Words and Stereotypes - A Closer Look

I had an interesting discussion today based on one of my earlier posts; that of appearance, perception and stereotypes. The discussion focused more on the verbal relationships between people, and how society may interact differently if people took more time to know and understand one another, or at least placed less emphasis on stereotypes.

Two scenarios come to my mind (one of which was discussed by a friend):
1) If we were all open and honest with each other, and hid none of our true selves, would we be without enemies, since enemies are often a result of distorted perception or misinterpretations?
2) If, similarly, we were all honest in regards to how we view one another, would this create more tension or simply provide people with an opportunity to view themselves in a different way?

When I think of complete honesty, I am reminded of movies such as 'Liar, Liar' and 'What Women Want', two very different movies based on a premise of uncontrollable thoughts or words, either received by the main character or provided by the main character (terrible descriptions, apologies, it's 12.21am but I wanted to get this written before I forgot). In 'Liar, Liar', Jim Carrey's character, through his son's birthday wish, is forced into vocalizing totally honest thoughts, however incriminating. In 'What Women Want', Mel Gibson's character, through electrocution (honestly, how many people would try to electrocute themselves after watching that movie purely for the chance to be able to read minds? I'm sure there would've been some people who considered it to be possible), is able to hear the thoughts of every woman he comes in the vicinity of. While the messages in these movies of honesty and understanding individuals are typical and predictable, they are also relevant, accurate and significant.

If people were to really listen to others, observe them and try to understand them, and not simply judge or stereotype them on a basis of what they say (because, honestly, how many people say things they don't necessarily fully agree with, just to fit in with a new group or similar?) or how they dress, I'd say the level of tension and depression in the world would be substantially lower.

Who knows....