Exam Question
6. To what extent can the films you have studied for this topic be accused of reinforcing rather than challenging stereotypes?
After studying a range of foreign films I have seen a variety of stereotypes being represented within them. These stereotypes link to a range of themes and conventions that are influenced by the social and political issues at the times each film was set. I feel that the majority of the films I have explored in depth have had a particularly balanced approach to the enforcement of stereotypes. Conventional images in film are used to help develop familiar characters and persona’s.Many one dimensional audiences who relate especially to Hollywood mainstream cinema find comfort in seeing an accustomed character on screen, and many challenging characters can be seen as touching on a ‘taboo’ or uncomfortable subject, for example Jaques Audiard’s Rust & Bone (2012) which challenges the stereotype of females with disability and sexuality.
As I previously mentioned, Rust & Bone (Jaques Audiard, 2012) is one film I have studied that really does challenge stereotypes. One of the Protagonists, Stephanie who is a double amputee explores her sexuality after her incident. Audiard challenges the stereotypes of a women with disabilities through the use of typical conventional stereotypes, throughout the film he makes reference to the female body and the sexualisation of females, constantly comparing Stephanie to other women we as an audience see this In various shots and elements of micro features such as mise en scene and cinematography, audiard tends to focus on sensual parts of the female body such as legs of course to remind the spectators and Stephanie herself that she has no legs but to also reinforce the stereotype of women being sexual objects. However, Stephanie fights this stereotype through reclaiming her sexuality after her fatal incident, losing both of her legs, she continues to engage in a sexual relationship with a man this instantly liberates women allowing them to take back their sexuality, this strongly challenges the stereotypes women face in film and how they are represented.This man she engages with, the male protagonist ‘Alain’, who himself loses control over his life and finds comfort within conflict, this enforces a second stereotype regarding men and masculinity. The loss of control relates strongly to power and how men in particular seem to have more authority than females. Even though we see alain as a powerful and strong character both mentally and physically we see this stereotype challenged through themes like poverty and other charcaters, especially females like his sister and Stephanie. At the start of the film we see alain with his son searching for food on a train and eventually stealing food from a fast food restaurant, this indicates that alain has little control over his life and is not in a state of power, poverty and succumbing to the reality of lack of wealth seem to take a leading role in alains life and minimize his status and power as a man and father as he cannot provide for himself let alone his son. Which is something we see as a familiar connotation to masculinity, men being the soul bredwinner, this is highly contrasted when we understanf that his sister fills that role. This is the firtst indicating factor of the progression of role reversal throughout the film.
In comparison, Katia Lund and Fernando Merellies’s City Of God(2002) is based around ‘accurate’ stereotypes and how they are formed. These stereotypes tend revolve around poverty, power & conflict and unlike Rust & Bone, how poverty in particular can be beneficial in gaining power and a high status within a community. From the start we see contrasting antagonist and protagonist roles, one who conforms to all of the stereotypes , ‘Lil’ Ze’ and the other who defies the stereotypes related to the lifestyles lead in the favelas in brazil, which is ‘Rocket’. Throughout the film we see how rocket keeps a clear mind and conscience and doesn’t fall into criminal activity like the selling of drugs and violence. This of course is challenging the stereotype of young black males living in poverty, however we still see how he is able to gain something from his position is society, the fact that he is a deprived young boy means that he can gain the trust of lil ze and can develop his photo journalism career, which from the other journalistic characters we , as spectators can see that a young black male with a deprived background is not the typical fit for a journalist, which again presents the idea that lund and mereliies are challenging stereotypes. In spite of that there a few characters that seem to fit the stereotype that audiences would understand and be familiar with, and expect from that particular environment .an obvious example would be Lil’ Ze who is also a young black male who derived from poverty, unlike Rocket, Lil’ Ze turns to crime in order to gain wealth. He conforms to the conventions of the specific stereotypes that you would associate with the culture you would find in brazil in the time the film was set. Gang culture has a significant role in this film , which links strongly to the themes of Power, Poverty and Conflict, all of which play pivotal roles in Lil’Ze’s character as the Leader and Top man of his drug cartel.the idea that Lil Ze has grown from poverty into a violent, angry and lonely man leads me to the exploration of the concept ,that these emotions and conventions are ones typically associated with young black males ,and is relevant to most areas and time periods regardless of the social and political context and influences. for example Huberts character in La Haine(1995) fulfills this stereotype although la haine was set in france in 1995 which is much earlier than City Of God. This confirms my inclination that City Of God tends to reinforce specific stereotypes for the audience’s benefit as they are stereotypes and characters they have seen before and are used to.
Overall, I have found that many of the films I have explored have had a balanced attitude and perspective concerning the reinforcement and challenging of stereotypes, I have found that the challenging of stereotypes has not been done for the audiences benefit but in order to thoroughly explore specific themes and motifs. Whereas the enforcement of specific and particular stereotypes are used often in the films I have studied as it makes it easier to engage and relate to the spectators by presenting them with well-known and recognised characters associated specifically to certain environments and social and cultural situations.
After studying a range of foreign films I have seen a variety of stereotypes being represented within them. These stereotypes link to a range of themes and conventions that are influenced by the social and political issues at the times each film was set. I feel that the majority of the films I have explored in depth have had a particularly balanced approach to the enforcement of stereotypes. Conventional images in film are used to help develop familiar characters and persona’s.Many one dimensional audiences who relate especially to Hollywood mainstream cinema find comfort in seeing an accustomed character on screen, and many challenging characters can be seen as touching on a ‘taboo’ or uncomfortable subject, for example Jaques Audiard’s Rust & Bone (2012) which challenges the stereotype of females with disability and sexuality.
As I previously mentioned, Rust & Bone (Jaques Audiard, 2012) is one film I have studied that really does challenge stereotypes. One of the Protagonists, Stephanie who is a double amputee explores her sexuality after her incident. Audiard challenges the stereotypes of a women with disabilities through the use of typical conventional stereotypes, throughout the film he makes reference to the female body and the sexualisation of females, constantly comparing Stephanie to other women we as an audience see this In various shots and elements of micro features such as mise en scene and cinematography, audiard tends to focus on sensual parts of the female body such as legs of course to remind the spectators and Stephanie herself that she has no legs but to also reinforce the stereotype of women being sexual objects. However, Stephanie fights this stereotype through reclaiming her sexuality after her fatal incident, losing both of her legs, she continues to engage in a sexual relationship with a man this instantly liberates women allowing them to take back their sexuality, this strongly challenges the stereotypes women face in film and how they are represented.This man she engages with, the male protagonist ‘Alain’, who himself loses control over his life and finds comfort within conflict, this enforces a second stereotype regarding men and masculinity. The loss of control relates strongly to power and how men in particular seem to have more authority than females. Even though we see alain as a powerful and strong character both mentally and physically we see this stereotype challenged through themes like poverty and other charcaters, especially females like his sister and Stephanie. At the start of the film we see alain with his son searching for food on a train and eventually stealing food from a fast food restaurant, this indicates that alain has little control over his life and is not in a state of power, poverty and succumbing to the reality of lack of wealth seem to take a leading role in alains life and minimize his status and power as a man and father as he cannot provide for himself let alone his son. Which is something we see as a familiar connotation to masculinity, men being the soul bredwinner, this is highly contrasted when we understanf that his sister fills that role. This is the firtst indicating factor of the progression of role reversal throughout the film.
In comparison, Katia Lund and Fernando Merellies’s City Of God(2002) is based around ‘accurate’ stereotypes and how they are formed. These stereotypes tend revolve around poverty, power & conflict and unlike Rust & Bone, how poverty in particular can be beneficial in gaining power and a high status within a community. From the start we see contrasting antagonist and protagonist roles, one who conforms to all of the stereotypes , ‘Lil’ Ze’ and the other who defies the stereotypes related to the lifestyles lead in the favelas in brazil, which is ‘Rocket’. Throughout the film we see how rocket keeps a clear mind and conscience and doesn’t fall into criminal activity like the selling of drugs and violence. This of course is challenging the stereotype of young black males living in poverty, however we still see how he is able to gain something from his position is society, the fact that he is a deprived young boy means that he can gain the trust of lil ze and can develop his photo journalism career, which from the other journalistic characters we , as spectators can see that a young black male with a deprived background is not the typical fit for a journalist, which again presents the idea that lund and mereliies are challenging stereotypes. In spite of that there a few characters that seem to fit the stereotype that audiences would understand and be familiar with, and expect from that particular environment .an obvious example would be Lil’ Ze who is also a young black male who derived from poverty, unlike Rocket, Lil’ Ze turns to crime in order to gain wealth. He conforms to the conventions of the specific stereotypes that you would associate with the culture you would find in brazil in the time the film was set. Gang culture has a significant role in this film , which links strongly to the themes of Power, Poverty and Conflict, all of which play pivotal roles in Lil’Ze’s character as the Leader and Top man of his drug cartel.the idea that Lil Ze has grown from poverty into a violent, angry and lonely man leads me to the exploration of the concept ,that these emotions and conventions are ones typically associated with young black males ,and is relevant to most areas and time periods regardless of the social and political context and influences. for example Huberts character in La Haine(1995) fulfills this stereotype although la haine was set in france in 1995 which is much earlier than City Of God. This confirms my inclination that City Of God tends to reinforce specific stereotypes for the audience’s benefit as they are stereotypes and characters they have seen before and are used to.
Overall, I have found that many of the films I have explored have had a balanced attitude and perspective concerning the reinforcement and challenging of stereotypes, I have found that the challenging of stereotypes has not been done for the audiences benefit but in order to thoroughly explore specific themes and motifs. Whereas the enforcement of specific and particular stereotypes are used often in the films I have studied as it makes it easier to engage and relate to the spectators by presenting them with well-known and recognised characters associated specifically to certain environments and social and cultural situations.
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