Preconceived ideas in x-files and the peril of submitting them to fans around the world

In society today, we have a problem of putting forward negative images of some races in the world. This is demonstrated with three episodes of the television show “ The X-Files”. In the first episode entitled “ El Mundo Gira, Latino immigrants are viewed as stupid weak peasants, in the episode “ Hell Money”, Asian immigrant are viewed as small minded, easily persuaded people, and in the last episode entitled “ Teliko” African immigrants are viewed as superstitious, and dumb. The many many viewers of the show see these images of these people. There are some problems with the viewers seeing this, and there should be something done about it.

In the episode “ El Mundo Gira”, Latin immigrants are lured into believing in the “ El Chuppecabra” because of some weird events that have happened. They all put the label of “ El Chuppecabra” on a man that has a physical problem that he can not control. The Latino official tries to explain this by saying “ They need something to live on, they use their myths to have a sense of hope.” This puts a false interpretation of these people in the mind of the viewer. The viewer takes this statement and weather he/she knows about it; they associate all Latin Americans to this idea. Thus, Latin Americans are seen as inferior to this person. Another problem with this episode is that the local authorities can’t figure out what is going on until the “ white” FBI agents come along and “ enlighten” them. Subconsciously, this can have a drastic effect on people. If they see that the “ white man” has to show everyone the answers to everything, they might think of every Latin American as stupid, and ignorant. Weather this is true or not, this person that is watching this believes it.

In the episode “ Hell Money”, Asian immigrants are bribed into a gravely dangerous game with the false hope of making a large amount of money, really quick. There are some consequences to this game. If you lose, you have to give up a body part, weather you need it to live, or not. When a person tried to get out of this, they would receive a visit from a man in a suit that would say something like “ You still have a chance to win.”. This statement alone brings the person back to the game. Later we find out that the game is rigged and there is no way someone can win the money. To the viewer this seems stupid and foolish. What the viewer doesn’t know is that the idea of making it big is a large persuasion. To the viewer, these people look like stupid and ignorant people. Again, Weather or not this is true, the viewer also associates this vision with the entire race. Another bad image that comes out of this is that these people are so superstitious that they can’t see past it. Someone tells them “ You will meet your ancestors.” And they go along with what is happening. They are shown to believe so heavily in this, that they can’t see that they have been drugged with a hallucinogen that is giving them these visions. The viewer takes this image in and thinks that all Asian people are superstitious, and ignorant, and therefore, inferior to them. This brings the whole issue of racism in that I don’t have time to talk about.

In the last episode “ Teliko”, African immigrants are shown as ignorant, stupid people. A man with no pigment in his body because of a lack of a pituitary gland, stalks people, shoots them with a seed that puts them to sleep, then takes their pituitary gland and eats it. Now to the viewer this seems as impossible and stupid for a story, but the story is only a small part of what is going on. The viewer is soaking up the images of Africans being stupid and ignorant. Also, just as in “ El Mundo Gira”, the local officials, that just happen to be African also, can’t see that this a member of a “ lost tribe” like he is believed to be, but rather a person with a medical problem. Again, it takes the “ Whit Man” to show these people what is really going on, and thus, the image of everyone is inferior to whites is again emphasized. This can make the person relate this to the race as a whole, and start having racist thoughts toward the race. Another improper image of Africans is that they can’t see past their superstitions. The African official had an experience as a young man with someone that resembles the man they are looking for. He was back in Africa and he was attacked, but left alone, rather his friend was taken. The fact that this shows that he can’t see past his superstition is unjust. The mere fact that this man can’t see that this isn’t a myth coming true, rather a man that is trying to stay alive by taking these peoples pituitary gland. This again, to the viewer, shows African as ignorant people not wanting to see what is really going on.

We should all be able to see a problem with these images, and there has to be something done about it. Weather it’s a TV rating or whatever, something has to be done. If we just stand by and watch this happen, society can become a cesspool of racism. Television is a huge factor in society today, and with these images coming up all the time in cartoons, sitcoms, etc. everyone in exposed to them. Weather the person takes them to hart or just merely shrugs them off, there has to be a way of regulating these images that are portrayed in our television programs today. Another thing is that these shouldn’t be in our cartoons like “ The Simpson’s” that children watch everyday. To a child everything they see on TV is reality, unlike an adult who can distinguish between reality and non-reality. Children take these images and grow up believing in them. Is this what we want our society of the future to be like? I sure hope no, cause it’s not a place I’d like to live in.