Stereotype Reaction Gag

"His image of Asians is so one-dimensional.... pass the rice?"

— Rick, Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World

One character assumes another has a certain item, skill or relationship based on a stereotype, be it racial, gender, or orientation-based.

For instance, someone asks a gay character if he can design clothes, or a Latino character if he has any relatives who work on cars, or a black character if he knows where to buy weed.

The character being asked is incensed and outraged that his friend would believe such outlandish and bigoted assumptions.

Then, of course, it turns out he does, in fact, have the skill or item in question readily at hand, and calmly gives up the info with a calm "yeah, okay." This allows writers to indulge ethnic and gender assumptions with built-in Lampshade Hanging. The best way of putting it is "but he didn't know that."

Compare I Resemble That Remark!. Contrast with Stop Being Stereotypical, Mistaken for Racist, Discriminate and Switch. Also see Hypocritical Humor.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Akiba in Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens frequently says that just because he's an otaku, he's not likely to know much about anything Takako or the other members of the art club might ask him. Then he goes onto rattle off Wiki-length entries on that very subject. This gets even more embarrassing when Takako out-geeks him later.

Comedy

• Irish comedian Ian Coppinger complains about the stereotype of Irish people being heavy drinkers since he personally knows two people who don't drink at all.
  Ian: Admittedly they are recovering alcoholics. Or "quitters", as we like to call them.
• K-von's backpack routine started when he saw a Mexican guy at his gym who turned out to have oranges in his backpack. He defends his laughing at the Mexican guy, insisting that it's not racist because he would have found it just as funny if it had been a Hawaian guy with pineapples in his backpack, or an Irish guy with potatoes, or an Italian guy with meatballs and a handgun or an Asian guy with textbooks and a calculator. He then points out that he's Persian himself, so if he swings his backpack he could drop kabobs, a rug, a pager or a gold chain. And that the culture with the funniest backpacks aren't even people of color, it's Russians. Whose backpacks contain smaller Russians with smaller backpacks, and on and on it goes.

Comic Books

• In Archie Comics (2015), Jughead goes to Kevin Keller for help planning a party. Kevin asks if it's because he's gay; Jughead responds that it's because the last party he threw had individualized gift bags.
  Jughead: Mine had a warm cheeseburger. You are the master.
• Done several times in Górsky & Butch. Apparently, Gorsky knows where to get drugs and know how to open handcuffs with a paper clip. But he can't jump.
• Marvel's Voices: Pride: Redline asks if Charlene knows his cousin, who is also a trans woman. Charlene comments that it's not good to assume all trans women know each other. At the end, though, it's revealed Charlene actually does know his cousin.

Comic Strips

• Candorville:
  • A variation occurs when (black) protagonist Lemont is told by a little kid that he looks just like "that one guy running for president." Lemont points out that he looks nothing like Barack Obama, and tells the kid that making assumptions like that is racist. The kid replies that he meant John McCain, as both he and Lamont look "really old." Lemont ruefully replies that he liked it better when the kid was being racist.
  • Another strip plays it perfectly straight: A white passerby asks Lemont if he knows any restaurants that have good ribs. Lemont launches into a rant about how racist it is to assume that he would know that just because he's black, and then cheerfully recommends Roscoe's Rib Shack.

Films — Live-Action

• Crash has one that sets the tone for the whole movie; two black men argue about how unfair stereotypes are and how everyone around them unfairly thinks they're going to pull out a gun and shoot someone/steal something. Mid-conversation, without missing a beat, they pull out guns and carjack someone.
• Happens a lot between John McClane and his partner-of-circumstance Zeus in Die Hard with a Vengeance.
  • McClane asks, for instance, "can you pick this lock?" Zeus calls him a racist ("Oh, all black dudes know how to pick locks, right?"), then when McClane points out that he's a locksmith, says that, yes, yes he can.
  • Earlier in the movie, when McClane asks if Zeus can hotwire a car, Zeus says:
    Zeus: Of course I can, I'm an electrician. [proceeds to force-start the car without hotwiring it] Only problem is it takes too fucking long.
  • But as it turns out, Zeus doesn't know how to use a gun.
• In Friday the 13th (2009), Lawrence, the only black person in the group, mentions that he plans to start up a music label in the future. Chelsea assumes that it will be for rap, and Lawrence acts extremely offended. Chelsea profusely apologizes for her insensitivity and begs forgiveness, then asks him what genre his music label will be for. He tells her that it is going to be for rap, with a big smile on his face showing that he was just messing with her.
• The Heartbreak Kid:
  Eddie Cantrow: Hey, are you running this whole thing?
  Flamboyant Man: Oh. Sure. Walk up to the first homo you see and assume he's the wedding coordinator, right? Nice.
  Eddie Cantrow: No, no. I didn't—I didn't mean that.
  Flamboyant Man: Nice stereotype, buddy. Nice.
  [the obviously gay wedding coordinator walks up to them]
  Wedding Coordinator: [in a sing-song voice] Did I hear someone say "wedding coordinator"? That would be moi!
• In Men in Black 3, Agent J is pulled over by cops while driving a stolen car in 1969. When the cops accidentally neuralise themselves, he takes the opportunity to chew them out for assuming that a black guy driving a Cool Car must have stolen it.
  J: I mean, OK, I stole that one. But not 'cause I'm black!
• This happens in a rather unique way in Oz the Great and Powerful when Oz tries to convince his flying monkey companion, Finley, that their mission will be a breeze:
  Oz: We're not going back. We're gonna find this wicked witch, steal her wand, I'll get that big pile of gold, and you can have a nice pile of bananas, alright?
  Finley: Bananas. Oh, I see. Because I'm a monkey I must love bananas, right? That is a vicious stereotype.
  Oz: You don't like bananas?
  Finley: Of course I love bananas, I'm a monkey, don't be ridiculous. I just don't like you saying it.
• Set It Up: Duncan calls Charlie out for assuming all gay guys are having sex all the time. A few minutes later, a guy comes out of Duncan's room promising to call him.
  Duncan: Okay, so technically, this time I did have a guy over.
• In Slaxx, the protagonist Libby assumes that her co-worker Shruti is listening to Bollywood music because she's Indian, causing Shruti to take out her earbud (revealing that she's listening to metal) and ask Libby if she's a Green Day fan because she's from a town called Greenville. Later in the film, however, Shruti is seen listening to Bollywood music, and is embarrassed when Libby finds out. It actually saves her life, and also provides a big clue that the malicious ghost killing people in the store is originally from India, as it starts dancing along when it hears the music coming from Shruti's headphones instead of attacking her.
  Shruti: Okay, so I like to listen to Bollywood music once in a while, is that a crime?
• Inverted in the film Soul Man; The main character is a white student posing as black to scam a scholarship, and during a basketball game the white captain of the team enthusiastically chooses him for the team, assuming he must have skills. The viewer is then treated to a montage of dropped balls, fumbles, missed shots, awkward throws, and easy steals.

Literature

• In The Dresden Files, there are a few instances of Dresden needing a donut (to communicate with and bribe a faerie), and immediately asking Murphy (who is a cop). She chews him out for automatically assuming that all cops eat doughnuts, only for Dresden to point out that she prefers the donuts with the sprinkles. AND he also gives a nice speech justifying the stereotype. (Specifically, donuts stay good for a very long time and are easy/quick to eat. Perfect for when you're spending hours waiting in one place.)
• In Everworld, David asks April if he knows anything about the goddess Brigid, whom he'd just met back in the normal world. April wryly comments that she doesn't know Celtic mythology just because her family is Irish. When David is embarrassed she admits that she does know a bit about Brigid, though only because she takes time to study mythology while in the Old World.
• In Johnny and the Dead, Bigmac asks Yo-Less (who is black) if he knows about voodoo. Yo-Less pointedly asks Bigmac (who is British) how much he knows about druids.
• Discworld:
  • In The Truth, Otto Chriek is an Uberwaldian stereotype who gets offended when de Worde assumes he's a vampire. Which he is.
  • Used in the earlier Carpe Jugulum with an Igor.
  • Jingo has some of the Klatchians doing this. At one point Jabbar says they can't trust 71-Hour Ahmed because he's a D'Reg, and when Vimes says "But you're a D'Reg too!" Jabbar replies "Yes, offendi! We know what we are talking about!"

Live-Action TV

• 30 Rock:
  • Jack accompanies Tracy to a therapy session to discuss some issues with his family. The therapist asks Tracy to imagine his father in a chair and tells him to tell him how he feels. Tracy says it's too weird, so Jack stands in as his father instead. When Jack starts to act as his father, he uses a Redd Foxx-like voice. The therapist begs Jack to stop, but he goes on using the voice, and later adds a similar female voice as Tracy's mother. While the therapist tries to stop him, Tracy recognizes the voices as the voices of his parents and resolves his issue. He does get offended when Jack uses a nerdy voice as "the white guy who hooked up with [Tracy's] mom" after his dad left.
    Tracy: WHOA! No need to resort to ugly stereotypes!
  • In another episode, Liz needs to track down a Christmas present she sent to a needy family and asks for Tracy's help in talking to the postal clerk. He's incensed that she seems to think all black people know each other but interrupts himself mid-rant to greet the clerk like the old friend she obviously is.
• Angel sort of had one of these in season two, when Cordelia asked Gunn if he could hotwire Angel's car when she couldn't find the keys.
• The Big Bang Theory: In one episode, the group are preparing for a meeting with government officials regarding some important research they've been doing, Howard suggests they should talk to a lawyer first. Raj suggests that Howard (who is Jewish) must have a lawyer in his family, and Howard angrily replies that that's like assuming that Raj must have a cousin who works in a call center because he's Indian. Raj points out that his cousin does work in a call center, and Howard admits that he does indeed have a cousin who's a lawyer.
• In Brooklyn Nine-Nine:
  • Jake asks Amy to hand him a hair-dryer from her handbag. Amy's reply is to ask him if he has ever met a human woman. In all fairness, one of his standards of womanhood is his Childhood Friend Gina, who, as we learn later in the episode, does have a hair-dryer in her bag.
  Gina: I'm not an animal.
  • The B-Plot in the episode "A Tale Of Two Bandits" is the Nine-Nine challenging the local firefighters for the right to keep their usual bar. When the firefighters mention that the bar that they used to go to recently burnt down by an arsonist (hence why they're intruding in the Nine-Nine's territory), the squad mockingly ask whether one of them turned out to be the arsonist. The Fire Lieutenant declares this to be a nasty and unfounded stereotype, before sheepishly admitting that yeah, it was.
• The Closer:
  • It's subverted when rough-around-the-edges Provenza tells Tao to talk to a Chinese family that apparently does not speak English — Tao speaks to them in English, then dryly informs Provenza that he's a third generation American, and does not speak Chinese. (He does speak Japanese, but that's because his wife is Japanese.)
    Provenza: Well, it always sounded good when you ordered Chinese.
  • Later played straight when he knows about ninjas... but only because he's a nerd, not because he's Asian-American.
• Community: Shirley expresses interest when Abed mentions snarking on DVD movies with Troy — Abed, knowing the trope, says "If she doesn't mind reinforcing the stereotype, I think Shirley would have fun talking smack at a movie. Care to join us?"
• On The Drew Carey Show, someone asks a Jewish guy if he knows any good lawyers. After recommending several members of his family, he gets suddenly offended at the stereotypical assumption.
• In the season 2 opener of Glee, Jacob asks Tina and Mike about them dating. They react with disgust that someone would assume they're dating because they both happen to be Asian, then walk away holding hands. It's then explicitly confirmed they are dating, having connected at Asian Summer Camp.
• An episode of Happy Days has Richie meeting a black guy named Sticks and asking him to fill in with his band. Sticks gets upset that he assumed he could play the drums; Richie explains that it's because of his nickname. Sticks tells him he's called "Sticks" because he's skinny; but yes, he can play the drums and happily sits in with the band.
• In The Inbetweeners, Jay and Neil see a black man selling drugs in a club, but when they approach him to get some he accuses them of racism.
• On Just Shoot Me!, Maya needs to do research for an article on gambling and asks Elliot if he knows any bookies. Elliot feels insulted because she had implied that since he's Italian, then he must have relatives in The Mafia. Later he discovers that he is indeed "connected" and is delighted about it.
• Law & Order: SVU episode "Inheritance": Stabler must interview witnesses in Chinatown and asks Dr. Huang to translate. Huang is initially offended at the assumption he speaks Chinese, but it turns out Stabler knew he could because he heard him order food once.
• Played with on Lois & Clark:
  Clark: Uh, Lois, could you hand me a nail file?
  Lois: Why do men always assume that women have nail files with them?
  Clark: I'm sorry, but do you have a nail file?
  Lois: Actually, I do, but only because it's part of my pocket knife.
• The sanitized A&E version of Lovejoy, about an antiques dealer who not-so-incidentally solves crimes:
  • It once includes a lovely subversion of this trope with its own Lampshade Hanging. Lovejoy and an ally, a Japanese businessman, are confronted outside a restaurant by a gang of thugs; the businessman makes karate-like motions at them and they become uneasy and retreat. When Lovejoy expresses admiration, the businessman tells him he was bluffing, banking on the Western assumption that All Asians Know Martial Arts.
  • In that same episode, Lovejoy works with an antiques specialist who embodies several Jewish stereotypes, including Yiddish as a Second Language. Lovejoy later claims that the man isn't really Jewish, he simply acts that way to encourage the people he works with to make the obvious assumptions about his character, thus giving him an edge in dealing with clients.
• Mako Mermaids: An H₂O Adventure: As mermen are functionally extinct thanks to a gender war in the past, Weilan reacts to Zac with novel curiosity, asking him why he's living a normal teenage life instead of riding a whale or summoning a storm. Zac isn't particularly offended, but he does dryly respond with "once you've ridden one whale, you've ridden them all".
• Also played with in My Name Is Earl while relating a particular list item. During the course of events, Earl and his father have to replace a dealer's duffel bag full of marijuana, so they seek out Crabman.
  White people always wanna buy marijuana when they whisper to me like that.
• Inverted by Gerald the Gorilla on Not the Nine O'Clock News. He makes the stereotypical claims against himself first "I suppose you think I spend all my money on peanuts and carpet cleaner". The interviewer denies thinking this, only for Gerald to confirm "Well I do spend about 95% of it on that."
• The Office (US) plays with this trope constantly, with Michael simple-mindedly assuming people can do things that they're not actually good at. There is at least one (almost) straight use of it, however: in "Night Out," Jim asks Oscar to talk to the cleaning crew since he's Hispanic. Oscar objects, but when he tries to speak to the cleaning crew in English, they don't understand. He then resigns to speaking to them in Spanish, and they understand him.
• On the fifth season premiere of Psych, Shawn and Gus call on their Asian-American secretary to translate for the head of the Triad. Doubly subverted in that a) the secretary knows only counting numbers in Chinese, and b) the head of the Triads speaks English.
• In the Royal Pains episode "If I Were A Sick Man," Evan finds out that Divya is engaged to be married. When she doesn't act enthusiastic, he asks if it's an arranged marriage. She is outraged that he would assume something like that just because she's Indian... and, yes, it's a strategic marriage.
• Scrubs:
  • Variation occurs in an episode where Turk (black) tells a story to J.D. about how a white patient offended him by offering him some of his fried chicken. J.D. then points out that Turk loves fried chicken and Turk admits to going to town on it while still being offended.
  • In an earlier episode, Turk is upset about a series of promotional posters with his picture on them. He talks about how he's seen as only representing his race, instead of for who he is, and how they automatically assume he's good at basketball and that he loves Sanford and Son. J.D. reminds him that he does, in fact, love that show, and they both do an a capella rendition of the theme song before continuing their conversation. Incidentally, Turk also plays basketball but is not necessarily better than the other hospital employees he and J.D. play with.
• In the Seinfeld episode where Jerry dates a Native American woman and tries to prove he's not racist, he innocently asks a mailman for directions to the nearest Chinese restaurant. He doesn't have a clear view of the man's face at that moment. Jerry doesn't realize until it's too late that the mailman is a Chinese-American, who takes great offense at the request.
  "You know, I don't get it. Not allowed to ask a Chinese person where the Chinese restaurant is! I mean, aren't we all getting a little too sensitive? I mean, someone asks me which way's Israel, I don't fly off the handle."
• On Slings & Arrows, Anna tries to score some pot off Maria. Maria initially thinks Anna is hitting on her; after that's cleared up, Maria's reaction is:
  So, you assume I'm a pothead, as well as a lesbian? Because all stage managers are pot-smoking lesbians, right? ... Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm all out. This process has been hard on my stash, and my guy is out of town till Tuesday.
• Spin City:
  • Used twice in a row, because Carter is a Twofer Token Minority (black and gay).
    Mike: Carter, will you help us break into the Mayor's office?
    Carter: Oh I see. You want to break in somewhere, you go to the black dude.
    Mike: Look, if you're too sensitive—
    Carter: Oh! Gay man! Too seeeeensitiiiiiive—
    Mike: If you don't wanna do this—
    Carter: No, it's cool, I want in.
  • Later combined with Hypocritical Humor — a gangsta rapper is invited to the Mayor's office, and Carter gives a speech ending with "And no gangsta stereotypes!"... only to scream "GUN!" and throw himself under a desk when the rapper reaches for a business card.
• Played with in Stargate SG-1, though not with racial stereotypes so much as behavioral. Daniel, while on a trading quest with Vala, mentions her having stolen an earlier item in the chain. She vehemently denies it, saying even if she has a checkered past, how dare he assume she had stolen it. He then reminds her that she told him she stole it, at which point she shuts up.
• Discussed in Ted Lasso. When Sam tries to convince Rebecca to attend a ceremony to lift a curse on Richmond's treatment room, he remarks that people always assume he's into magic and superstitions because he's from Africa. When Rebecca guesses that he isn't, Sam replies that he is, but it's because he's a Harry Potter fan, not because he's African.
• The Weekly with Charlie Pickering: In Zoë's segment on LGBT discrimination, she's made to deliver the line, "This is particularly unfair on lesbians, who have heaps of knowledge to share on everything from hardware shops to car maintenance." She then sarcastically adds "Yeah, and we're all bald and ride broomsticks." The segment ends with her pulling off a wig and riding off on a broomstick.
• Played with in White Collar, again with behavioral stereotypes — throughout the series Peter accuses Neal of stealing various artworks or artifacts, which Neal will vehemently deny, usually as if offended that the suggestion was even made. Peter is almost always right.
• Slightly inverted in an episode of Zeke and Luther, Zeke speaks to his Asian postman for help. The postman says that Zeke came to him because Zeke assumes that "all Asian men are wise karate masters". The postman is not angry and says that he actually is a wise karate master.
• In The X-Files episode "Humbug," Mulder and Scully investigate a murder in a town of former circus folk. Mulder asks their hotel manager, a Little Person, if he's done any circus work, and the manager is offended that Mulder would stereotype him that way because of his size. He does a Sherlock Scan of Mulder and concludes he's an FBI agent, but admonishes that stereotyping him would be wrong. Mulder then has to pull out his badge and explain he is an FBI agent.

Roleplay

• In Dawn of a New Age: Oldport Blues, Hyeon assumes that Benedict would know Devin since they're both rich white boys. Benedict is affronted but is forced to admit that he does have information on Devin. He makes it clear, however, that assuming he'd know about Devin would be similar to if he'd assumed that Hyeon knew every other Korean-American in Oldport... which Hyeon can't respond to, as he does happen to know the other two Koreans in the cast.

Video Games

• In Grand Theft Auto V, one of the passengers in Franklin's taxi missions will ask if he can sort out some gangsters messing with his daughter. This being GTA, Franklin is of course up to the task.
  Franklin: So you think because I'm a black guy I'd be cool with this shit?
  Walter: So you're not cool with it?
  Franklin: No, for sure, I am. *Beat* That's not the point though.
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Lotta Hart introduces himself by telling Phoenix not to judge Southerners by all the Southern stereotypes Lotta is enacting right then.
• In Spyro: A Hero's Tail, Spyro asks Blink if he knows of the Professor, and Blink jokingly responds with this.
  Blink: Oh, so just because I'm a mole, that must mean I know every mole in the world...
  Spyro: Uh...
  Blink: Just kidding! He's my uncle.
• In The Walking Dead, Kenny assumes Lee can pick a lock simply because he is black. For the record, a few episodes later Lee acknowledges that he can pick a lock.
  Kenny: Hey, Lee. You know how to pick a lock, right?
  Lee: No! Why would you say that?
  Kenny: Well... You're, y'know, "urban".
  Lee: Oh, you are not saying what I think you're saying!
  Kenny: Jesus, man! I'm from Florida! Crazy shit just comes out of my mouth sometimes.
• In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, one of the numerous people Geralt can ask to play Gwent with is the dwarf banker Vivaldi, prompting the banker to launch into an angry tirade where he berates Geralt for thinking he plays just because he's a dwarf, and that he probably thinks he knows all dwarves in town and spend his weekend digging in his cave.
  Geralt: But do you play or not?
  Vivaldi: Aye, I play.
• In the second season of the telltale games version of Sam & Max, when Sam and Max meet the leader of the time-traveling mariachi band, they greet him as "Pedro". He immediately scolds them for assuming that just because he's an ethnic Mexican mariachi player, his name has to be "Pedro". He actually gets them feeling so guilty that they apologize, at which point he laughs and professes to be messing with them, because his name is Pedro.

Web Comics

• In The Adventures of Gyno-Star, Gynostar meets a superhero whose power is fire. She sees him stare at a half-naked fellow superhero, and asks him whether he has a boyfriend. He is offended, pointing out that, just because he's "flaming" doesn't mean he's gay. He is gay, but how did she know that? (The fact that he literally began to burn when the sexy man walked by escaped him).
• In El Goonish Shive, Elliot is trying to convince his friends to attend a gender-switching party. He promises Justin that "If you come, I'll get Tedd to design me a female form with really long hair, and I'll let you style it however you want."
  Justin: Y-you're just assuming that would interest me because I'm gay.
  Elliot: No, I'm assuming it would interest you because you've played with hair at every opportunity I've seen.
• In Muh Phoenix, Captain America once claimed that water made Black Panther and his "kind" powerless. Just before he can lay into him for this and other comments, a giant wave of water knocked T'Challa over, giving him a Heroic RRoD. The question here is: was Cap talking about black people, or cats? And regardless of which one he was talking about, which stereotype actually turned out to be true for Black Panther?
  Black Panther: ...oh God... ...it's so wet...
• In Schlock Mercenary, Hob assumed that Kevyn was an Omnidisciplinary Scientist, and as such must know about explosives. Kevyn ridicules the trope, stating he's a wormhole physicist, and that doesn't make him a demolitions expert. Then admits he does know explosives, but only because everyone needs a hobby.
• In Skin Horse, Nick's reaction to being asked to hack into a sound truck mimics Zeus's.

Web Videos

• Joueur du Grenier: After failing to beat the infamous Silver Surfer (1990), Grenier invites in a Japanese gamer, so he can clear the game with his Asian superhuman gaming skills — except "Mr. Nakajima" is really named François Lebreton, was born in France, and is really, really annoyed by the whole thing. He still beats it in a matter of seconds.
• RWBY Chibi: A common gag with the cat faunus Blake. She's threatened to report her teammates to Glynda for assuming she's a cat burglar (as she steals everything in the room), and while offended that Yang gave her yarn as a gift, when Yang gave her a tea set, she was more interested in the box.

Western Animation

• American Dad!:
  • Steve tells Toshi to bring a camera to further their latest scheme. Toshi is incensed at the idea that Steve assumes he has a camcorder just because he's Asian. But sure enough, in a Description Cut, we see Toshi enter a closet in his house where the shelves are lined with dozens of cameras and camcorders.
  • Played with in another episode: Steve and his friends are playing Star Trek, and Steve addresses Toshi as "Chekov". Toshi praises Steve's racial sensitivity in not instantly casting him as Sulu... at which point Barry walks in, pulling at the corners of his eyes, and says "I'm Sulu!"
• In Archer, Malory addresses a train porter as "George".
  Lana: Malory! Don't call him that!
  Porter: My name actually is George.
  Lana & Malory: [in unison] Really?
• Family Guy absolutely loves this one. To give just one example, in the infamous Lost Episode, Peter asks a Jewish man for financial advice. When the man asks how Peter knew he was a financial planner, Peter responds "Hel-LO? 'Weinstein'?" ...And then there's the song "I need a Jew"... It's worth noting that a majority of the writing staff are Jewish.
• Subverted in the episode of Futurama with the cast of Star Trek: The Original Series has William Shatner telling George Takei to karate-chop one of the Planet Express crew. Takei objects to the idea that he can do karate just because he's Asian. Shatner defends this by saying that Takei never talks about himself^note Maybe if you showed a little interest.... Next scene, Takei gamely chops away and is exactly as bad as you'd expect someone with no karate training to be.
• In an episode of King of the Hill, a rival teacher tricks Peggy into an anti-Irish halftime show while a group of prominent Irish-Americans are in the stands. One of them rants afterward "And after the game, somebody called me "Pat" in the parking lot. It is my name, but he had no way of knowing that!"
• In the The Legend of Korra episode "A Leaf in the Wind" Avatar Korra, sole possessor of multiple Elemental Powers and a native Water Tribemember, Downplays and Invokes this by way of Hint Dropping when she asks Pro-Bender Bolin to teach her some moves to improve her repertoire. He agrees but isn't sure how his earthbending will translate to her waterbending. She responds that she can earthbend, and Bolin freezes up before Digging Himself Deeper, stumbling through an apology about making assumptions based on her Water Tribe clothes. After letting him squirm a little, she allows that he was right, she is a waterbender, and a firebender, too. Bolin's brother does the math:
  Mako: You're the Avatar, and I'm an idiot.
  Korra: Both are true.

A bit more justified, in that bending IS genetic, and each bending discipline tends to stick within its own country. On the other hand, they're in Republic City, the exception to that rule, which has a ton of mixed marriages (Mako and Bolin themselves are brothers with different elemental powers). However, her clothing and the conversation strongly implied she was not from Republic City.

• The Simpsons:
  • During a basketball game:
    Homer: You da man, Carl! I believe you can fly!
    Carl: I am so sick of everyone assuming I'm good at basketball because I'm African-American. (leaps into the air and slam dunks) Go Carl! Go Carl! It's my birthday! It's my birthday! Three-P! You got maaail, baby!
  • Also when Marge is challenged to an MMA fight and needs people to train her:
    Homer: Carl, do you know heavyweight champion Drederick Tatum?
    Carl: What, you think just because I'm black I know all other black people?!
    Homer: Uh...um, well, uh-
    Carl: (casually) Actually, Drederick and I are very good friends. We met through Dr. Hibbert at a party at Bleeding Gums Murphy's house.
• South Park did this several times.
  • In "Child Abduction Is Not Funny", the residents of South Park ask Mr. Kim (owner of the local Chinese restaurant, City Wok) to build a wall to keep out child abductors. After complaining at length he's "not a stereotype", Mr. Kim builds it anyway. And spends the rest of the episode defending it from a band of Mongolians.
  • In "Christian Rock Hard", Cartman forms a band, and tells Token Black to get the bass guitar out of his basement. Token says that he doesn't have a bass, but Cartman says, "Your family's black, Token. There's bound to be a bass guitar in your basement somewhere." Token actually does find a bass in his basement, but says he doesn't know how to play it. An exasperated Cartman just sighs, "Token, how many times do we have to go through this? You're black. You can play bass." When Token tries to play, he discovers to his own surprise that he can actually play like a pro, and just mutters, "Goddammit..."
  • A double dose in yet another episode, Cartman keeps berating Kyle, demanding that he give him his "Jew Gold," a bag of gold every Jew apparently carries around his neck. Toward the end, Cartman is proved correct, and Kyle gives him the bag... at which point Cartman asks for the real one since he knows every Jew has a fake bag of gold to give out as a decoy. Kyle gapes at Cartman in disbelief and anger... then pulls out a second bag and throws it into a fire.
• In the Rocko's Modern Life episode "Eyes Capades", Heffer says that Rocko is as blind as a bat. An actual bat walks up to him and says he's sick of those stereotypes, then walks off angrily and ends up bumping into several people.
  Bat: We're having enough problems with the whole vampire schtick without being considered visually impaired!
• In Harley Quinn (2019) when the Justice League is fighting Darkseid's Parademons, Wonder Woman attempts to interrogate one of them with her Lasso of Truth and looks to Superman when she can't understand its screeching. He chastises her for assuming he knows all alien languages just because he is one, before saying that he does know a little Parademon "but it's still a racist assumption. Be better," to which she rolls her eyes.

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