Dangerous Minds
Films and media use significantly influence people’s perception of the world. Every media has a social, political, aesthetic, and economic goal. People in the US and the entire world are in one way or another influenced by the media they consume. Its effects are intense with the enhancement in technology as most people use some form of media in their daily lives. What they see affects their public ideology, cultural beliefs, assumptions concerning a particular culture, and even an individual’s experience. The film, Dangerous Minds is one of the films that has influenced the culture of minority groups in the US. Therefore, this paper focuses on how the movie, Dangerous minds, influenced the culture of the minority population, such as African Americans.
Dangerous Mind is a movie about a teacher (LouAnne Johnson) who Helped her students to better their academic performances. The teacher got hired in a school where the majority of students were Latino and African American teenagers. The students were from minority groups in the United States, and they were from the part of the country where people were racially segregated, poverty-stricken, and economically disadvantaged (Don and Bruckheimer). The next day after being hired, Miss. LouAnne Johnson is confronted with a class of hostile and dough students from low-income families, involved in drug pushing, gang warfare, and refusing to participate in class. Due to Miss. LouAnn’s race and lack of authority, the students immediately create a nickname (White Bread) for her. LouAnn responded to the unruly behavior of her students by coming to school the next day in a leather jacket and couching them on Karate. The unruly students show some interest in Karate but are not interested in learning the curriculum. Desperate to teach the students, Miss. LouAnn developed ways that are pleasing to the students. She used pleasing language and themes to teach a similar concept in the curriculum (Don and Bruckheimer). From the initial year, Miss. LouAnn motivated her students by giving them all grades A. she encouraged the students to maintain that grade in upcoming years. Through her teaching style and motivations, students developed more interest in learning and changed their unruly behaviors.
The film created several stereotypes concerning the minority groups in the US affecting their cultures. First, the movie portrayed the minority groups to be drug addicts. Young students in the movie were exposed to drugs at a younger age. The students are described as drug-pushing and gang warfare. It shows that the minority groups always indulge in illegal activities at a tender age destroying their education life and their future (Don and Bruckheimer). Due to the use of drugs by the students, their behaviors became unbearable, making every teacher brought to couch them leave after a few weeks. That is seen in the scene where other teachers expected Miss. LouAnn to leave like other teachers. However, Miss. LouAnn devised ways that were favorable to the students making them enjoy learning and correct their behaviors. The use of the Black American to portray unruly students negatively affected their culture. It changed how the whites were seeing their culture. It also reduced the respect the whited had on the Blacks culture.
Similarly, the roles played by a different character in the movie were also symbolic, affecting various cultures differently. The Whites in the movie were given roles such as teachers and heads of school. The roles given to the whites in the movie portrayed their superior nature over the Blacks and other cultures. The whites and their culture were perceived to be better than those of other groups such as Latino and Blacks. In the movie, the whites were portrayed as the only race and culture which can teach and perform white color jobs (Don and Bruckheimer). On the other hand, the Blacks and other minority groups were given minor roles portraying how they were inferior and could not handle themselves. The role given to the minor groups negatively affected their race and culture. The role given to different characters in a movie may influence the perception of people concerning that race. The movie Dangerous Minds negatively affected the culture of Black Americans due to the roles given to the people of color.
Additionally, the film significantly promoted discrimination through race and gender. Researches have shown that media can shape the behaviors of people watching them (Happer and Philo, 325). The movie will create a mindset in children that the blacks have bad qualities and characters, making them discriminate against the blacks from a tender age. The white children, therefore, will grow up knowing that they are more superior to the blacks. Therefore, the children will grow up with a discriminatory attitude concerning a particular group of people. The study by Happer and Philo (p321) also stated that media affects individuals’ beliefs, validating some courses of action while inflicting stereotypes into individuals’ minds. Therefore, exposure of the movie to children may enhance discrimination and racisms. During their development, children always copy what they see others do. Thus, they will undoubtedly copy what they see happening in the films they watch.
Despite several negative impacts portrayed by the film, Dangerous Minds concerning the cultures of the minority populations in the US, the movie still has a positive effect on culture and race. For example, the students accepted to be taught by Miss. Louann, a white teacher. They even started enjoying learning and corrected their behaviors due to the teaching techniques employed by Miss. LouAnn. That shows that even unruly children can change their behavior to become better people. It also encourages equality among all human kinds. It proves that is no human or race that is superior to the other. Also, Miss. Louann accepted to teach the unruly students from the low-income working class (Don and Bruckheimer). It shows unity and how people can minimize discrimination and bias in schools. Therefore, the movie promotes equality and unity to some extent. That is the main reason why the whites enjoyed the movie so much.
In a nutshell, media greatly influence the daily lives of individuals. It affects people’s understanding and perception with constant messages affecting their values and belief system. For example, the movie, Dangerous minds portray a strong message about culture and racism. However, the whites were appealed to by the movie because it portrays them to be respected and more superior than other groups. As a result, the whites were given roles in the movie that portrays their superiority over the blacks. They took the roles of teachers and heads of the school. Therefore, film negatively impacts the culture of the African American community and other minority groups due to how they were portrayed in the film.
Works Cited
Happer, Catherine, and Greg Philo. “The role of the media in the construction of public belief and social change.” Journal of social and political psychology 1.1 (2013): 321-336.
Simpson, Don, and Jerry Bruckheimer. Dangerous Minds. 1995, https://w.123-movies.club/dangerous-minds-1995/. Accessed 9 May 2021.
