Task 2.1 Research Into Existing Products: The Representation of Gender/Ethnicity in the Thriller/Horror Genre

Representations are often pre-established in genre films such as Horrors and Thrillers and certain representations have now become stereotypes and archetypes. Dracula is the most widely recognised horror character and still has the same general stereotypical and archetypical values as in the the original 1931 film made by Bela Lugosi. His gender, age, costume and social class hasn't changed much, if at all. He has to be a middle aged, Caucasian male with an Eastern European accent that speaks broken English whilst wearing a black cape, having fangs, living in a castle and having the ability to turn into a bat.

Cultural Bias

Hollywood  has always been 'white' centric.

 Lead actors and directors have always been male Caucasians with coloured and ethnic minority actors only playing minor roles and parts. However some actors have defied the white centric bias of Hollywood taking on lead roles to become some of the most famous actors of the modern period (Will Smith & Morgan Freeman are just a couple of examples). In thrillers its common for the main protagonist to be a white male. In the 1990s, things started to change with Morgan Freeman playing Detective Somerset in the 1995 film 'Se7en'. After this, many films and TV Dramas continued to field black or ethnic minority actors as the main protagonist.

 Gender Bias

In Thrillers, females have predominantly been assigned the victim role or the femme fatale. Since the Silence of the Lambs in 1990, specifically Jodie Fosters role as FBI rookie 'Clarice Starling' the representations of women have been more and more challenging in both Thrillers and Horrors. In Horrors the main antagonist is also generally male, and a white Caucasian in their 40s/50s unless they're an other worldly creature.

Heterosexual Bias

Having a non-straight protagonist is extremely rare even in modern, liberal Hollywood. The thought of a non-straight lead detective in a film isn't heard of, most likely due to the connotations of sensitivity associated with homosexuality because they're most often cold individuals. This is a major criticism of Thomas Harris, the author of the Hannibal Lecter books whose antagonists all feature homosexual tendencies and sexual deviances. By doing this he has contributed to the formation of a negative stereotype.