Stereotype Theory

Richard Dyer (1979) believed that stereotypes are always about power - that those with the most power choose to stereotype those with less power. Hence why he argued that there were more stand out stereotypes for gay men, non-white racial groups, working classes and women in society.

Medurst (1995) did suggest that stereotypes are seen as a type of 'media short-hand' which produces an easy point of contact when the product needs to communicate easily to their audience. Certain genres and mediums are more prone to the use of stereotypes, for instance, 'dumb blondes' are more likely to be shown in horror films (and then later killed off).

'Dumb blonde' Karen Smith from Mean Girls

These theories relate to my media product because of the large amount of stereotypes that appear in existing films. For instance the character Karen Smith from the 2004 teen comedy film Mean Girls. She is portrayed as extremely stupid and easily influenced by other members of the group the 'Plastics' and additionally her reputation is mainly promiscuous. Examples of her rather air-headed behaviour includes that she believes she is psychic as her breasts can tell when its raining and that she thought it was okay to kiss her cousin as she believed that a first-cousin was more distant than a cousin. In order to avoid using these stereotypes I will reversing these roles in order to make a more memorable film.