Demystifying immigrant youth representations : a look at mainstream and immigrant perspectives within literature and media

Firstly, this paper analyses two mainstream films, Gran Torino and Entre les Murs (The Class) and looks at how depictions of immigrant youth are often negative and perpetuate stereotypes and racist ideologies. Through the lens of whiteness, I will argue that mainstream media plays an important role in maintaining white hegemony by othering people of colour, in particular, immigrant youth. Secondly, the paper analyses immigrant produced media and literary works and explores how they can offer powerful narratives that critique and analyze issues of social inequality. Utilizing Freire's idea of "conscientization", I contend that youth learn to raise awareness of oppressive conditions in their community and problematize those conditions within society. The counter-narratives that immigrant youth develop refute "othered" identities by moving the focus away from the white dominant voice.