The United States of America has a history of fighting the good fight for justice on behalf of the rest of the world. This notion has also translated into Hollywood movies with US centric plots and characters doing the same. 

The idea is to portray The United States as a saviour and protect the world. This line of reasoning leads to the portrayal of “other” countries, while perpetuating “White Saviourism”. The White Saviour complex, also known as White Saviourism, is an ideology whereupon a White person acts upon from a position of superiority to rescue people of colour (Murphy, 2023).

This complex plays a large part in the way non-American/European countries are showcased. It is often seen that Hollywood portrays these non-white countries with a certain “sepia” filter. It is used to show hot and dry climates, but rather portrays these countries as “filthy” and “dangerous” (Heydt, 2020). It can also be looked at as these countries being “polluted” and not having the privilege of having “clean” air. These cinematic techniques borderline stereotypes, which are often racist. Though there may be times that these stereotypes are true, where certain cities in fact do have the yellowish hue, it is more often than not a generalist idea that all non-American/European countries have this hue (Ullmann, 2022). This yellow filter is also used to portray some scenes as exotic. This could be with belly dancers in the background, cultural festivals and other events in these countries. Certain scenes with belly dancers and models are often engulfed by yellow filters to create these environments as “exotic”. 
For instance, the scene from “Breaking Bad” is a classic example of exaggerated yellow filter in Hollywood. As soon as the characters enter Mexico, the scene shifts and becomes yellow and it creates a sense of intensity and chaos. This leads to stereotyping non-Eurocentric countries as unpredictable, threatening and violent. Though this shift in filter may be to transverse the audience into the next location, it often seems to be exaggerated, perpetuating a sense of lawlessness and portraying it as an underdeveloped society (Ponce, 2021). People of colour have often voiced their concerns over the “yellow filter” and its effect in perpetuating and stereotyping negative attitudes towards non-white countries.

By Vanessa Varghese

Breaking Bad is a classic example of a heavy yellow filter to portray Mexico (non-American countries) as hot, filthy and dangerous.