Representation In Films

I am going to be discussing the different representations in the Thriller film genre. There are many different representations, varying from genders, ethnic groups, classes and ages, some of these can be in a conventionally stereotypical way or an unconventional, non stereotypical way. Directors choose to use stereotypical representations as the audience will generally see it as normal and something they have came accustomed to seeing in films.
There are four main areas in which people are represented in films and other media texts, these are:

Different Genders:

In Thriller films, some men are represented as the stereotypical "white male masculine hero". They will often be masculine, dominating, brave, a leader, role model, agrressive, a good fighter, physical and technical.  An example of this stereotype from a Thriller film is Batman from "The Dark Knight" film. He is the hero of his town and saves thousands of people's lives.

There is many male protagonists however who are not represented in a stereotypical "Hero" way however, this is common in thriller films as they are often involved in criminal activity,an example of this is the cast from "Reservoir Dogs" who are involved in a diamond hiest.Some characters kill innocent civillians, one character goes as far as slashing  another man's ear off. This is far from a heroic act, it does make the man look tough and voilent, but he in actual fact looks like the villain of the film.

There is many male protagonists however who are not represented in a stereotypical "Hero" way however, this is common in thriller films as they are often involved in criminal activity,an example of this is the cast from "Reservoir Dogs" who are involved in a diamond hiest.Some characters kill innocent civillians, one character goes as far as slashing  another man's ear off. This is far from a heroic act, it does make the man look tough and voilent, but he in actual fact looks like the villain of the film.

Women in Thriller films are often represented as being very feminine, physically weak and powerless, mentally emotional and fragile. An example of a woman in a thriller film who has some of these characteristics is Aridrane from "Inception" she is one of the main characters in the film and although she is mentally strong and very intellegent, she uses he brains to solve all of her problems opposed to using her physical side.

There are many females in Thriller films who totally go against this stereotype however, Foster from "Silence of The Lambs" is a classic example of this, she is in the FBI and gets in gunfights, she is both the protagonist and the "Hero" of the film.    

Different Ethnic Groups:

Ethnic groups are represented in different ways in thriller films, generally these are stereotypical views which are often used within the film industry. Some of the characteristics which white people often have in thriller films is that they are intellegent, dominant, in- control, good and innocent. They are often seen as the "heroes"  and saviours of the film. An example of this from a thriller film, is Batman from "The Dark Knight".

Other ethnicities are often represented as weaker, powerless, the victims, criminals and subservient.
Denzel Washington plays a dangerous criminal in the film "Safe House", and the CIA agent finds it hard to keep control of him.
Ethnicities are sometimes seen to clash with one an other, and may not always get along, a thriller film which strongly shows this is "Crash (2004)", a film set in Los Angeles, there is a white police officer who is racist towards his African-American detective partner and a hispanic male. Throughout the film there is a lot of racial tension between all of the different ethnicities.




Different Classes

In Thriller films, class isn't shown to effect the outcome as much as it does in other films. The upper class people do seem to have power and control, especially in Crime/thriller films where they will show their wealth by wearing expensive clothes such as suits and be smoking cigars, like the film Resevoir Dogs when characters are always walking around in suits, this gives you the impression that they are of a higher class and status opposed to ordinary people.

Working class people are often underrepresented in Thriller films, which often leads them to turn to criminal activity to make a living. Generally in thriller films class is not easily identifyable with some characters, so the audience assume that they are working/ middle class if they are just leading was seems to be an ordinary lifestyle.

Different Ages:

Thriller films generally tend have generally adults around the age of 20-50 as the protagonists and main characters, this is seen as the conventional age for characters in thriller films as this generally is the age group as to where people are most capable in many aspects of life (physically and mentally). famous examples of characters from this age group are shown below.Adults are often represented as clever, hard working and the saviours

  

Children are often represented as sweet and innocent, but they are often seen as very vunerable, like John Connor from "The Terminator 2", he needs to always be with the Terminator at all times ultimately to prevent being killed or captured.    

The elderly are represented as weak and fragile, and less capable. They can be seen as role models and leaders however, such as Joe Cabot from "Resevoir Dogs", he is the leader of the criminal gang, and the others do as he says