Whiteness in Contemporary Culture

In thinking about examples of "whiteness" in contemporary culture, the first thing that popped into my head was Al Yankovic's "White and Nerdy." A remake of hip hop artist, Chamillionaire's "Riding Dirty." Although it may be considered extremely low brow...it is actually pretty interesting when you consider that it is making fun of white stereotypes and the "white" infiltration of hip hop culture, which is generally assumed to be comprised of mostly black participants.






I was also thinking about the movie Bruce Almighty, where the God figure is played by Morgan Freeman. Historically, God has been represented as being a white bearded guy. I read one review of the movie in which a person asked, "Is it supposed to be funny that God is a black guy?" I believe this statement shows that while in the scholarly world we may accept that race is a social construct, but in terms of lived experience, racism is still very much present. I was also thinking about Bruce's character, played by Jim Carrey, and the "moral" that is to be taught in the movie. Jim Carrey represents the "norm" (upper-middle class, white male). Morgan Freeman's character functions to bring a sense of "self-awareness" to Carrey's character about his privileged situation. It also shows how Carrey abuses his power when he is bestowed the power of God. This could also suggest how historically whites used Christianity as an excuse to victimize other populations. In terms of the readings on whiteness, this seems to fit right in with the historically transparent condition of whiteness and the growing need for whites to become self-critical about their own whiteness.

Or maybe I'm just reading too much into Bruce Almighty.

I couldn't find the seen with Morgan Freeman and Jim Carrey I wanted, but here is a selection from the movie.