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Raquel Indira Garmendia

English 113B

Professor Lawson

April 19, 2017

Power Rangers Depicted

The Power Rangers its an American entertainment program, that depicts the lives of five

superhero teens that save the world from evil. Power Rangers has always been a kids series

since the early 90s but recently its been getting a lot of negative appeal. Power Rangers is an

ongoing series that has grown and developed over time, the writers of the show are getting a lot

of criticism with the common stereotypes and gender roles their leading characters play. Many

have stated, due to the fact its leading character sexual orientation is not heterosexual they will

not be watching or taking their kids to see the movie. There have also been a lot of countries that

have banned the showing of the movie and others who have rated the movie eighteen plus, its

highest age rating because of the LGBTQ character. Even though there are a lot of people who

may disagree with the characters sexuality or their background, there are a lot of supports that

are in favored of shinning a light on the LGBTQ community and showing a new side in movie

production.

For a show to be diverse, they have to show different types of racial characters

throughout a series or film. But when it portrays one person from a certain racial group, its

considered to be a diverse show? The entertainment industry, can either make a star or destroy

the chances of one becoming an inspiration to the world. There have been times were minorities,

were victims of institutionalized prejudice the definition of the word is an institutional bias

targets specific, easily stereotypes and generalized attributes of individuals, such as race and
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gender (Boundless 1). Were black stars havent been given the award they deserve, and white

stars are given academy awards being praise for their success in the role.

Stereotypes and gender roles have been a topic of discussion with the kids show Power

Rangers, it made their very first appearance in the early 90s, the first ever episode was aired on

August 28, 1993 and the group was called the Mighty Morphin Rangers. That group of

individuals had the most controversy, because of the stereotypes seen throughout the show, that

each character had to portray. This is because, it just so happens that every actor or actress

character plays a different leading role and wears a different type of color. It can be viewed

throughout the series of the Power Rangers saga. According to the article called The Power

Rangers Taught Me Racial Stereotyping written by Rodney Sandlers he talks about how certain

actors played certain roles for example Zack Taylor, a young African-American man, was the

black ranger. Or how Trini Kwan, Asian decent was the yellow ranger. And how Kimberly Hart

the cute white girl, wears a pink uniform. It just shows you what the producers of the show were

thinking at the time it aired. This might have been their definition of being a diverse show. Its

not just the ethnicity they use to assign the roles to the actors and actress, but also their gender.

The red power ranger has always been played by a male, dominate and a leader who can make

the hard decision for his team. The yellow and pink ranger would be played by women who were

submissive ready to follow orders, by those who were above them. Even by the way they line

up or get in formation, the girls are always at the end. People, critics have always had a problem

with the way the roles are given, but this has changed with the upcoming movie Power Rangers

Reboot.

With the upcoming movie Power Rangers Reboot it has gotten a lot of negative and

positive responses, this is because its more recent and modern. That they have a character who is
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homosexual, that is questioning her sexuality and she is getting to learn her true self. Many

oppose the idea of it and have taken action, for example Russia has given it its highest age rating

due to yellow Rangers sexuality in the movie. But The Power Rangers isnt the only movie that

Russia has banned, it come after Disneys live- action remake of Beauty and the Beast over the

inclusion of LGBTQ character Layout (Hannah Lawrence for Metro.co.uk). Other people are

still not okay with the idea of having gay characters, they dont like how this society is growing

and letting the LGBTQ community in. The new Power Ranger movie is not all about the yellow

ranger, its about the whole team fighting evil to save mankind that what people dont

understand. There is more to the movie, people just need to give it a chance and not judge it

based on what they have heard or read on the movie.

There have been times where the power rangers have broken their gender roles when it

came to, the characters that were going to wear certain uniforms. Power Ranger Ninja storm was

where the yellow ranger was played by a guy and the blue ranger was a girl. But even then it was

not a bold blue, she was assigned a baby blue uniform because she was a sensitive women. It

shows that they were trying to improve and reduce the gender roles in children programs. People,

well the audience watching the shows didnt like the fact how Mighty Morphin Rangers were

portraying their characters, parents were scared that their children will grow up thinking that the

racial stereotypes in the series were real. Like how the green ranger ends up transforming into a

white ranger as a so called savior and takes over the leadership role from the red ranger. Thank

god the white man is here to save us all (Rodney Sandler). Why couldnt the actor be an

African American instead of playing the black ranger or Hispanic, a race that isnt seen in any of

the seasons. They just kept to the norms in the 90s white men being in power, and in charge to
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save the day. The show could have been more diverse when it came to casting the actors for the

show.

The Power Rangers saga can be described in many ways for different people, as a

stereotypical and gender role show, that was created for the youth. There have been many people

who have opposing thoughts and views on the show, more recently on the upcoming movie

Power Ranger Reboot. But the Power Rangers production team is trying to change its content, in

a way it fits are society growing and developing as a whole. By allowing LGBTQ characters to

have leading roles in the movie, though some have argued with the idea since the beginning.

People are just going to have to get used to the idea, that the world is always changing around us,

its always a good time for a change.