Dog A Stereotype example essay topic

How the American Class System is Stereotypically Represented Because America is known as the "Melting Pot" of cultures, there are many very different types of people from different backgrounds. However as we see in the movie "Best in Show", they can all come together for a central cause. The idea behind this movie is that there are no ethnic minorities, just stereotypes of different social classes, which is the most common. (Martinez 26) As defined by Judith Andre, a stereotype is "a conventional, formulaic, and usually oversimplified conception, opinion, or belief: a person, group, event, or issue considered to typify or conform to an unvarying pattern... ". (Martinez 26) Throughout the movie we are introduced with various social statuses and lifestyles.

These include: the very wealthy gold digger (Sherri Ann Cabot), the "redneck" (Harlan Pepper), the lower class (Gerry and Cookie Fleck), the yuppies (Meg and Hamilton Swan), and the homosexuals (Stefan Vanderhoof and Scott Dolan). Even though these are completely different groups of people, they are able to come together for a common bond, which is training their dogs for this prestigious dog show. These people came from different states across America and although they may seem normal in their part of the country, when placed in the same situation and place, their differences come out. The reason for this is, as Lynn Weber states, "Race, class, gender and sexuality are contextual. Their meanings vary not only across historical time periods, but also across nations and regions during the same period".

(Martinez 15) Throughout the movie, Sherri Cabot and her standard poodle have the edge in the dog show, because of the fact that they have been the previous winners. The dog also has its own hired trainer, which believe that this is a statement on the fact that the wealthier the people have more resources to take charge over people with less money. Our society is a "continuous ladder of income and resources where people can slide up and down based on their own efforts and abilities". (Martinez 15) I believe this is relevant to this movie, because in the end the Flecks, who were not wealthy at all, won the overall show, because their dog was the best, not because they had an excess of money. This also gave them the respect that they deserved.

Harlan Pepper, who was a redneck from the countryside of North Carolina, was degraded because of his background. Because he did not come from money and wasn't as poised as Ms. Cabot, or the Swans, this movie was written to make the audience believe that he wouldn't have a shot at winning the dog show. One of the commentators stated that with a little more work, Pepper's bloodhound would most certainly have a shot at winning the title. A neurotic couple, Meg and Hamilton Swan treated their Weimaraner as a child.

Now in some cases this could be regarded as a good thing, however, in their case the dog was spoiled rotten, which inevitably lead to their getting kicked out of the show. In the beginning of the movie, the scene shows them in therapy with their dog. This makes the audience think that the couple has money and therefore have that advantage over other contestants. Stereotypes are still a bad thing, even when the image they convey is a positive one. (Martinez 28) This can be seen when the dog goes ballistic on a judge because although it was raised in a family with money, it didn't have the "class" or poise that the other dogs did.

Although Stefan Vanderhoof and Scott Dolan were perceived as what society would call as "flaming homosexuals" not all homosexual men portray the feminine characteristics as the men in this movie. They talked with a lisp, had incredible fashion sense and babied their dogs like women do. Even though these men were openly gay, other straight men may share some of these characteristics making the stereotype even more false. Cooper Thompson writes that, "the costs associated with the traditional view of masculinity are enormous and the damage occurs at both personal and societal levels. The belief that a boy should be tough can create emotional pain for him". (Martinez 35) Most people only associate non-tough men with homosexuals, therefore giving a false sense of what is real.

This goes to show that "stereotypes are avoidable". (Martinez 28) People will think what they want to think, no matter who is telling them what is right. One thing we can notice is that in every situation, the dog reflects its owner, therefore giving the dog a stereotype as well. Sherri Cabot owned a prissy, well groomed standard poodle, complete with the balls of fur on its legs and tail. Cabot herself was well groomed, wore a lot of makeup and her hair was done up big and extravagant, reflecting the dog's image. On the other hand, Harlan Pepper owned a hound dog, who wasn't the most attractive dog in the show.

The dog seemed to keep to itself, as did Pepper. The Flecks, who were seen as your typical middle class family owned a terrier, which seems to be like the typical dog for a normal couple. The dog wasn't excessively groomed, wasn't spoiled (as was the Swan's dog), nor had anything special about him. However, the judge saw something in that dog which enabled him to win the show. The Swans owned a Weimaraner which can be classified as a "trendy" dog. Meg and Hamilton met at Starbucks, both love J Crew and are both lawyers.

The stereotype of "yuppie" fits them completely. Their dog also has the same aura about it. During the therapy session, the dog seems disinterested in anything anyone has to say to it, and had to have certain toys to make it happy. When the dog ended up having a fit during the show and attacking the judge, it almost mirrors when the Swans lost the stuffed bee and both had a nervous breakdown because of it. Stefan Vanderhoof and Scott Dolan own twin Shih Tzus, who they treat like their own children, and who are as prissy as them.

Commonly, stereotype says that men usually own big sturdy tough dogs, however the shih tzus are long haired and have many female attributes to them. Since they own two dogs, even though they are twins, I feel as if the writer of this movie was trying to portray "gay" dogs as well. In conclusion, stereotypes are inevitable. As long as there are people, there will be stereotypes.

In this movie, not only are the dog owners stereotyped, their dogs are subject to this classification system as well. A popular saying states that dog owners tend to resemble their dogs, which is very evident in this film. No matter how hard we try, we will never get away from stereotypes, however a lot of times they are true, as we see in the movie. Although a lot of the ideas were exaggerated, we as audience members can get a good laugh out of this movie, while finding out how we view different types of people in the same situation.