Living the stereotype

For lunch today I went to McDonalds, which, of course, was my first mistake. In a sense, it seems logical. After all, if I do not regularly exercise, ingest healthy foods in properly proportioned quantities, sleep normalized and sufficient hours...should I really justify slipping myself a Mickey because "if I don't take care of myself anyway, what difference does one trip make?"
Actually, I could probably justify it much better if I ate, exercised and slept properly, because then I would not be piling distaster onto my potentially already overtaxed system.
Anyway, I was sitting there slowly poisoning myself when some high schoolers came in. Naturally, with an entire restaurant to choose from, they chose to surround me where I was sitting in a corner.
Immediately, they began to exhibit behavior I would expect from television or a movie. They were loud and profane, often for the sole purpose of demonstrating they were profane.
Their conversation was a curious combination of braggadocio and insults interspersed with random threats. "oh, those $&%^#&%^#*(& forgot mah peckls. I is gonna get up en deh face."
"oh, you momma. You ain't doin' nuttin."
There they sat in all their glory with the sagged, oversized pants, hat bills bent to just the right angle and showing one of about three names, the flashing diamond earrings and gold chains, using half-slang, talking about what they would do to thus and such a "bitch" or "ho".
I swear, I looked for the camera to see who was filming the movie. These were not people, these were caricatures of stereotypes. I would bet 500 bucks that most of you reading this have an idea of what race these boys were even though this is the first time I mentioned race. Are you right?
Irrelevant. Race has nothing to do with this. No, this is about training. These young people have been taught this is the acceptable way for them to talk, dress and act. In fact, it is not only accepted, it is expected. And therein lies the rub.
The Merchants of Cool was a documentary that essentially advanced the following argument; Advertisers go out on the street and find elements that are "cool". They then combine several of these elements to create an image that, due to its combination of "cool" elements, is perceived of as setting the standard for cool. This can be a look, an attitude, a brand...
This new cool then becomes the trend until the audience decide it is a marketing gimmick, but by then the advertisers have seen who the cutting edge leaders of cool are and co-opted their look/attitude, etc.
Thus the advertisers drive cool by taking the trend-setters and jumping ahead of them. Note that this is not the total argument made by Merchants, but I believe it is a faithful summation.
These people at McDonalds have been taught the same lesson. To be a cool teen, to be a "real" high school student they need to reinvent themselves as caricatures of noticable elements portrayed by highly visible members of their structure.
Anyone who does not fit into this profile is the oddity. Human nature leads people to try to "fit in". Thus, they adopt whatever level of conformity they feel is necessary to be what they are supposed to be.
The ones who don't fit the perception are then considered the odd ones. J.C. Watts is often called an "Uncle Tom" because he espouses values that are often considered "Republican" or "conservative" issues. Yet if I were to express the same views, nobody would think twice about it. The difference?
I am behaving in an acceptable way for a "white male". He is not behaving the way "black males" are supposed to act.
That alleged way they or I am "supposed" to act is completely an artificial construct. People learn what "normal" behavior for their race, gender, social class, etc. is by watching tv and movies...sources which, by their very nature, are not interested in truth.
We establish and propulgate steretypes until that is what people do because that is what they think they are supposed to do.
And the beat goes on. Why do people think athletes are all stupid and are surprised when they see one with a 4.0 majoring in Physics? Why is it surprising when a straight male wears cologne, uses body washes, and other markers of the "metrosexual"? Why do we assume black girls will dance well and Mexican men drive lowriders and get drunk?
Sure, sometimes you see some of these elements...but because of what is emphasized in the media, you see it far more than actually takes place. This skewed view then warps reality to where we notice people behaving "abnormally"...you know, crazy stuff like a black man living with his wife and kids or living in the "nice" part of town, a baseball hatted, tobacco chewing 4x4 driving redneck enjoying a symphony, or a bespectacled banker getting out of his Mercedes to watch wrestling.
Maybe if we stop deciding what our behavior should be based on what we see we can start acting normally and instead of preconceived notions of who should behave in what way, we will just get along. Now if you will excuse me, there is an Asian lady driving by and I need to go make sure she doesn't run into my car.