media and stereotypes

Watching the racist draft in class has forced me to look at jokes in a different light.  It seems like it is possible that all stereotypes are created and kept alive through jokes.  Someone notices a trend that a few group members do and they attribute it to the whole group.  Usually, for it to be funny there has to be some validity to the joke, right? Maybe not; maybe the media creates the framework for these stereotypes, which then influences members of the group to act this way.  Though, even if they do not influence the group to act a particular way, people are more likely to notice a member of the group doing a “stereotypical” thing because it is fresh in their minds.  It could be that everyone does it, whether in the group or not, but people only notice the stereotyped group doing it.  It seems apparent that the media has the ability to influence stereotypes, for example rap music.  Rap music creates the “ideal male” that objectifies women and promotes violence.  These stereotypes are learned through songs and music videos and can influence listeners.  I saw a documentary on this very subject last quarter and it mentioned how people assume that most black people listen to rap and that they are all gangsters.  Though, they said that something around 65% of rap listeners were white people.