Stigmatized on Screen: How Hollywood Portrays Nonstandard Dialects

This book analyzes the 500 top-grossing films of the last 20 years to show how speakers of traditionally stigmatized dialects are represented, underrepresented, misrepresented, and mocked. Ultimately, the author demonstrates how Hollywood reinforces long-standing negative beliefs about the languages of marginalized communities.

Lindsey Clouse is instructor of English at Western Dakota Technical College and Black Hills State University in Rapid City, South Dakota.