Theme Of Prejudice In Schindler's List

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Stereotype is defined through certain associations or beliefs that group entire assemblies of people together with certain traits or characteristics. Prejudice is explained by negative feelings towards other people based on their membership or connection in specific groups. Discrimination concerns behaviors, particularly negative ones, directed against individuals because of their membership in a particular group. Stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination all operate independently, but they often influence and reinforce each other. An example of prejudice in the film, Schindler’s List, is portrayed while Amon Goeth and Oskar Schindler are shaving their faces. During this scene, Goeth is heard giving a motivational speech to the Nazi’s about …show more content…
In this theory, individuals are motivated to preserve social inequities and see their ingroup’s as dominant over other groups. These individuals are likely to show patterns of favoritism towards their ingroup, and could also derogate and dehumanize members of outgroups. Many examples of the Social Dominance theory are seen towards the treatment of Jews. One example in the film is while the Nazis are shooting and killing all the Jews in the ghetto. During this scene, dehumanization towards the Jews is displayed by the Nazis trapping Jews that are hiding and then shooting them. While the soldiers are shooting the Jews a character of a Nazi officer is seen carelessly playing the piano. The Nazi characters think they are better than the Jews in this scene and believe they are preserving social inequities by killing innocent Jews. A third theory of prejudice in Ingroup/ Outgroup processes is the Outgroup Homogeneity Bias. This process towards the development of prejudice involves a generalized negative feeling towards an entire group of people. An example of this is portrayed by the Polish characters throwing dung at the Jews while they are marched into the …show more content…
There are a number of characteristics others possess that influence our tendency to help them. Some of these characteristics include others attractiveness, similarity, and perceived relationship between attacker and victim. The personal attractiveness of the individual in need has a large impact on whether that person is helped. People tend to have a certain bias towards those who are more attractive in many various settings. In regards to helping someone, physical attractiveness and interpersonal attractiveness matters. One explanation on why people help others with this characteristic is in hopes of establishing some kind of relationship with the attractive person. Another fascinating fact is that attractive people receive more help even when the helper does it anonymously. Research suggests that attractive people even receive help when the helper expects no reward. One example from the film is Amon Goeth choosing Helen Hirsch to be his maid in his villa since she was pretty. Helen got out of the hard labor Jews had to preform daily and also was able to remove the Star of David from her wardrobe all due to the fact that Amon found her attractive. Similarity is a characteristic of others that influence our tendency to help. Whether we personally know the individual in need of help or not, individuals with similar traits, characteristics, or appearances are likely to receive more help. The characteristic of helping those who are similar shows that people are more willing

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