One of the assignments in class needed us to focus on the stereotypes that we notice appearing in Spanish media about America and vice versa. I've been finding it difficult to find stereotypes of Spaniards in American media, but I feel like that is primarily because we put all Europeans in a bubble so it causes us to have very little stereotypes about the different countries that exist in Europe. However finding stereotypes in Spaniard media has been way easier for me to find. Since I am from New York City, the "capital of the world," I thought I should look for those stereotypes as I figured Spain would be riddled with them. I used the New York City episodes for Callejeros Viajeros & Españoles en el Mundo and although there are a lot of things that came up that are typical of New Yorkers, there were some stereotypes I saw shown that annoyed me.
The one thing that I noticed was that each episode only focused on Manhattan. Yes, I get that Manhattan is one of the better known districts however it is NOT what makes up New York City and is not a great example of what life is like in the rest of the boroughs. Both shows painted NYC with a picture of famous people being everywhere, prices being ridiculously high, grand homes and beautiful city views which could only be applied to about 20% of the people who actually live in the city. If the show took a peek at other boroughs they would be able to see that life isn't that lavish in NYC and some people actually do live in similar situations as other Spaniards. Callejeros Viajeros also made it seem as though Manhattan was divided into "zones" where people from different backgrounds live. Yes, there is Little Italy, Spanish Harlem and Chinatown, where the area is dominated by the specific ethnicity, however there are also many areas where all these different cultures mix and live together. I also noticed that the shows loved to exhibit the "crazies" of NYC and made it seem as though they are all over the city. I can't deny that there are a couple of characters in the subways and streets but one scene of crazy people would have sufficed. I didn't need to see one in each segment of the show.
Another huge stereotype I didn't agree with was claiming that NYC is this ridiculously expensive place. Españoles en el Mundo compared prices of things in NYC with the equivalent price it would be in Euros and although they did show expensive things, it doesn't factor in the exchange rate in which case some of the prices in Spain are actually way more expensive. Also they showed some higher-end prices in NYC, and I could personally tell you there are many restaurants and stores that have better prices than the stores they showed. I also found it funny that they tried to compare "Menu del dia" prices when that isn't a regular custom in NYC, so of course it would seem more expensive.
The funniest stereotypes I saw however were the Chinese and Black stereotypes. Granted stereotypes are NOT funny and I am against them, but I found it ridiculous how some of them were shown. The Chinese stereotype that made me laugh was when a Spaniard told the hosts that you could eat everything in a Chinese restaurant, even dogs. This made me laugh because it is a long-running joke to say that Chinese restaurants serve cats & dogs, but it isn't true. However the show made it seem as though it was a fact. Also all the time they depicted black people on the shows, they were either dancing around or acting like fools, painting them in a stereotypical image of being loud and obnoxious and not really bothering to show them in any other way.
I could only hope that some of the stereotypes on this show aren't taken in by Spaniards to make them think it is true. That would be disappointing because I feel like it causes them to look for that when they visit NYC. I really want to find Spanish stereotypes in American media now to see if I've encountered any of them while I have been around or to shed light on where those stereotypes have come from.
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