History Main / AcceptableEthnicTargets

Today, stereotypes of Italians come in two main flavors. Often, they are portrayed as angry, violent, and simple, possibly with some connection to the mob. If they're portrayed in a *slightly* more positive light, they are urbane, suave, and ready to make moves on someone's romantic partner. Regardless of the flavor encountered, these characters are usually loud and extroverted, use wild hand gestures, and have a mustache more often than not.

* A [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Italian-American_television_characters list of Italian-American TV characters]] and their descriptions on Wikipedia features an overwhelming number of entries about a [[TheMafia particular occupation]]. The fact that most of the rest of the entries are blue-collar jobs doesn't exactly boast great representation, either.

* A list of Italian-American TV characters and their descriptions as compiled on Wikipedia features an overwhelming number of entries about a [[TheMafia particular occupation]]. The fact that most of the rest of the entries are blue-collar jobs doesn't exactly boast great representation, either.

* This list of Italian American TV characters and their descriptions on TheOtherWiki features an overwhelming number of entries about a [[TheMafia particular occupation]]. The fact that most of the rest of the entries are blue-collar jobs doesn't boast the greatest representation, either.

* In ''Literature/ASongOFIceAndFire'', the Targaryens are (truthfully) pictured this way constantly.
** [[spoiler: Jaime and Cersei, as well as their offspring, especially [[RoyalBrat Joffrey]]]].

* ROH also takes note of the "ignored" aspect of this trope, usually trying to give plenty of promotion to Wrestling/JimmyWangYang, Karen Q and the like, although it is {{played for laughs}} in the [[ButtMonkey case]] of referee Pat Tanaka. Steve Corino has to be frequently reminded Tanaka is a Boston native who speaks no Japenese, and speaks fluent English for that matter. Julius Smokes also went on a left field Chinese food rant during a promo on (Korena)Mia Yim's ROH origins.

* Vince [=McMahon=] Sr. was famous for insisting on having a representetive for every ethnic group in New York City. Wrestling/VinceMcMahon Jr. was famous for offending every ethnic group in New York City ''except'' the Irish. However, they finally got their "turn" with the introduction of Wrestling/{{Hornswoggle}}, who had the truly unique [[TheGimmick gimmick]] of being [=McMahon=]'s bastard leprechaun son granted the ability to speak English through Santa Clause. This was later {{retcon}}ned however into Hornswoggle being Fin Finlay's bastard son, bringing his "Irish ''American''" roots into question.

* The Mexicools were not this as individuals. Super Crazy, Wrestling/{{Pscicosis}} and Juventud Guerrera are all fan favorites with long successful careers. But their repacaking for the group involved turning them into [[WrestlingDoesntPay wrestling landscapers]] who ride to the ring on lawn mowers while promising a revolution that will never come.

* WWE ran an angle where Wrestling/{{Tatanka}} became a vengeful ghost warrior against the [[MisplacedRetribution completely]] blameless Wrestling/BobbyLashley and against WWE officials(who were merely [[HanlonsRazor incompetent rather than outright malicious]]) for their discrimination against him. The problem was fans thought this was "badass" and [[DracoInLeatherPants cheered him]]. It doesn't help that Tatanka is a Lumbee, which are one of the USA's most discriminated tribes by virtue of the government refusing to acknowledge their existence[[note]]they tend to get lumped in with "Blacks" due to having sort of dark skin and a tendency for curly hair. Apparently there is no way a group of people with such features could get to the Americas before European colonists.
* Arrow Club, one of many {{gang|bangers}}ster themed {{power stable}}s, in this cased based on [[RippedFromTheHeadlines The Wild Boys]], and their adapetness for causing ''just'' enough mayhem ''not'' to get charges that would result in being sent to prison, or [[LighterAndSofter suspension from wrestling promotions in this case]].[[/note]].

* In Wrestling/{{ECW}} the joke about the FBI(Full Blooded Italians) was that for all of their posturing, most of them actually were not and some of them probably were not even Italian at all. This simple joke was far too complex for WWE however, who basically turned them into Italian GangBangers with mafioso delusions. Johnny The Bull and Nunzio did become baby faces when the WWE version inevitably split up but Chuck Palumbo just veered harder into gangsterism by becoming a 1% biker gange banger hybrid.
* WCW turned Sweet Destiney into Little Jeanne and ECW Angel Orsini into the Prodigette, which were basically mafia princesses turned muscle for higher after descending to the independent circuit.

* ''Big Fat Gypsy Weddings'' and its USA counterpart ''My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding'' came under harsh fire from Romani groups for claims the gypsies shown on screen were really Irish, and misrepresenting Romani in general, not that their efforts stopped either show.

* The Highlanders were once a fairly bogstandard TagTeam. Their gimmick was that they were kilts. This was too subtle for WWE, who introduced them to the main roster audiences as immigrants who had never heard of modern plumbing and who tagged one another [[UseYourHead with headbutts]].
* Wrestling/{{Nikki|Cross}}Storm from Pippa L'vinn's Wrestling Factory fits the inflated ego stereotype, as she antagonizes ''everyone'' of every other ethnicity about Scotland's superiority. Downplayed in Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} and its spinoffs, where she also antagonizes fellow Scots like Kay Lee Ray and Viper for [[NoTrueScotsman not being Scottish enough]]. L'Vinn herself has a bit of a Scottish accent, and is perhaps a dirtier heel than Storm, though preferrs to be reffered to as ''British''.

* Canadians in general used to be considered quite, serious types who insist on low to the mat no punch kick matches while struggling to give compelling interviews, dating back to the days of the Bristish Empire. Anglo-Canadians later began to be seen tend as hammy "cool kids" with fragile egos, tending to lash out at everything that doesn't acknowledge their superiority, thanks to Wrestling/OwenHart, Wrestling/JimNeidhart, Wrestling/ChrisJericho and Wrestling/Christian, but the charisma blackhole stereotype held on thanks to "technical wizard" Wrestling/LanceStorm and Wrestling/{{Test}}. Franco-Canadians tend to be sea rats, dirty theives, low life thugs and {{garbage wrestler}}s, or wannabe Frenchmen, with all the negative traits that come with being French ''and'' a poser. The latter is due to WWE turning Franco-Canadians La Resistance and Maryse into Francophiles, fake Frenchmen, or French Sympathizers, [[ThreeMonthRule as the situation required]].

Tend to be mocked because of "not really being Asian" due to the fact that Filipino culture has far more Western influences (due to three ''centuries'' of Spanish control and a few highly-influential decades of American rule and influence) than Eastern Asian ones. This thought was essentially summarized in the line of a ''Series/MadTV1991'' sketch: ''"He's not Asian, he's Filipino!"'' or in an episode of ''Series/WillAndGrace,'' when Karen mentioned her boss was away on business in the Philippines: "I like Filipinos; they're Asian, but they're not cocky about it." Then there are all the jokes about Filipino foreign workers caricatured as being practically everywhere. Not to mention all the mail-order brides and prostitutes jokes that always seem to pop up. Plus the fact that young Filipino boys are now seen as a kind of catch-all for what gay men are supposed to be into.

Tend to be mocked because of "not really being Asian" due to the fact that Filipino culture has far more Western influences (due to three ''centuries'' of Spanish control and a few highly-influential decades of American rule and influence) than Eastern Asian ones. This thought was essentially summarized in the line of a ''Series/MADtv'' sketch: ''"He's not Asian, he's Filipino!"'' or in an episode of ''Series/WillAndGrace,'' when Karen mentioned her boss was away on business in the Philippines: "I like Filipinos; they're Asian, but they're not cocky about it." Then there are all the jokes about Filipino foreign workers caricatured as being practically everywhere. Not to mention all the mail-order brides and prostitutes jokes that always seem to pop up. Plus the fact that young Filipino boys are now seen as a kind of catch-all for what gay men are supposed to be into.

{{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s like ComicBook/LexLuthor, {{Straw Loser}}s like [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} George Costanza]], and let's not even start about Nazi skinheads. For some reason, bald black men typically aren't made fun of, even if they're not a BaldBlackLeaderGuy. Perhaps this is because blacks are seen as much more likely to shave their heads as an intentional hairstyle (rather than male pattern baldness) than people of other races are, and are generally agreed to look better bald, perhaps due to the prejudice against African hair noted below. Cancer patients or anyone who has lost their hair due to an illness or its treatments are also exempt from being ridiculed (though the loss of their hair will still be portrayed as traumatic and shameful). This trope only seems to apply if a) you're not black, b) you've actually lost the ability to grow hair (particularly if your bald''ing'' instead of completely bald, and especially if you try to cover it up with combovers, [[DodgyToupee hairpieces]], [[NeverBareheaded hats]], etc.) and/or c) you're evil. See also BaldOfEvil. Typically averted by BaldOfAwesome.

* Played straight and lampshaded in an episode of ''Series/((Hoarders))'', in which little person Jessica needs to clear out her home to allow her to build a small house designed for her needs next door to her sister's family, both for safety and because her sister's daughter absolutely adores her aunt. The crew comment that Jessica is the only person they have ever worked with who has understood what she needs to do and why, and does not push back against help in doing so. Jessica responds that she has been participating in cognitive behavior therapy to prepare herself for a happier life.

* Played straight and lampshaded in an episode of ''Series/Hoarders'', in which little person Jessica needs to clear out her home both for safety and to allow her to build a small house designed for her needs next door to her sister's family, both for safety and because her sister's daughter absolutely adores her aunt. The crew comment that Jessica is the only person they have ever worked with who has understood what she needs to do and why, and does not push back against help in doing so. Jessica responds that she has been participating in cognitive behavior therapy to prepare herself for a happier life.

* Aerial Monroe's muscles and famed sensitivity concerning her hair didn't save her from Priscilla Kelly on the WWN family shows. There was an unintentional subversion in SHINE, the [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor only]] WWN show where Kelly was [[DesignatedHero supposed to be]] a baby {{face}} at the time. Kelly went so far as to rub Monroe's hair in her crotch specifically after Monroe warned Kelly not to touch it. [[MoralDissonance The fans took Monroe's side]] and she became one of SHINE's top faces until Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling signed her.

* Due to being a white battle-rapper, Music/{{Eminem}} faced many jokes from his black opponents about his race. He couldn't shoot back with racist comments about black people, resulting in a strategy of turning their insults about white life into [[SelfDeprecation ridiculous, uncool boasts]]. His [[AlterEgoActing Slim Shady]] persona was based on the idea of being the depraved, sociopathic id of white America, exaggerating his NerdyNasalness, rapping in something more like a general Midwestern accent rather than his own Detroit one, bleaching his hair and wearing blue eye contacts.

It's still relatively common to see portrayals of non-Russian Slavs, particularly the Balkan Slavs (and people who aren't Slavs but get lumped with them anyway, such as the Romanians or Greeks) as uncultured thugs and savages keen on getting revenge on their "ancient enemies" i.e. their neighboring country/tribe/village. There's also depictions of them as cunning tricksters who might outwardly accept (Western) civilization, but actually just exploit it for their own gains (e.g. a mock democracy run by a clique of corrupt generals).

->'''She:''' No, I had [[ComicallyMissingThePoint not heard about this]].

!!Examples

* Canadians in general used to be considered quite, serious types who insist on low to the mat no punch kick matches while struggling to give compelling interviews, dating back to the days of the Bristish Empire. English Canadians later began to be seen tend as hammy "cool kids" with fragile egos, tending to lash out at everything that doesn't acknowledge their superiority, thanks to Wrestling/OwenHart, Wrestling/JimNeidhart, Wrestling/ChrisJericho and Wrestling/Christian, but the charisma blackhole stereotype held on thanks to "technical wizard" Wrestling/LanceStorm and Wrestling/{{Test}}. French Canadians tend to be sea rats, dirty theives, low life thugs and {{garbage wrestler}}s, or wannabe Frenchmen, with all the negative traits that come with being French ''and'' a poser. The latter is due to WWE turning French Canadians La Resistance and Maryse into Francophiles, fake Frenchmen, or French Sympathizers, [[ThreeMonthRule as the situation required]].

** Note that, while technically a WASP, Eminem came from a poor trailer-trash background, which is a significant part of his persona. However, he also played with the perceptions of him being part of a white middle-class in his early career. The music video for "Just Don't Give A Fuck" has him antagonising people in a 1950s StepfordSuburbia, and he's shown as the suburban star of a [[SubvertedKidsShow midcentury sitcom]] in the beginning of the music video for "My Name Is", along with dressing as various other wealthy white characters like Johnny Carson and Bill Clinton. The ''Music/TheSlimShadyLP'' album track "My Fault" also casts him as a university student - he's worried that he's got to get Susan back to normal before the end of Spring Break.

** The skit in the middle of "Criminal" parodies racist white social mores when Slim is sent into a bank he and his gang are robbing (implicitly because his white skin will draw less attention). Slim's a deranged killer, so he murders the cashier (against his instructions), but he's white so he makes sure to cheerfully say "thank you!" in the style of a checkout Karen. Similarly, the skit in the video for "Forgot About Dre" replacing the [[{{Metaforgotten}} pataphor verse]] shows Slim getting to speak as a witness on an act of arson he obviously committed, due to the people around him assuming him to be a harmless young white lad. (He and Music/DrDre do get arrested later in the video, though.)

** The skit in the middle of "Criminal" parodies racist white social mores when Slim is sent into a bank he and his gang are robbing (implicitly because his white skin will draw less attention). Slim's a deranged killer, so he murders the cashier (against his instructions), but he's white so he makes sure to cheerfully say "thank you!" in the style of a checkout Karen. Similarly, the skit in the video for "Forgot About Dre" shows Slim getting away with arson due to the people around him assuming him to be a harmless young white lad (even when hollering nonsense into the camera and harassing the reporter).

--->I'm nicer than Pete, but I'm on a search to crush a '''milkbone'''\\

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' sometimes makes jokes about Marshall's height (e.g., when security tells Barny there's a Sasquatch in building)and the fact that the rest of his family are all even taller, Marshall is specificially described as being the runt of the family at 6'4.

* Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway's Ryan Stiles is often mentioned to be 6' 6'' tall, with jokes about his height being fairly common, but overshadowed by the bald jokes aimed at his partner in most scenes, Colin Mochrie. Ryan's height actually makes you forget that Colin is 6'2" and two of the frequent recurring comics, Brad Sherwood and Jeff David, are 6'4" themselves.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' nonstop, it takes every single Irish stereotype and turn it UpToEleven.

* In ''The Bad Place'' by Creator/DeanKoontz, the BigBad and his siblings are the result of multiple generations of incest. Taking it UpToEleven, their mother [[spoiler: was a hermaphrodite who [[{{Squick}} fertilized herself]] to produce them]]. Somehow this gave them all supernatural powers.

** The skit in the middle of "Criminal" parodies racist white social mores when Slim is sent into a bank he and his gang are robbing (implicitly because his white skin will draw less attention). Slim's a deranged killer, so he murders the cashier (against his instructions), but he's white so he makes sure to cheerfully say "thank you!" in the style of a checkout Karen.

--->I'm nicer than Pete, but I'm on a search to crush a milkbone\\
I'm everlastin', I melt vanilla ice like silicone\\

I'm colder than snow season when it's 20 below freezin'\\

* ''Film/TheSiege'', in which Arab terrorists attack New York, after which Arabs are rounded up into concentration camps. However, the movie is quite [[AnvilOfTheStory heavy-handed]] about defying this trope, with even the WellIntentionedExtremist GeneralRipper responsible for the said round-up making a speech ''against instituting martial law''. It also contains HarsherInHindsight: [[spoiler:The MysteriousInformant]] is not only [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curveball_(informant) a liar]], but also TheMole. Remember, this film was released four years before the second Gulf War. Also, one of the good guys is an Arab-American FBI agent who's outraged and resigns when his son gets rounded up with the rest.