Research: Stereotypes.

The Matter of Images: Essays on Representation.

Chapter 3: The Role of Stereotypes.

By Richard Dyer

Dyer, R (2002) The Matter of Images: Essays on Representation. London: Routledge.

This chapter looks at the role of stereotypes within society. It brought up some particularly interesting ideas which I feel will definately help influence the development of my film.

In this chapter, Dyer talks about stereotypes being used as a means of creating and making sense of the reality in which we live.

"...stereotypes express particular definitions of reality, with concomitant evaluations, which in turn relate to the disposition of power within society." (Dyer, R: 2002: 14)

The link between stereotypes and reality is something I would like to explore within my film as I feel it would really give me an opportunity to express the theme of homelessness in a much more creative way.

Dyer introduces and quotes the work of Walter Lippman who, "...refers to stereotypes as a projection on to the 'world'." (Dyer, R: 2002:13) The idea of a stereotype as a cultural projection is again an interesting concept. I have mentioned my eagerness to experiment with shadows and lighting in this project and this has made me think about the possibility of taking this quote literally and working with projections. My production partner Natalia used lots of projections throughout her last film and this was really effective. If I were thinking of experimenting with this technique then I'm sure whe could offer some useful tips.

In my tutorial with Rod earlier this week, we discussed the problems with stereotypes. In this chapter, Dyer further emphasises this. He describes stereotypes as having two key problems:

1. Society begins to see them as literal, rigid information about that particular character; failing to separate an individual from a stereotype. "...the need to order 'the great blooming, buzzing confusion of reality' is liable to be accompanied by a belief in the absoluteness and certainty of any particular order, a refusal to recognize its limitations and partiality, its relativity and changeability, and a corresponding incapacity to deal with the fact and experience of blooming and buzzing." (Dyer, R:2002: 12)
2. Stereotypes are influenced heavily by those of a higher social power than the majority, therefore they can be manipulated. "...as Berger and Luckmann put it, 'he who has the bigger stick has the better chance of imposing his definitions of reality'..." (Dyer, R: 2002: 12)

Dyer goes on to discuss the use of stereotypes in fiction. He says that fictional characters representing a certain stereotype don't develop beyond the stereotype throughout the duration of the film. They remain the same. He also explains that if we are going to watch a film in which the main character represents a certain stereotype, we will already have an idea of the storyline, or key elements of the plot. He uses the example of alcoholism to back this point:

"...we surely only have to be told that we are going to see a film about an alcoholic to know that it will be a tale either of sordid decline or of inspiring redemption." (Dyer, R: 2002: 15)

This is the main problem Rod described with my film. I don't want the audience to be able to pre-empt what is going to happen before watching the film. I want it to be a unique and unexpected take on the theme of homelessness. Dyer does however, offer a suggestion for how to avoid falling into the trap of stereotypes:

"(This suggests a particularly interesting potential use of stereotypes, in which the character is constructed, at the level of dress, performance, etc., as a stereotype but is deliberately given a narrative function that is not implicit in the stereotype, thus throwing into question the assumptions signalled by the stereotypical iconography.)" (Dyer, R: 2002: 15)

Following this reading, I have come up with a more specific to do list:

1. Research Walter Lippman, T. E Perkins, Peter Berger, Thomas Luckmann, and Arnold S. Linsky - all mentioned in this chapter with very relevant sounding research and interesting references.
2. Look into articles about homelessness in the news/media - what images are being used? What stories are being told? Why?
3. Come up with a unique and interesting concept for looking at homelessness.