Prof. Jerry Krase expresses his disappointment with Steven Spielberg, who has previously shown disdain for others bigotry, and is now engaging in bigotry.

Krase fears the Negative Effect on Italian Kids of Skark Tale, supported by common sense and mountains of scientific evidence.

PRNewswire
Yahoo.com
Monday September 27,2004
New York,NY
 

I have not seen Shark Tale yet but I have read Dreamworks' "Shark Tale Movie Novel" published by Scholastic Inc. as well as uncomfortably viewing numerous television commercials and print advertisements promoting it as a "family comedy."

The fact that such children's fare is being distributed by produced by DreamWorks SKG and DreamWorks Animation, which is led by Steven Spielberg is difficult to understand. The least one can expect from a media industry giant such as Dream Works, and especially Steven Spielberg, whose powerful "Schindler's List" brought the reality of anti-Semitism home to a new generation, is respect for American diversity.

In their defense, those who created and "starred" in the animation claim that using negative stereotypes of Italian and African Americans is harmless child's play. To excuse bigotry as entertainment is not merely disingenuous but frightening. The idea that ethnic, racial, and gender stereotyping in children's media is of little consequence is contradicted not only by common sense but mountains of scientific evidence.

There is a long record of published research on the negative effects of negative stereotyping on children whose groups are stereotyped. From the classic studies on African American children of Kenneth Clark, which moved a nation toward equity in education, to more recent studies of young girls, the disabled, and new immigrant groups, there is a consistent finding that negative stereotyping in media for youngsters is harmful both immediately and in the future.

A simple search will find that "A study of Asian-American schoolchildren has found that negative stereotypes can diminish a child's academic performance.

On the other hand, positive stereotypes may spur better performance," was published in the journal Psychological Science. What is probably the leader in efforts to correcting and preventing bias, the Anti Defamation League, on their website argues that: "If young children are repeatedly exposed to biased representations through words and pictures, there is a danger that such distortions will become a part of their thinking, especially if reinforced by societal biases."

As an academic I am not one to propose censorship of this film but this kind of insensitive and discriminatory activity reveals a major weakness in our open and multicultural society.

Portrayals of this sort to children have lasting effects and form the basis for future discrimination. In a democratic society we rely on the honesty and goodwill of leaders in the media to choose well and to use caution especially when dealing with children.

Although to an adult such characterizations might indeed be humorous and ultimately harmless, for our children they could be devastating, especially when not corrected in early childhood and grade school curricula.

Educators of all stripes should make their voices heard in this debate so that we can sensitize media creators and producers to the harm as well as the good they can perform.

Shark Tale could be told and be even more amusing without the ethnic reference. Children might even learn about the varying behaviors of different species of fish rather than the stereotypical behavior of ethnic groups.

Most of us are appalled at how Jews are depicted early in the education of Middle Eastern children.

In the United States, Arab Americans have been added to the list of common negative African American, Asian and Latino stereotypes.

Continuing the media tradition of Italian American mafia stereotypes is not a palliative for these biases. Fables, cartoons, and a fairy Tale like this one can and should be de-ethnicized.

Also, being sensitive to the complaints of a long list of others does not excuse one from even playfully portraying Italian Americans to young people even as redeemable vicious criminal monsters.

Having spent most of my professional life working on issues of equity in our diverse communities, I am neither surprised nor amused at the allegedly comic portrayal in a highly promoted children's animated film of damaging ethnic characters.

I would think that community leaders, as well as social scientists and educators would join me in calling for a greater awareness of troubling biases reflected in children's media and more responsible actions on the part of leaders in the industry.

Jerome Krase currently holds the titles of Murray Koppelman Professor, and Professor Emeritus, at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. After an interruption for military service (1963-66) he received a Baccalaureate of Arts in Sociology at Indiana University (1967). His New York University doctoral dissertation "The Presentation of Community in Urban Society" (1973) dealt with the problems and prospects of maintaining the viability of minority and racially integrated urban neighborhoods. Subsequently he worked as an activist-scholar in the field of community organizations, publishing articles and presenting papers while deeply involved in the neighborhood organization movements. He has served as a consultant to public and private agencies regarding inter-group relations and other urban community issues....Representative published works include Self and Community in the City (1982), Ethnicity and Machine Politics (1992) with Charles LaCerra, and with Judith N. DeSena, Italian Americans in a Multicultural Society (1994), and the forthcoming Ethnic Communities in New York City with Ray Hutchinson...He is an active member in the American Sociological Association, American Italian Historical Association, the International Visual Sociology Association, and the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America.

Contact:     Jerome Krase, Professor Emeritus, Department of Sociology
Brooklyn College The City University of New York
Tel. (718) 499-7117
E-mail: jerrykrase@aol.com

Statement on Shark Tale by Jerome Krase, Ph.D. Professor of Sociology, Emeritus
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