April 20 - The short film Born With It shows how stereotypes can shape the way people see others and even how individuals see themselves. Reflect on the main character’s experience and explain how stereotypes impacted his identity and sense of belonging. Then, connect this to a broader idea: how can stereotypes influence the way a culture or group is understood by others? Use specific examples from the film to support your response.

Response: In the film, the main character is faced with stereotypes regarding dark skinned people living in Japan. The boy is outcasted by the entire class based on the assumption that all dark skinned people have AIDS. Connecting this idea to the whole world, stereotypes that people have of certain cultures affect how those people are treated. For example, the stereotypes with middle easterners is that they are all terrorists. A child from Iran, Egypt, etc. coming to school in America would possibly be picked on just because of the stereotypes their culture is associated with. This is exactly the reason why stereotypes of cultures around the world must be corrected. This entire film is trying to convey this very message through the dark skinned boy living in Japan. This stereotype of all dark skinned people have AIDS makes the children and those around them fear getting sick even though this stereotype is a myth.

Summary: Today, we watched a short film called “Born With It”.

Reflection: Everyone in the world has been stereotyped in some way shape or form. There’s not much we can do to stop this, but we can change the way we respond to it by correcting false stereotypes.