Media Literacy Topic- Part B

I feel like the world of film is practically made up of stereotypes. There's the wrongful victim, the vengeful victim, the hardnose retired cop, the comedic relief, the jocks, the preps, the goths, the nerds, the 007's, the townies, the British baddies, the liberals, the conservatives, the Muslims, the Native Americans, the rich white people, the poor people, the gamers, the Italians, the homosexuals, the divas...seriously, there is a stereotype for every group of people. There are so many more than I could come up with off the top of my head.

As far as if there is any truth to stereotypes, I believe that stereotypes have a seed of truth, but are usually blown out of proportion. I am a victim of believing in certain stereotypes, but who isn't? I went to high school with a crowd of people who happened to play sports that I labeled 'jock' because they all dressed the same way, acted the same way...on the surface. I never got to know them, which means I will never think of them as anything more than that: the jock. This is true for many types of people, preps, geeks (though I am one), divas, ect.

An example of a stereotype in a movie is one of my favorite: the hardnose cop/military man. A new "Die Hard" movie has just come out in theatres, which I do hope is the last. Poor Bruce Willis is finally getting to the age where action films aren't plausible any more. He's "too old for this shit." Though I've only seen Live Free or Die Hard 4.0, he is also in movies like R.E.D (which is along the same lines, a retired military man needs to save the day). This stereotype feels as old as time. It's a good story for an action movie, and more believable than an ordinary man without training of any kind who just happens to know how to drive amazing cars really fast, kill people efficiently, and throw out fantastic one liners. People love to think of a rough and gruff hero, willing to save the day for the woman he loves, or because someone has kidnapped his daughter and woah, that was the. last. straw. But of course, they always are getting "too old for this shit," but we love them anyway. Clint Eastwood in Grand Torino was more believable than Justin Beiber trying to clean up the city streets. No one is looking for a laugh in an action movie, they want to be saved, they want to see things blow up. I don't care how popular Bieber Fever might be, he is not going to be in a movie throwing his weight behind a punch after getting shot three times.

Some stereotypes, like the example above, isn't necessarily bad. Predictable, but not bad. Now, when an old stereotype is done a new way, like Looper, I say, go for it, all day long. Racist or harmful stereotypes, of course, are not classy or acceptable. Again, the hardnose cop/military man is probably my favorite. I love a good knock-'em-down movie where the day is saved by the fatherly figure who seems like a badass but actually has a warm spot in his heart. If he didn't have that warm spot in his heart, he wouldn't be going through the effort to save the day because he probably really is, "too old for this shit." Or because he just doesn't give a shit.

List as many genres or types as you can:

• Action
• Adventure
• Romance
• Thriller
• Drama
• Horror
• Sci-Fi
• Romantic Comedy
• Western
• Children's
• Fantasy 

All of these genres listed use stereotypes. I've already listed one for action. Adventure usually has someone who is very unsuspecting of his impending plot, but always just manages to deal with whatever is thrown his way anyway (usually the coming of age film). Romances have the woman either wronged in love who never wants to have anything to do with men again (but oh wait, she hasn't met THIS ONE yet!), or the person is looking for love in all the wrong places. The offshoot, romantic comedy, usually involves someone who is clumsy in love or in life, looking for love in all the wrong places (which happen to be very awkward circumstances). Western is just another offshoot of action: the badass with a little heart happens in to town just in time to save the day or damsel in distress. I could go on, but stereotypes tend to run over each other. I think that it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with what the genre is, but who is directing and who is writing the script. They are the ones who aren't creative enough to allow characters to break out of the typecast box. They are the ones that need to work to break these predictable visions.