Russell Peters: “why don’t you see many Indian athletes? Because they are not hardworking”.

Stereotypes are as old as human culture itself. They reflect ideas that groups of people hold about others who are different from them. Stereotypes can be either positive ("black men are good at basketball") or negative ("women are bad drivers"). But most stereotypes tend to make us feel superior in some way to the person or group being stereotyped. Stereotypes ignore the uniqueness of individuals by painting all members of a group with the same brush.
Media has given way to many such stereotypical thoughts like, “All bearded Muslims are terrorists”, portrayal of homosexuals in media or youngsters are restless and impulsive etc. These ideas generate from an event which is later turned into a mass thought process. In the case of stereotypes the mass society theories of media are often discussed because of its impact on people.
Stereotypes of a group of people can affect the way society views them, and change society's expectations of them. With enough exposure to a stereotype, society may come to view it as a reality rather than a chosen representation. The media can be a powerful tool in creating or reinforcing stereotypes. For example people look at India as a country full of snake charmers and elephants walking on the road, which is a general perception. This impression has been largely created by media.
Russell Peters broadly talks about various racial stereotypes focusing mainly on his Indian roots and also South Asian culture. In one of his acts he mentioned why not many Indian athletes are seen on international arena which a few years back was a fact but is no more a reality. Though he clearly once said that he doesn’t create stereotypes he just talks about the already existing ones but what he definitely does is reinforce these stereotypes in the minds of people. His comedy acts belong to the unconventional form of media whose effect might not be far reaching but the message stays with the audiences because the action is happening right in front of their eyes.


Unlike television he makes sure that his message is understood through feedback and interaction. Though he is very carefully while selecting his use of words so as to not get into any kind of controversy. Like once a white guy came up to him and said, “I really like it when you crack those Paki jokes.” And he replied, “'I will knock your f****** teeth out if you ever say that word to me. Have you ever heard me say 'Paki' in my act? No. Then don't f*** with it and twist it.” Here we are introduced to yet another topic about social responsibility and media.
Knowingly or unknowingly a lot of wrong messages are communicated to the people and this also gives rise to stereotypes. It generates through biases and opinionated approach towards a particular community. Russell Peters has often been accused of doing so but all is fine when it comes to fun. Guess taking it with a pinch of salt is his advice to his critics.
Most of Peter’s acts revolve around his upbringing in a white neighbourhood. He has witnessed a lot of prejudices and biases and hence his material is based on these fine lines that make people hate people from other community. Through his comedy acts and wide travelling experiences he has tried to explore this difference. His topics range from India culture, arranged marriages in India, the great Indo-Chinese friendship, perceptions that whites have about Asians. He has also dealt with issues like racial slurs and he claims to call it like he sees it.


Let us critically analyse the content that makes his show so popular with the audience and leaves a few sour.
“If you have a tensed situation, just pop in the Indian accent”, says Peters. He heavily emphasises on how funny English sounds in an Indian accent. Quoting his father and his way of talking, he often has the house laughing their hearts out. But he also cleverly makes it a point to make his fellow Indians feel good by doling out some nice and not so nasty jokes.
He says, “Vietnamese talk English so fast that it almost sounds like Vietnamese again”, “when Koreans speak English it looks like they have had a breathe”. He further adds, “When Chinese speak English it feels like they are chopping words like vegetables.” Traditionally certain accents carry more prestige in the society for example the American accent is considered to be the elitist. The UK accent is considered to be sophisticated while Indian accent is often laughed at abroad. Many Indians settled abroad make it a point to adapt to the local accent so that they do not feel left out or out of place.
He calls china and India as the two largest populations and finishes it with saying, “sooner or later we gonna h*** you”.
In another act he talks about how different cultures are mixing and comes up with really funny terms for mixed breed offspring of such couples. For example, Jewish and Indian can have a Hinjew kid, Cuban and Iceland will have little ice cubes. The funniest is French and Greek together will give birth to Freaks!!!
In his DVD called Outsourced he talks about how Chinese and Indians cannot do business together. Because Indians cannot live without a bargain and Chinese will never let you have one. These stereotypes make an impression in the minds of the audiences that Indians are thrifty and money minded. Moving from business he goes to employment in the US. “Today I saw a very funny thing. A white guy driving a car. This is not right, you cannot steal our jobs.” This statement gives a notion that Indians abroad only drive taxis. But the reality is totally different; many Indians are working in IT sector, research and development. He has promised his fans of a new material in the coming shows about Indian call centres.
“All Asians are Chinese”. This statement can be counted as being a positive stereotype because here he tries to say that all Asians are not Chinese but you have other groups like the Indians, Pakistanis, and Srilankans etc.