Being ‘stereotyped’ is often seen as a bad thing, particularly in scripts and books. Then there’s Christopher Vogler, who theorises that there are eight ‘archetypes’ – the mentor, the hero, the ally, the herald and so on and so forth. For my part, I think that these eight have limited use. There are far more ‘stereotypes’ out there, and they can be so much fun to play with.
Let’s have a look at some examples of recent films that use stereotypes to their advantage:
London to Brighton: Kelly is a stereotype of the prostitute with a golden heart. But she’s no Nancy: she’s a fighter, a hard nosed woman and at first she agrees to pimp an underage child to a mobster. Yet somehow we still love her for what she does for Joanne.
Enchanted: Disney takes every one of their stereotypes, and turns them on their head in this film – and what a marvel it is too. Giselle is the epitome of the naive, beautiful princess. But when she enters the real world, she retains her optimism, faith and ability to talk to animals, but becomes more worldly. Meanwhile, her Prince Charming, who never becomes more than a stereotype, is revealed to be a bit of an idiot really.
Jurassic Park: Hammond is very clearly a God stereotype – an old man, dressed in white, who can create life. If you didn’t know better, you’d say he should be a Gandalf/Merlin character, but instead he is revealed to be a foolish, spoilt child.
The Matrix: In this dark, futuristic fairytale, Trinity becomes a female Prince Charming, waking Neo from his sleep/death and enabling him to become the master of the Matrix that he really is. Bet you’d never thought of The Matrix as a modern Sleeping Beauty…
Dexter: This serial killing sleuth turns the idea of cop shows and justice on their heads. He enforces the law, but in a rather unconventional way.
How can you use this then?
So, we’ve established that there’s nothing wrong with using stereotypes. But, you do need to find a new twist on them (unless you’re Star Wars: A New Hope, in which case you slavishly adhere to tradition). Think about where your characters originate from (the strict father; the brutish cop; the beauty queen; the geek). Put them in the context of your story, and of previous examples of your story’s genre. Ask yourself some questions:
- Does your character fit in your story’s genre?
- If not, can you make them fit into that genre believably? (ie. can you fit a cowboy into a horror?)
- If they do fit, how can you make them interesting?
- What have previous films/series done with the stereotype? Are you doing the same thing?
- If so, do you have other original elements in your story that justify your characters being straightforward stereotypes? (FYI – in my view there are very few cases where a writer really can justify this).
In conclusion
Interrogate your use of stereotypes in your story. See if you can bring something new to the table.
Incidentally, I’d love to be thrown some stereotypes/situations to discuss possible twists, so bring on the comments…