The Problems with Stereotypes

The use of stereotypes in media can be a very hard thing to adapt, and talk about. Primarily because stereotypes can often give the wrong impression of a specific group of people. However if done well, they can often be the highlight of the story they are in.
In modern culture, the use of stereotype characters has lowered over the years, and it's good that it's not as prevalent as it used to be. Yet there's still something so fun about having a character, or many characters be the epitome of the "stereotype" class. It can really make a character shine out more than even the main protagonist, so long as they are written just as well as everyone else.
But ultimately, no story absolutely needs a stereotype in their cast to make a good story. If say a movie was type casted specifically by people who are represented by one class each, then it would be a drag of a movie to get through. And overall it wouldn't be fun to watch.
In my life, I can't say that I have personally been affected by stereotypes in real life. Although I can understand where they come from in media. Throughout my life, I have watched movies, tv shows, and even read books where there's always one character that comes off as annoying because he/she is a stereotype. And I've always felt bad for that character, because the actors are just doing what they're told to. So I never minded the characters themselves, nor the people that played them.
All this said, I don't believe characters that play stereotypes are necessary to make good entertainment, so long as the characters are written well, and feel like real people, that is good enough for me, and not as some comedic misrepresentation of someone else.

The Underground Maus Part 2

With the success and popularity of Maus, it proved that graphic novels could be about more than superheroes, supernatural characters, and talking ducks. It proved that even stories as grim, and dark as the Holocaust could be told in a very unique, and memorable way.
Told from the perspective of animals being that the Jews are mice, and the Nazis are cats, Maus tells the story of his fathers life, and how he survived the deadliest conflict in all of mankind.
When reading more of the novel, it continued to get darker, and more depressing as it went on. With the main character Vladek after serving a short draft in the Polish military, was taken to a work camp, but luckily was released unscathed. After that it showed the fall of his world, with the people he loved and knew being taken away by the cats, or escaping the country without saying goodbye. Over time, and even when Vladek is taken to the concentration camps, his spirit is constantly being tested, but throughout the story it is never broken.
The most compelling part of the novel is that the characters are all believable, and fell human. Despite being represented as animals, no one acts that way, and it always comes off as believable, and sad given their circumstances.
Overall the two novels are great reads, and easy ones at that. So long as anyone can handle the ideas of prejudice, and anti-semitism, it truly is a story to be told for generations.