Representation of characters in Spy-thriller films

By Amber Grundy

Vladimir Propp’s character theory

Vladimir Propp was the founder of the theory which states the idea that a certain type of character must be used in every narrative structure.

He said that there must be these 7 character types in every narratives:• The villain (also known as the antagonist)-fights the hero in some way• The hero (also known as the protagonist)- reacts to the donor and ‘saves the day’• The donor- gives the hero something that will help them in some way• The helper- helps the hero• The princess/prize- ‘happily ever after’ moment• The dispatcher- the character that makes the villain known• The false hero – the character that claims to be the hero e.g. trying the marry the hero

Representation of gender in Spy-Thriller films

MenStereotypes of men in the media:

• Independent

• Muscles, built body to show they’re physically strong

• Emotionless

• Powerful- this is usually shown in films by using a low angle shots to authority and control and make the male character look big and over powering.

• Brave and clever

• Usually the hero

An example of one of the most popular male hero is James Bond. He is strong, powerful and in control. He is intelligent and knows he is good at his job.

Representation of men in Spy-Thriller films:

• Usually portrayed as both the protagonist(hero) and antagonist(villain)

• The male hero is usually young and white.

• Usually more important than the female characters

• They are conveyed as being brave and clever depending on this situation

WomenStereotypes of women in the media:• Weak• Vulnerable• Emotional• Dependant• Pretty• Sexual appeal• innocent

However, ‘Salt’ is an example of a film where a women played by Angelina Jolie is used as the protagonist. She is going against her stereotypical role and is showing she is independent in situations and emotionless when her husband is shot.

Representation of women in Spy-Thriller films:• Sometimes they need saving by the male protagonist• They get captured by the male antagonist• They are normally portrayed as being beautiful and sexy,

the main women in the film can be used as a sex icon for the male audience to engage them in the film

• A survivor- in most films women are weak and don’t survive. However, in thrillers and horrors, women usually live to tell the story of what happened which links to the Final girl theory of being the female survivor

• It is usually a female scream you can hear

Representation of Class in Spy-Thriller filmsStereotypes of high/upper class people:

• Rich

• Well dressed

• Snobby

• Well mannered

• Rude

• Intelligent

Stereotypes of middle class people:

• Owns their own home

• Well educated

• Well off

• Nice car

• ‘normal’ people’

Stereotypes of lower /working class people:

• Factory workers

• Rented properties

• Work for people

• Inner city

How class is represented in Spy-Thriller films:• The hero is usually upper class such as James

Bond.• Lower class people are usually involved a lot in

thrillers and are seen as intelligent but with no common sense.

• Most characters in Spy-thrillers work for governments who earn a lot of money and live in expensive towns and cities.

• However, high class people in Spy-thrillers usually have stressful lifestyles

• Sometimes in spy-thrillers, a character may have a lot of money to start with but due to events in the films, they sometimes loosing all of it (usually the antagonist).

Representation of Ethnicity in Spy-Thriller Films

In society, there is high discrimination and racism. A thriller film which shows this is ‘Lakeview Terrace’. It shows racism and discrimination as it is a film about an interracial couple living next door to a cop. The cop doesn’t like them due to their race so he is abusive towards them and turns their lives into hell to try and get them to leave.

Ethnic stereotypes:

Asians- intelligent, hardworking, determined, martial arts, physically weak, mentally strong and ruthless

Afro/Caribbeins- gangster, violence, criminal, victim, hero, athletic

American- lazy, easy going, relaxed, female Americans are seen as sex symbols

Representations of Ethnicity in Spy thriller films are:

• Afro/Caribbein characters are represented as violent, involved in drugs and are portrayed as criminals in spy-thriller films. They are never usually seen as the protagonist.

• Asians are represented as hardworking, high class and powerful. Usually, an Asian actor will be chosen to play the role of a president or someone important as they are stereotyped as being intelligent.

• Latin American women will usually be used as a sex symbol in the films.

• Famous white British/ American actors are usually chosen to play the protagonist or antagonist as they are popular or well-known to the audience the fore will appeal to them more.

Representation of Age in Spy-Thriller films

Children are usually conveyed in films in stereotypical ways:

• Vulnerable

• Naughty

• Mischievous

• They are usually seen as trouble makers

• Innocent

• Victims

The elderly are also usually conveyed in stereotypical ways:

• Grumpy

• Rude

• Poor health

• Helpless victims

• Outspoken

• Cant take care of self

• Memory loss

• Unemployed

When elderly people are seen in the media, it is often in a stereotypical way. However, elderly people are usually excluded from most films altogether.The amount of people aged 65 and older in 2005 were represented in less than 2% of programs and films.

An example of where stereotypes of the elderly have been used is in a TV programme called King and Queens. It is about an elderly character called Arthur who doesn’t know what goes on and he doesn’t understand most things because he is ‘old’.

Most Americans never want to be “old” due to the negative stereotypes of them.

Representation of young people in Spy-thriller films

Young children aren’t usually used in these film genre. This is due to the target audience not being of this age range as they are usually aimed at older men/women. The characters will usually be people 18+ so the audience can relate to them.

Representation of the elderly in Spy-thriller films

• Elderly people in Spy-thriller films are usually seen as victims.

• However, elderly men are sometimes seen in the institutions involved in the films. This may be a character such as a chief in the army.

• The elderly aren't seen in these films as much as middle aged people as they wouldn’t be targeted at an elderly audience.

From this picture you can see that elderly women are portrayed as victims, timid and scared

Final Girl theory

Carol Clover came up with the idea of The final girl.

It is the theory that the last character alive in a thriller/horror slasher film is to confront the killer and then left to tell the rest of the story.

This character would also have certain characteristics:

• The final girl is always female.

• They would usually have a history with the killer e.g. ex girlfriend/partner

• The name of the final girl would usually be unisex such as Billie, Sidney, Charlie etc.

• Portrayed as being intelligent

• Attractive

In films women are often represented as weak, vulnerable, victims, in need of saving, attractive and helpless. This theory has represented women in the opposite way as they are portrayed as

ExampleThe ‘Final Girl’ in Texas Chainsaw Massacre is Sally who is the last to survive at the end. Throughout the whole film she is scared but powerful. She manages to survive and is conveyed as a beautiful young women who takes over the stereotypical male characteristic of being strong at the end.

The Cultivation TheoryThe cultivation theory by Gerbner is the theory that TV has become the main source of storytelling in society.

Heavy TV viewers- People who watch 4 or more hours of TV per day.

• These people are effected by the Mean World Syndrome and are exposed to more violence. The mean world syndrome is the idea that the world is worse than it is thought to be.

Light viewers- people who watch less than 4 hours of TV per day.

The cultivation theory is the idea that TV viewers haven't got a choice whether they are effected by media violence or not:

The Mean World Syndrome is seen in retirement homes for the elderly because the elderly people living there watch more than 4 hours of TV per day because they have nothing else to do. They only have the media to create their view and opinion ‘real world’ because they don’t go out into the real world enough to know what it is really like. Due to the media, elderly people in the retirement homes believe that the world is a violent place.

In thriller films there is violence, threats and deaths. This would create the idea that there is violence in the real world. On the other hand, other films and programmes in the media such as romance, comedy and family genres defeat this theory as they don’t usually give people negative opinions on the world.

Pull focus technique- Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock used the pull focus technique. This is where he would switch focus between images to remind the viewer of one of the main things that happened.

For example, in the film ‘Rope’, Alfred Hitchcock kept switching the camera from the establishing shot of the room to the box which has the murdered body in. These pictures shows how Alfred Hitchcock joins the two events of a murder and a dinner party using the pull focus technique:

Auteur (author) theory-Alfred Hitchcock

What is an Auteur?

It is a film maker who’s filming style is distinctive and creates a signature auteur status for them.

For example, Alfred Hitchcock's auteur status would be:• His films make the audience nervous• He creates suspense and mystery within his films• Black comedy• He collaborated with the same people when directing his films e.g. composer Bernard

Herman.• Some non dialogue scenes• Lots of point of view shots to involve the audience

Feminist film theory-Laura MulveyWhat is it?

The development of the Feminist Film theory was influenced by second wave feminism and it represents myths about women's femininity and male masculinity in films. Also, it looks at the function of women in the film narrative and genres.

• Laura Mulvey looked at the treatment of women in films such as how much screen time they have, how much they related to the historical context of the film, the stereotypes of women and how women were shown-active or passive.

• In a spy thriller, they would only have a lot of screen period if they were a hero or a villain as en usually take these roles because the stereotypes of them are strong and powerful, however women, they are usually seen as the character in danger as they are represented as vulnerable and weak.

The Male Gaze

• The most famous stereotype of women is their sexuality. This suggests that women are used in films for their sexuality for the males visual pleasure.

• The Male Gaze theory was founded by Laura Mulvey and it is when a scene is put into a heterosexual mans perspective and the camera is focused on a female characters body and they can be portrayed in a sexual way even when it is irrelevant.

Both of these theories apply to Spy-thrillers because women are often seen in this genre as sexy, glamourous and high class. In Alfred Hitchcock thriller films, if a female character was included, she would be blonde.