A film by Tate Taylor, The Help (2009) emphasizes extreme and racially charged stereotypes, therefore supports racial thinking. Black people in this film are portrayed generally as common maids or house slaves, but specifically as oppressed, unhappy, impoverished, and products of hardship through the use of racist stereotypes and juxtaposition with the lives of affluent whites in the American South, a country juxtaposition that immortalizes the racial divide between blacks and whites. The actions of the black characters support the cultural stereotypes that are pervasive in this film. A stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of ​​a particular type of person or thing (Iftkar, 2013). Black people are stereotyped as loud, ultra-religious, ignorant, gullible, thieving, unclean and diseased, irrational, and lovers of fried chicken. A scene of a loud, raucous, singing Southern Baptist church service, packed church dances, and worship of black characters lends itself to the idea that these characters are ultra-religious. This scene also lends itself to exemplifying another cultural stereotype. Historically, black people have been stereotyped as constantly ready to break out into song or dance. This stereotype was founded on the birth of minstrel shows in the early 1900s and the notion of the "Stage Negro" stereotype. Among other characteristics, this stereotype presents blacks as musicians with “natural rhythm.” The same church scene where the entire all-black congregation sings and dances passionately without inhibitions accurately illustrates the belief behind the stereotype. These same characters are depicted as ignorant due to their use of slang and improper English. In... middle of paper... elliously wasn't the focus of the film. Stereotypes, scripts, and character portrayals demonstrated the racial divide between blacks and whites. While not overtly racist, these demonstrations encouraged racism and supported racial thinking through racially charged thinking. References Iftkhar, S. (2013, September). Narrative. COMM 101. Lecture conducted by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.Iftkhar, S. (November 2013). Competition. COMM 101. Lecture conducted by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.Iftkhar, S. (2013, October). Representation. COMM 101. Lecture conducted by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.Iftkhar, S. (September 2013). Semiotics. COMM 101. Lecture conducted by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.Iftkhar, S. (November 2013). Women. COMM 101. Lecture conducted by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.