Over the last few decades, the film and entertainment sector has witnessed a radical transformation. Through advancements in technology, the growth of multimedia outlets has grown exponentially. To put this in perspective, the number of viewers who watched the first Super Bowl in 1967 was over 24 million viewers, but the most recent Super Bowl had over 111 million viewers. The media has grown and become at least a minor part of everyone's life. Although technology and the entertainment industry have accelerated since the 1960s, some things have remained stagnant, stereotypes and prejudices. These hostile notions have found their roots in modern media. While the media can be helpful in many ways, the fact that it still manages to nurture stereotypes can jeopardize the progress of equality. There are three main roots of this ignorance: advertising, TV shows and movies. Note that not all of these contain stereotypes, but those that do manifest the entire integrity of modern media. For most Americans, the escape from advertising is inevitable. Advertising is like an itch that doesn't go away, a nuisance for everyone... Practicality is a part of everyday life. Advertisers try to find unique and engaging ways to capture the attention of everyday consumers. Most of these ads are the typical clichés that people see every day on television, some are funny, some are heartwarming, but most of the time they are just plain annoying. Many, however, are simply offensive. These advertisements use racial and gender stereotypes to get people to buy products. While some of these offensive ads may be sincere, others take a more analytical approach to crafting the message. These advertisers assume that every individual of… middle of the paper… judges people without knowing them and it is okay to use stereotypes. It's actually not just desensitizing them, it's also stimulating them. It tells people that racism can be funny, which is absurd. Films that promote ignorance and racism should be abolished from American culture. They are holding themselves back from advancing equality. If the media continues to promote racism and inequality, America will find itself in a harmful spiral into discrimination and segregation. America has fought vigorously for equality and the media is making it all work in vain. Without racism in the media America would be in a much better position. There would be progress in equality and members of society would be content with acceptance. But with the current state of the media, America faces a dilemma. Equality is oppressed by an intangible object, ignorance.