How is the act of representation problematic?

To a certain extent representation in media, text, and films can be a celebration of different cultures beauty and essence. However, when done incorrectly can be extremely problematic and lead to dangerous outcomes.

When a culture is incorrectly represented it can be extremely offensive towards the people of that culture. It can prompt bias and stereotypes that become so routed into audiences minds, that it may take generations to correct. However when a text arises that challenges these preconceptions they become controversial or significant, when really it is just a reality that hadn’t been represented properly. An example of this may be the deeply rooted idea of what a woman’s role in society is. In works as old as Shakespears Macbeth, it is often noted that Lady Macbeth is an outstanding character because of her strong and powerful characteristics. Whereas people were only used to seeing a quiet, obedient woman. But as society progressed and more and more representation of strong woman came about societal norms began to shift to a much more equal world we now see today.

However the problems we see in society today is that instead of using texts and media is changing our misconceived stereotypes and correct our misrepresentation, we may see potentially representation that could bring out new stereotypes. This is especially dangerous due to its real-world impacts specifically politically. We live in a society where politics and ideologies between people and cultures are increasingly heated, if this is therefore added with misrepresentation of certain cultures where it could lead to the belief that a certain type of people are dangerous and ‘evil’, it would only add fuel to this political fire. Instead, we should be using representation as a way of celebrating and deepening our understanding of different cultures. Not as a way of painting one in a darker picture.