred towards people of color, regardless of the fact that he works in a neighborhood predominantly inhabited by people of color, which means that's where most of his pizza business comes from. . Likewise, his father and boss Sal, owner of Sal's Pizzeria, does not show much appreciation for the community of color. He is not as racist as his son, as he has served many of his customers of color since they were children and learned to accept them regardless of their skin color. However, what is very stereotypical about this Italian-American is that he has a "Wall of Fame" filled with admirable people, all of whom are also Italian-American. When a person of color confronts Sal about this, Sal says he refuses to post photos of anyone else. He is proud of his Italian-American heritage and only wants to admire the great people who also identify as Italian-American. It is this blatant disregard for its customers and this selfish attitude of Italian pride that makes this message of racism so stereotypical and clear to viewers. If Sal had accepted the offer and posted pictures of people of color, the message Lee was trying to convey would not have been as clear. Similar to Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee's 1991 film Jungle Fever focused heavily on Italian-American stereotypes. One of the main stereotypes is the closeness to the main Italian-American family in this film. Angie, her two brothers and her father sit and eat together every night. All of these children live with the father until he discovers that Angie is in a relationship with a person of color. Due to the stereotype that Italian Americans do not get along well with people of color, his father becomes furious when he hears this news. He beats Angie, forcing her brothers to get involved and break things off, then he kicks her out of the house. She is only welcomed towards the end of the film, when Angie leaves the interracial relationship. This type of stereotyping is shown to the extreme in this film to show the deep racism that exists between Italian Americans and people of color both in the time this film was made and in today's society. Bamboozled is the most extreme stereotype. of the entire African race among all of Spike Lee's films due to its completely satirical plot focused on the humiliation of people of color. In this film, a person of color, named Pierre, attempts to achieve overtly racist cinematography to expose the idea of ​​racism in society to his viewers - much like Spike Lee does in all of his films. Characters of color apply “blackface” to make themselves even darker and draw huge red lips. They perform stereotypical slave-like skits and are often scolded by the Caucasian master. Despite the evidence of these stereotypes, Pierre's boss, who is not of color among the show's viewers, does not seem to understand this satirical piece. They find racism really funny, which defeats the purpose of its existence. It's at this point that Bamboozled viewers realize just how much racism there is in society for something so clearly stereotypical and brutal to be found amusing. Another stereotype seen in many Spike Lee films is based on the relationship between men and women. Often, female characters in his films are portrayed as inferior to their male counterparts. In School Daze, Jane Toussaint spends much of her time trying to please her sexual partner, Julian (Dean Big Brother Almighty). Plus, Rachel feels like she's being used by her boyfriend Dap justso he can say he's in a relationship with a dark-skinned woman of color to help him get moving. In both of these cases, the females are very stereotypical in that Spike Lee makes them extremely submissive and seem less dignified than the males. Lee deliberately creates these characters like this to show that besides racism, sexism and the humiliation of women, this is another major issue that needed to be addressed in the 80s and still needs to be addressed. be today. In Do the Right Thing, female characters tend to be discussed. staying in their homes and not interacting with men very often. Spike Lee creates characters like Mother Sister, for example, who is almost exclusively seen sitting in her house, on the windowsill or on the stairs leading to her house. She never really escapes this framework, creating a sort of invisible boundary between herself as a woman and the rest of the world. Lee also briefly incorporates Tina, Mookie's girlfriend and mother of his child, who is also only seen isolated in her home as she struggles to raise their child. With these women being so confined throughout the film, it seems like the only good place for a woman is at home, which is a very strong stereotype of the female gender. Once again, Spike Lee makes this very simple point to make his message about sexism more obvious to viewers. Jungle Fever presents perhaps the most obvious case of sexism in Spike Lee's films. The female character Angie Tucci is explained that her place as a woman in her household is only to cook and clean. It used to be her mother's duty, according to her father and brothers, but since her passing, it's now Angie's job. She is told that these are her duties simply because she is the only woman and for no other reason. Her brothers and father rarely help her and they do not seem to think that she is obligated to do these things as they demonstrate little to no appreciation for her hard work. This stereotype becomes personal for viewers as the woman here is directly abused by her immediate family members. Through the storyline Lee sets up, viewers are able to visualize what their own families and households would look like if this type of racism were occurring in their own lives. This is a very simple and effective way for Spike Lee to use stereotypes about women to get this message across to his audience. A more subtle, but still stereotypical, example of sexism towards women can be seen in Spike Lee's Bamboozled. Throughout this film, one of the only women he encounters is Pierre's assistant, Sloan. Despite being one of the main characters in this film, no one ever listens to what she has to say, making it seem like women just shouldn't be heard. She constantly has opinions that she wants to share, but she feels like it's not her place to express herself. Another way she is treated poorly because of her gender is when others assume she got her job because she had sex with Pierre, rather than because she deserved it. She is seen as a sex object who could never fit into the position she currently holds, based solely on her own skills and experiences. Being unable to speak and being treated as a sexualized object are two stereotypes that women still face today and which Spike Lee was able to raise awareness of through this film. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.Get a Custom EssayWomen of color in these four films explain how..