Stereotypes you've hated

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salsagirl40

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Any toon stereotypes you've hated? Here's mine:

Fat people. People play off fat people as old, or dumb people, and that hurts for them.

Russians. People think of Russians as evil people, that villify America as evil, and people that call Russia the evil Empire

Scientists. Scientists get a bum rap, that everyone of them is supposed to talk with German accents.

Jocks and cheerleaders. Everyone thinks jock and cheerleaders were dumb. And that cheerleaders were blonde with pigtails.

Native Americans. Everyone that thinks all Indians talk like "How" "me want-um," and stuff like that.

So what's your views?
 
Are you a fat Russian cheerleader who used to work as a scientist on an Indian reservation? :p

Kidding aside, I've never found any particular stereotype in cartoons particularly offensive, even in, say, South Park. It's just a show.

edit: Oh man, I forgot about Da Boom Crew. That is one of the most offensive shows I've ever seen. Everyone was a stereotype and the whole thing was just extremely racist. I wouldn't have hated it as much if it hadn't bene TERRIBLE.
 
In most cartoons, people are drawn with outlines. I hate that stereotype - I've never met anybody in my life who had an outline.

And don't get me started on claymation. No-one's made of clay. Don't these animators realise that?
 
I never liked that cats were always protrayed as evil. Tom And Jerry for example, Jerry is suppose to be be the protagonist? I didn't see it that way, most of the time, it was Tom that was the victom, granted once and a while, he deserved some bad karma, but most of the time, it was that jerk mouse that caused trouble.

Itchy and Scratchy, got the parody right, Scratchy was always just minding his own business, when Itchy just wants to cause him pain for no good reason, and I thought Homer said it perfectly when he saw the Itchy and Scratchy movie, "He's a jerk". That is the way I feel about Jerry, he is a dam jerk. Credit to the Simpsons for doing a great take off of Tom and Jerry, and seeing things the way I see them.

While we are on the subject, Tweety is a brat as well.
 
I know it's ad nauseam, but there was one stereotype only in Hanna Barbera toons only that teed me off--circle mouths round the mouths of much of the male characters, it made them look ugly. Also, from both the HB and RS stables, a typical token male leader, ruling over the main character and stealing the spotlight, e.g., Fangface, Speed Buggy, Scooby, Josie, Jabberjaw, etc. That and the fact that most of the characters in most of their offerings were all teens.
 
Let's not forget gender stereotypes that classed "males dumb and bad, females smart and good." and Blondes good, brunettes bad. And most toons that had the following "ethnic token characters--Asians, fattys, handicappeds and blacks" stereo types. And the black females were typecast as "always right" characters.
 
Agreed one-hundred percent, I always found Tom much more sympathetic than Jerry, same thing with Tweety and Sylvester. I recall an old WB cartoon that has Sylvester dangling from the edge of a cliff (or possibly a roof..or something) while Tweety slowly does the "this little pig" children's verse using Sylvester's claws, causing the cat to loose his grip and fall down.

Now, I know that Sylvester is constantly trying to catch and eat Tweety and the little bird has to defend himself. That doesn't change the fact that what Tweety does comes of as pretty sadistic.

Hmm, maybe I'm taking old cartoons to seriously, but as a kid, I couldn't help but find that scene somewhat unpleasant. I wonder what my reaction would be if I watched it today.
 
I hate the nerdy stereotypes. For some reason, all brainy types in cartoons tend to have coke bottle glasses, pocket protectors, horrible faces/complexions, buck teeth or other major physical flaws, and Mandark-like voices. High intelligence is definitely a good thing to see in both reality in fiction, but it can be excuted without stooping to stereotypes. I think Sally Acorn from the Sonic the Hedgehog comic is a pretty good example of a smart character who doesn't act stereotypically.

Also, going to the other end of the spectrum, I really hate stupid characters. Most stupid characters in cartoons tend to be a.) clumsy and inept in everything they do, b.) so exaggeratedly stupid that it's ridiculous, c.) fat, or d.) all of the above. God forbid a cartoon should have a character that's just "stupid" in a Forrest Gump way.

Racial stereotypes get me as well. For some reason, almost every black cartoon character seems to like rap/hip-hop, talk in Ebonics, and oh yeah, have huge lips and cornrows or an Afro. The comic strip Curtis is at least tolerable in that the author is totally out of touch with urban lifestyle in a funny way, and he does these totally bizarre Kwanzaa story arcs. As for, say, Proud Family, dat be one maaaaaad case of stereotypin', I just ain't down wit dat 'toon, girlfrieeeeeen'.

One stereotype that's always rubbed me the wrong way is the "invulnerable, nice-guy superhero/superheroine". You know, the ones where someone in a cape inexplicably has the ability to see through walls, fly higher than any airplaine, bend steel with his bare hands, read his doctor's handwriting, bowl a 300 every game without even touching the ball, do a cryptic crossword in under a minute, walk on the surface of the Sun without getting burned to a crisp, and oh yeah, always get the bland love interest at the end of the day without so much as getting pit stains on their shirt. Actually, I hate bland love interests too, or any female that's just there for eye candy or for the cardboard cutout role of "damsel in distress #436,897,125". Heck with it, I just hate gender roles in general. Let's see an athletic female for a change, or heck, a smart, sarcastic female with a dry sense of humor.

Of course, stereotypes are almost always acceptable when they're spoofed by capable parodists. I still haven't seen all of it, but I liked what I saw of The Incredibles just because of how it skewered just about every aspect of superheroes.
 
Prof. Mecavio said:
Agreed one-hundred percent, I always found Tom much more sympathetic than Jerry, same thing with Tweety and Sylvester. I recall an old WB cartoon that has Sylvester dangling from the edge of a cliff (or possibly a roof..or something) while Tweety slowly does the "this little pig" children's verse using Sylvester's claws, causing the cat to loose his grip and fall down.

Now, I know that Sylvester is constantly trying to catch and eat Tweety and the little bird has to defend himself. That doesn't change the fact that what Tweety does comes of as pretty sadistic.

Hmm, maybe I'm taking old cartoons to seriously, but as a kid, I couldn't help but find that scene somewhat But then, put yourself in Syl's paws and you can't blame him for wanting to eat Tweety--he's famished, and if you had a bird--or for that matter, a mouse, a dog, even a kangaroo--annoying you, you'd chase Tweets down too. I can't help feeling sorry for Sylvester, especially when he tries to bring down a rodent.
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I just can't watch 6Teen, because all the main characters are complete "popular teen" stereotypes. And the same goes for Total Drama Island, not only because they use similar stereotypes, but because I strongly dislike reality shows.
 
At least I’m not the only one. I mentioned that in 6teen’s initial talkback and I was more-or-less scolded for taking that stance. I would like to see teenagers care about things other than fashion, romance and their social status for a change. I haven’t seen a whole lot of episodes, but most of the ones that I’ve seen were full of teen garbage issues. Things like that annoy me.
 
I'm not particular fond of male characters portrayed as chauvinistic jerks who treat the female casts as though they aren't half as good in whatever skills they possess/consider men territory only (battling, video gaming, etc). I'm no feminist, but shouldn't cartoons (or any form of media) just play the matter of treating both genders with equal spotlights? Writers may think it enhances the gals, but it just feels like we have to prove ourselves as oppose to guys who somehow automatically qualify.

For that matter, I'm especially not that fond when it does concern a female gamer. We're still not up to the percentage of male gamers, but it's 2008, is it really that big of a deal now?
 
As far as tokens in cartoons, there are people that do have diverse friend sets, so I don't really view that as being a token unless it's just blatant. If they give some reason as to why they're friends, it makes it more plausible.
 
I hate fat people stereotypes. They are always stupid and eat a lot. I watched Ducktales a few months ago and I felt like screaming everytime Doofus came on screen.
 
That's one of the stereotypes that annoys me, the whole "when your a teenager, you become this weird being who cares about nothing besides, popularity, fashion and the oppisite sex." I would like to see some more and less "two-dimensional" characters whenever a cartoon that involves teens.
 
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