Todays Lesson , stereotypes

Theory Tuesday!

In todays lesson our main theme was representation and stereotypes. This is important towards our film and characters because they are both stereotypes : the businuess man , wearing a suit , wearing smart shoes with a breifcase. and a homeless person, wearing scruffy clothes and writing notes on carboard. this is stereotypes at a basic level in media. it helps identify characters and makes the audience comfortable and helps them relate and think they know the character, this also can be linked in with Barthes Social codes our stereotype of a homeless person is that he lives in a carboard box, so therefore he was a bum at school and took drugs and is not respected or known, or even cared about , this is an example of symbolic code, semiotic code and also cultural code. even if this thought is subconsience or you are casting stereotypes.

We looked at a theorist called Tessa Perkins. Who founded theorys to do with stereotypes and we also looked at leon festinger another theorist, i wont go into full detail to do with all of these theorists or else my group won't have anything to write about. however i will mention Tessa Perkins (1997) she defines stereotypes as group concepts (held by social group, about a social group) which give rise to simple structures that often hide complexity, based on an 'inferior judgement process' she argues that, against commonsense notions of stereotypes:

- they are not always 'false': cowboys do wear cowboy hats etc. the interesting question is to what extent social groups consiously adopt stereotypical signs in order to identify themselves, and to what extent the mass media orchestrate or amplify thiese dilberate social acts of communication:

an example of this is that businuess men do wear suits to work.

-Stereotypes can, at least in part, be positive, Germans are stereotypically efficient, the French great lovers, black people good at sport and so on. However, these are always backhanded compliments - the germans may be seen as ruthlessly efficient

an example of this is that polish people are hard workers or that jamaicans are laid back and really cool.

-They can be held about one's own social group: the English several stereotypical images of themselves.

an example is that because i listen to a certain type of music i should wear certain clothes, etc

-They are not always concerned with opressed groups: there are stereotypes of aristocrats as arrogant, americans as loud and brash.

an example of this is teachers only like boring music, or get drunk or have a life outside of teaching!

-They are not always about minority groups of which we have little direct experience: stereotypes of women and men, with whom we all have experience, are widespread.

an example of this is girls are always tidy, and boys are messy. or if a girl has alot of partners she is a slag if a boy has alot of partners he is a player!

-They can be simply and complex at the same time: the 'dumb blonde' stereotype, of which Marilyn Monroe was the most famous representative, paradoxically combines lack of intelligence and wit; sexuality naivety with the power to manipulate, an exploited subordinate position and cult status.

an example of this is child like innocence, having power over there parents etc.

- They are not rigid or unchanging - stereotypes evovle and adapt since they relate to struggles around power, which may differ in scale and change over time.

an example of this is smoking, it used to be cool to smoke but in the 21st century it has become more frowned upon and somewhat stupid, another good example of race this has evolved a long time it used to ok to use "negro" and such words but now it is severly frowned upon.

-We do not simply 'believe' or 'disbelieve' in stereotypes: they can 'work' for us or communicate to us without our necassarily 'agreeing' with them.

an example of this is when people dress in suits or smartly dress to come across professional, even if normally you dress in joggers and a hoodie!

- They do not necessarily influence our behaviour and attitudes: it is possible to 'hold' a stereotype without believing it to be true. The reaction of the viewer to a stereotype will depend on a complex set social, historical and individual experiences.

an example of this is sexist jokes, you may tell them to make someone laugh but you may not be racist.

As a group we need to understand stereotypes in our film , poster and magazine and get the right mediational view, to attract the correct target audience. I will try to find a good video to demonstrate stereotypes. In terms of our media products we want to represent two stereotypes businuess man (opressed) as arrogant, and as for the homeless man we want to represent him as a stereotypical homeless person to allow the audience to understand what is going on, but the twist should show a change of stereotypes to more of a positive perseption of a homeless man. (a hard life, someone that has lost everything)

Cheerio, Theodore x