stereotypes, characters in spy thrillers, theories involved in this genre

1. Representation of characters in
Spy-thriller films
By Amber Grundy

2. 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

3. Representation of gender in
Spy-Thriller films
Men
Stereotypes 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

4. Women
Stereotypes 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

5. Representation of Class in Spy-Thriller
Stereotypes of high/upper class people: films
• 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).

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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
Example
The ‘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.

10. The Cultivation Theory
The 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.

11. 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:

12. 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

13. Feminist film theory-Laura Mulvey
What 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.