12. Media Theory:Stereotypical Represenations of Horror/Thriller Genres/Characters

Representations that are pre established exist in genres such as Horror/Thrillers so the audience can know what to expect before they watch the movie. Certain representations have now become the stereotypical expectation which enables the production of Horrors to be continuously remade. In the horror classic Dracula, the Archetype of the protagonist remains the same in the current era of Film

Originally the story was wrote by Bram Stoker in 1897 but was made into film in 1922 titled "Nos Faratie" directed by F.W Murnau. This set future adaptations with the representation of Dracula remaining the same as its original form. These include; Always being a white male, upper class, Eastern and European accent who speaks broken English whilst wearing a long black coat and associated with bats and Gothic imagery such as grand castles. The age of Dracula is usually middle aged between the region of 40 to 50 years old. It is important for film makers to maintain the stereotype  of Dracula as audiences relate to previous films and stories told so understand the concept. To change the appearance or the ethnicity of Dracula would not conform to audience expectations and is too risky for Hollywood producers to invest in as viewers may be disappointed with an altered Dracula. In other famous Horrors there is a stereotypical representation of the character such as Hannibal Lector,  Mike Myers in "Halloween" The clown from "IT" and Norman Bates from "Psycho". These are known as dominant representations. White men who may appear solitude and middle aged often are these characters which fits in with Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho where Norman Bates is this representation. The victims are female whom are conceived to appear weak and vulnerable. The archetypal victim is a single, white female (virgin) who is alone and cannot find help so has to fight the killer off themselves. However, this convention is slowly being broken as females are not stereotypically the victims in some horrors in more recent times. Resident evil depicts a strong woman and in Tomb Raider which are shifting the perpetrator roles. In the era horror films such as "Halloween" was published, society had more sexist views and portrayed women to be less independent making it easier for them to be the victim and susceptible for danger.

                                                                                                         
                                                                                                       

Thrillers are dominated by white male protagonists within the key roles. Many of the actors and directors have been white and rarely of black ethnic minority who play minor roles. Hollywood's roots are white centric and meant ethnic minorities suffered in starring major roles in the thriller genre. David Finchers Se7en was revolutionary to thriller as it's major role as a detective was played by Morgan Freeman who is of black ethnicity. Because of this, in films and dramas today those of black ethnicity star the main roles such as Will Smith in "I am Legend"  and TV drama "Luther" with Idras Elbar. This cultural bias has decreased in Hollywood since it begun but is not equal in all aspects. Gender bias meant females were restricted to playing the victim role or the femme fatale, (seductive and can't be trusted) along with Homosexual bias which didn't allow for homosexual/lesbian protagonists. Even in the most recent of films, it is rare for a protagonist to be openly gay or express a sexuality other than heterosexual in thrillers.