You've come a long way baby! Hmmm... not very far in my opinion. Yesterday, Eli and I were talking about minorities in film. He was telling me that he couldn’t wait for the day in which Asian-American actors will receive more non-stereotypical roles, and ones with more substance. Especially considering that one day, he would like to make it on the big screen, and in his words, he does not want to be the typical "kung-fu master." With minorities in Hollywood, I don't even think that we have even scratched the surface. Some people are content with the fact that Halle Berry and Denzel Washington won Oscars, but there is still more work to be done. I heard quite a few people base their winning solely on the fact that they are Black. I won't say that we have fully "made it" until statements like this are no longer made. Although African-Americans are receiving more prominent roles, stereotypical elements like the "hyper-sexual" woman, and the "doggish, playa, playa" or "thuggish" man still persist. These images can't help but be carried over into the images that people have of African-Americans in real life, considering how strong of an influence the media has on society. I remember a guest lecturer came to a class I was taking at Cal, and she talked about how African-Americans are perceived in other countries. While at a market somewhere in the Mediterranean, and man called to her "Hey bitch." Of course she was taken aback by this comment, and was quite prepared to go on the defensive, but she calmly asked him why did he call her that, and did he realize how disgusting of a comment that was. He said that he figured she wouldn't mind being called that, since it is said all the time in different songs. Goodness. We have to be more conscious of the images that are present. We have to have more control of what we want to see and what we want reflecting us. I can boldly say that Lil' Kim does not speak for me, nor is her lifestyle reflective of the personalities of all Black women. Also, if you thought that BET was Black owned, guess again. It was sold by Bob Johnson a few years ago, and now the schedule consist mainly of music videos and comedies. Is that all we're good for? I remember in the early 1990s, a Black soap opera was created. Needless to say that it lasted about 3 months before it got canned, on the grounds of lack of viewers. One critic sited this reasoning "because the series was too unrealistic." The same was said about "Boomerang" with Eddie Murphy. It was said that an all Black advertising agency could never exist. Interesting. I guess it will take more trailblazers and those passionate about creating better images for minorities in media to make these images more realistic. It's situations like these that lead you to believe that the whole idea of "equality" is just a myth.