ELON JOURNAL OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH IN COMMUNICATIONS Fall 2016 VOLUME 7, NO. 2 Joining the World of Journals Welcome to the nation’s first and only undergraduate research journal in communications. The website of the Council on Undergraduate Research lists more than 200 undergraduate research journals nationwide (http://www.cur.org/resources/students/undergraduate_journals/). Some of these journals focus on a discipline (e.g., Journal of Undergraduate Research in Physics), some are university-based and multidisciplinary (e.g., MIT Undergraduate Research Journal), and others are university-based and disciplinary (e.g., Harvard Political Review). The Elon Journal focuses on undergraduate research in journalism, media and communications. The School of Communications at Elon University is the creator and publisher of the online journal. The first issue was published in spring 2010 under the editorship of Dr. Byung Lee, associate professor in the School of Communications. The three purposes of the journal are: • To publish the best undergraduate research in Elon’s School of Communications each term, • To serve as a repository for quality work to benefit future students seeking models for how to do undergraduate research well, and • To advance the university’s priority to emphasize undergraduate student research. The Elon Journal is published twice a year, with spring and fall issues. Articles in the journal may be downloaded, reproduced and redistributed without permission for non- commercial purposes as long as the author and source are properly cited. Student authors retain copyright ownership of their works. Celebrating Student Research This journal reflects what we enjoy seeing in our students -- intellectual maturing. As 18-year-olds, some students enter college possibly wanting to earn a degree more than they want to earn an education. They may question whether communication theory and research have anything to do with their future. But they get excited at studying great ideas and topical issues. These published articles make us aware of the solitary hours that students spend in research and the untold hours in which student and teacher-mentor work together to revise a paper for public consumption. This journal celebrates the life of the intellect through undergraduate research. It represents the intellectual maturing that occurs by the senior year, reinforcing all that we think a university should be. Dr. Paul Parsons, Dean School of Communications Editorial Board Twenty-seven faculty members in Elon’s School of Communications served as the Editorial Board that selected 10 undergraduate research papers for the 2016 fall issue. From more than 100 research papers written in advanced School of Communications classes, 34 papers were submitted to the journal by students through the encouragement and mentoring of capstone teachers and other professors in the school. Professors who served as the Editorial Board were Jonathan Albright, Bill Anderson, Janna Anderson, Vanessa Bravo, Lee Bush, Vic Costello, Kenn Gaither, Jessica Gisclair, Don Grady, Ben Hannam, Anthony Hatcher, Jooyun Hwang, Dan Haygood, Jonathan Jones, Julie Lellis, Harlen Makemson, Barbara Miller, William Moner, Phillip Motley, Tom Nelson, George Padgett, Paul Parsons, Glenn Scott, Michael Skube, Jessalynn Strauss, Hal Vincent, and Qian Xu. Thanks also go to Bryan Baker, who recorded the website’s student introductions; Associate Dean Don Grady, who reviewed articles to help ensure the quality of the journal; and Tommy Kopetskie, who proofread articles and updated the publication’s website. Editor’s Note This issue of the journal covered many topics. Three articles dealt with the portrayal of people in movies and newspapers. Another three articles investigated advertisements, institutional messages, and humor to see how they used messages effectively. Two articles looked at characteristics of successful talents in reality shows or of powerful influencers in corporate-sponsored videos. The last two articles examined the role of women’s magazines. Through a content analysis of the Rush Hour trilogy, a biracial martial arts action comedy, Lee found Asians were stereotyped the most frequently among all ethnicities, and most stereotypes were conveyed through humor and dialogue based on a character’s behavior. After analyzing the top five shows from nonlinear distribution platforms, such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, Weaver found underrepresentation, along with misrepresentation, are still major issues, although online streaming platforms offer more diversity than traditional television. Based on framing analysis of articles published by newspapers in Arizona and Texas, Jasper found illegal child immigrants from Latin America were portrayed as both victims and criminals. Through analysis of primary media documents, annual reports, and historical company analyses, Nichols found the American Tobacco Company used celebrity endorsements to generate the company’s profits in the 1930s. Using framing theory, Wirth analyzed 22 press releases published by the European Council on the official European Union website. She found that the EU’s public diplomacy efforts were effective and strategically communicated the institution’s intent and commitment to foreign publics. Compisano analyzed the content of comedian Hannibal Buress’ four major releases. This case study found he used persuasive methods based on incongruity, superiority, and relief theories to engage audiences and address sociopolitical subject matter. Based on four in-depth interviews conducted with casting agents, Geswelli identified factors that help create successful reality TV shows. Based on a content analysis of beauty company Maybelline’s sponsored videos, Forbes found five characteristics that three influencers employed in brand marketing: to articulate, be relatable, knowledgeable, helpful, and confident. Garrity analyzed how three women’s magazines covered mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, and stress. Her study found an imbalanced representation of mental health conditions, a belief that mental health conditions can be managed, and a stigma surrounding this issue. Women’s magazines have long struggled to balance their desire to empower women with their need to make them ad targets—thus providing readers with ambivalent messages. Lanquist found the teen magazine Seventeen was not an exception. The students who published their paper in this issue should be congratulated for writing thought- provoking research papers within a short period of time. Of course, as they acknowledged, it would not be possible without their mentors’ effective guidance. I hope the articles in this issue will inspire students in future semesters to commit to examining important research questions and submit their papers to this journal. Dr. Byung Lee Journal Editor Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications Volume 7, No. 2 • Fall 2016 The Manipulation and Role of Stereotypes in the Rush Hour Trilogy Matt Lee 5 Influence of Advertising During the Great Depression Kate Nichols 17 A Case Study of Comedian Hannibal Buress and Humor as an Agent for Change Frankie Campisano 25 An Analysis of Agency Directors’ Strategies in Casting Applicants for Reality-Based Television Mia Geswelli 36 The European Union’s Framing of the European Refugee Crisis Tara Wirth 45 Analysis of Representations of African Americans in Non-linear Streaming Media Content Tony Weaver Jr. 57 Framing of Children in News Stories about U.S. Immigration from Latin America Simone Jasper 68 Examining the Beauty Industry’s Use of Social Influencers Kristen Forbes 78 An Analysis of Mental Health in Women’s Magazines Amanda Garrity 88 Deconstructing the Empowering and Disempowering Messages in Seventeen Magazine Lindsey Lanquist 98 The Manipulation and Role of Stereotypes in the Rush Hour Trilogy by Matt Lee — 5 The Manipulation and Role of Stereotypes in the Rush Hour Trilogy Matt Lee Media Arts & Entertainment Elon University Abstract While the Rush Hour trilogy is one of the most commercially successful biracial martial arts action comedies, the films are known for stereotyping characters. Through a content analysis, the author coded each scene and character in the films based on the ethnicity, stereotype, and implication of the stereotype presented. While the films perpetuate a number of stereotypes, most of them are generalizations exaggerated for comedic reasons. The film communicates them mostly through dialogue and behaviors for humor, yet the trilogy does include positive stereotypes that divert from the norm. These findings may contribute to the discussion of stereotypes in films and provide insight into how stereotypes are manipulated and presented to influence audiences. I. Introduction Racial stereotypes often permeate films, especially comedy. In most cases, audiences will find racial stereotypes in comedies inoffensive, as the explicit joke is made enjoyable through humor (Gates, 2012). In this form, however, racial stereotypes are naturalized and perpetuated, “thereby making viewers susceptible to the beliefs of racial difference” (Park, Gabbadon, & Chernin, 2006, p. 173). One of the most racially motivated films, Rush Hour, follows a black police officer and an Asian detective. This biracial martial arts buddy action comedy is full of stereotypes and yet the film broke box office records and spawned two sequels, Rush Hour 2 and Rush Hour 3. In the firstRush Hour, Detective Yan Naing Lee (Jackie Chan) travels to Los