Do Stereo Types Change over Time? Using the Gangster Genre as an Example.
- Submitted by: lttlepyro
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- Category: English
- Date Submitted: 09/21/2011 10:59 PM
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Whether it is possible to define a stereotype is one thing, but to define the change of a stereotype is something completely different. This is not because it is difficult to distinguish a change from the original, but because stereotypes are constantly changing, and differ from genre-to-genre, alongside the social, political, economic and cultural changes of the era. To pinpoint an exact change in a precise stereotype is not very easy to do. However, it does happen, and roles and characters have been created in the last 30 years which have altered the stereotypes and representations originally made from the black and white cinematography of the 1920s to the 1950s.
Due to hybridisation, and the social, political, cultural, and economic situation of the era, the traditional stereotypes may not be changed, but divided into sub-stereotypes, which, depending on One’s opinion, could be classified as a new sterotype. For example, if I was to say, describe a 1920’s gangster, one might say: pinstripe three-piece suit, Italian-American accent, money laundering, black Bentley, Tommy Guns, white men (a very important point), Humphrey Bogart, etc… Nowadays, if I said to someone, describe a gangster I would get one of 2 descriptions. The first, the British gangster: Vinnie Jones, Cockney accent, Porshes, jewel thieves, top designer labels (suits etc…), sawn-off shotgun, warehouses (for “sorting people out”) white cockney men (another important stereotype) etc… Then you have the third gangster sterotype, the Black Gangsters: black men (a new addition to the stereotype) drugs, guns, knives, gang wars, drive-by shootings, gang colours, body-kit cars, tracksuits, bandannas, gold jewellery, drug dealing on street corners, street lingo (lazy slang) rap and R’n’B music, So Solid Crew, 50 Cent, Cypress Hill (all the famous “Real Life” gangsters) etc…
The three above descriptions are all of gangsters, but at the same time are three completely different stereotypes. The original...
Due to hybridisation, and the social, political, cultural, and economic situation of the era, the traditional stereotypes may not be changed, but divided into sub-stereotypes, which, depending on One’s opinion, could be classified as a new sterotype. For example, if I was to say, describe a 1920’s gangster, one might say: pinstripe three-piece suit, Italian-American accent, money laundering, black Bentley, Tommy Guns, white men (a very important point), Humphrey Bogart, etc… Nowadays, if I said to someone, describe a gangster I would get one of 2 descriptions. The first, the British gangster: Vinnie Jones, Cockney accent, Porshes, jewel thieves, top designer labels (suits etc…), sawn-off shotgun, warehouses (for “sorting people out”) white cockney men (another important stereotype) etc… Then you have the third gangster sterotype, the Black Gangsters: black men (a new addition to the stereotype) drugs, guns, knives, gang wars, drive-by shootings, gang colours, body-kit cars, tracksuits, bandannas, gold jewellery, drug dealing on street corners, street lingo (lazy slang) rap and R’n’B music, So Solid Crew, 50 Cent, Cypress Hill (all the famous “Real Life” gangsters) etc…
The three above descriptions are all of gangsters, but at the same time are three completely different stereotypes. The original...