Topic Two! - Perpetuation of Stereotypes in film and beyond

In researching articles about Latino/Hispanic stereotypes I came across this very interesting article titled "Recent Latino Stereotypes in Children's Animation: Happy Feet and Beyond" by Kristy Acevedo, on Associated Content. The article can be found here. The article speaks of movies and shows that have tried to incorporate these cultures into mainstream media but have have succeeded in perpetuating some common stereotypes. One example of this comes from Dora the Explorer, in which she commonly reprimands a recurring character for stealing, as if the target audience would be inclined to steal.

An example of this (a comical parody) common scene is here:


Even the way characters are represented physically in these cartoons can be questionable. Here are some excerpts from the creators of Dora:

And when it came to sketching the way Dora looked, the creative team made sure she wasn't stereotypically Latina.

"Short hair," (Producer Chris) Gifford says. "Not long, flowing hair. A little more tomboyish; a girl who was more interested in adventure and exploring than someone who thought a lot about what she looked like."

When Dora was presented to Nickelodeon's consumer-products group, Gifford says, the marketers were skeptical at first.
"There was a big concern about [the character] not being a good consumer-product property," he says.


Movies such as Happy Feet also seem to utilize the "Mexican stereotype" by employing Robin Williams to play a penguin with a heavy and comical Mexican accent. This seemingly innocent movie finds itself grouping the "gangs" of the penguins together by ethnicity. The article questions whether or not such an influence on children will teach them that segregation is natural and appropriate, or quite literally "birds of a feather flock together".

Is this commonly occurring stereotype in film and cartoons perpetuating these ideas or are they simply trying to be honest to demographics and trying to show differences in cultures and society? Are these characters (whether intentional or not) okaying segregation or are they trying to educate children about cultures different to theirs that they may not experience in everyday life?