Stereotypes in the Media

Stereotypes in the Media

College stereotypes.  Everyone is familiar with them, the partying, the drinking, the different types of students, the list goes on and on.  Are these stereotypes an accurate perception of college life? Why do we think of college to be this way?  Many people would blame it on the media.  Movies about college and college-humour movies are all practically founded off of these stereotypes.  They either blow up these stereotypes, or break them and there are so many films to support this theory.  For this assignment, we were all told to take a movie of our choice about college, and write about the stereotypes shown in the films.  The movies we analyzed were all very strong examples of the media using stereotypes for entertainment purposes.

The movie Legally Blonde focuses on a blonde sorority president getting dumped by her boyfriend and applying to Harvard Law School to be with him. Throughout the movie the main character Elle Woods is faced with overcoming many stereotypes about her being a blonde woman. The movie itself doesn’t focus much on the stereotypes of college education but more on the stereotypes of the students who attend. One of the examples about college education stereotypes however is when Elle’s boyfriend dumps her and tells her that he is going off to Harvard. Elle then says that she will go with him when he scoffs and tells her that she is not smart enough because Harvard is a prestigious school, and her boyfriend Warner thinks because she is a “dumb blonde” she would have no chance getting into a prestigious school like Harvard.

        Elle throughout the movie proves that even though she is stereotyped as a dumb blonde she can do anything. She studies hard and focuses on applying to Harvard and ends up showing everyone that she is more than the color of her hair by getting accepted into Harvard and becoming a law student. Another stereotype that is addressed is when Elle tells her parents she is applying and they think she is just joking and tells her that it’s too hard and she was “too pretty” for law school. They refer to the people whom become lawyers are ugly and because Elle is very pretty they are stereotyping her as being pretty and stupid. She is able to prove them wrong and break the stereotype barrier by getting accepted into Harvard and even graduating as the class speaker.

When it comes to portraying college student stereotypes the movie does a funny job about it. It displays all blondes stupid and girly, one instance is when Elle is in one of her law classes, and because the movie makes her out to be a sorority girl, they give Elle an outgoing character trait as well as making her very flashy with her clothes and style, compared to what the movie stereotypes normal law students. They portray law students as students in bland and neutral colored clothing as well as a basic and neutral attitude towards things, the opposite of Elle; making her seem even more outgoing and ridiculous to their eyes. But even with all of the people judging Elle and thinking she won’t be able to exceed in law school, she is able to get an internship at a law firm and graduate with honors.

Most people in Harvard expected Elle to be stupid and flunk out eventually because of her “dumb blonde” stereotype. After Elle got embarrassed at a party, when she was invited by her ex-boyfriend Warner’s fiancé, Elle goes out and buys a computer and starts to study to prove to Warner that she can be smart and perform top in her class. At the beginning of her classes Elle was not the brightest but after studying and trying she was able to catch the attention of her professors and eventually get an opportunity to work as an intern for her professors law firm, proving that even though she is a blonde she can accomplish anything.

Overall this movie is just for fun and is pointed to making fun of college and stereotypes as well as showing that anyone can overcome a stereotype by hard work. This movies audience is anyone from college students to a family looking to have a few good laughs. The purpose is that it is a comedy as well as an uplifting story about a girl portrayed as a human stereotype breaking free of that and proving to the world she is more than the color of her hair. This movie shows that even though stereotypes can be hard to move past, it is possible. Even though it is fictional it still gives hope that a “dumb blonde” can work hard and apply to Harvard and get a good job and graduate with honors. Elle Woods had everything going against her; she was a blonde sorority president so she was instantly cast out as a dumb blonde. Through several occasions she is able to out show her peers and prove to everyone she is indeed smart and capable of much more than people think. It goes to show that anyone regardless of stereotypes can do anything and more if they have their heart on it.

In the movie Monsters University, the stereotypes start off strong and early. As Mike walks on to campus for the first time, it is very diverse and many stereotypical people and groups appear. For Example, a guy on a skateboard breezes right by Mike (I can relate to that situation on this campus), also you have the stereotypical person that is throwing around a Frisbee on campus (which is seen in many college movies for some reason), and then you have the stereotypical excited RA and orientation leader that provides a welcoming feeling as you begin your college experience. Then, you have the stereotypical situation, where all the groups and organizations are trying to grab Mike’s attention as he is trying to find his place on campus.

Some big stereotypes in any movie involving college education, including Monsters University, are Greek Life, exam stress, sports, and partying. During the film, we see these stereotypes a played a big role in the development of the characters and I think that they a very good job in representing these events. Being absorbed by stress as exams approach was big stereotype of college that had me nervous before entering college. I thought that I was going to be always up late at night and so consumed by my studies that having a lot of fun was not going to be very easy. Mike experienced this stereotype as he had to pass an exam in order to enter the scare school at MU. As soon as he was informed about this exam, he began to study all day, every day until he knew the textbook back and forth and even at this point he was still nervous about testing his scare abilities. Even though Monsters University tackled the stereotype of overwhelming study, they also incorporated the stereotype of partying throughout the movie. Whenever the topic of college is brought up, college parties is usually the first things that comes to mind. The idea that college is a place full of crazy, wild, and outrageous parties is probably the biggest stereotype about college and can be seen in movie that involves college education. In Monsters University, the monsters do their fair share of partying. There is the stereotypical first party of the year that everybody feels they must attend. This party is where everybody could make their claim and try to be associated with the “cool kids”. Another big college stereotype is that Fraternities are above the normal students of the college campus. This stereotype is shown big time, as the frats at MU are supposed to be the more elite students of the university. They are the typical movie frat boys that are on a different level than everyone else on the campus. In the film, they even participate in the typical stereotypical activities, such as throwing big parties, athletics or competition, and even hazing in a way.

Monsters University, shows many different college education stereotypes throughout the movie but there idea or stereotype that I think outweighed all the other ones. This stereotype would be that college is a place where you truly find yourself. In the film, Mike and Sully go through the movie trying to get their way into the scare school of MU. Throughout most of this time Mike and Sully are more of enemies than they are the best friends that we know them to be. By the end of the movie after failure and successes, they mold into the characters we know them to be and really find their true personalities. This is especially true for Sullivan who at first is supposed to be a top a scare student and should easily get into the scare school without much work, just because of his family name and seems to be the cockiest guy campus. But with having this attitude he falls behind the rest of the school and does not make into scare school. After a lot of work and Mike becoming a bigger factor in his life, he humbles down towards the end of the film and reveals a lot about his character. This plays into the stereotype that you truly find yourself in college.

The movie Old School effectively portrays the stereotypes associated with Greek life.  Although these are not your average fraternity men, their actions prove them to live up to the standards of frat life.  These stereotypes can be seen throughout the entire movie, as they serve as the foundation for film. The movie Old School tells the tale of Mitch, Frank and Beanie.  Three best friends whose lives are turned upside-down beginning when Mitch finds out his girlfriend is a sex-maniac when he comes home early to find blindfolded, naked strangers in his bedroom.  Meanwhile, former party animal “Frank the tank” gets married, but is unable to resist the temptations of his old life when Mitch moves into a new house on a college campus.  The third musketeer Beanie, a family man who wants nothing more than to relive his glory days, takes it upon himself to transform his friend’s new abode into “Mitch-a-palooza,” the craziest party of all time.  Even Snoop Dogg (aka Snoop Lion) is there.   Beanie claims it to be the first of many, which indeed it is.  They are surprised the next morning by an old friend that they used to beat up on, who just happens to be the dean of the college, there to evoke the new “party house.”  The trio then find a loophole in the college’s rules that allows them to form their own fraternity in order to keep their house that’s on campus limits. The men recruit a variety of pledges ranging from your average college student, to some of Mitch’s co-workers, to eighty-nine year old man.  Old School follows the three and their “brothers” in their attempt to fight the dean for their rights to their newfound frat as he attempts to kick them off campus.  Although the film does not focus on college education in particular, it exposes the stereotypes associated with fraternities and college students.

Before their first house party, Frank (Will Ferrell) assures his new wife that he is not going to drink and that the days of “Frank the tank” are long over with.  As soon as he gets there, he is talked into a beer bong which inevitably unleashes the beast… or the tank in this case.  He gets belligerent and interrupts Snoop Dogg concert in the backyard to announce that he’s going streaking and that everyone should come with him.  He believes everyone else is behind him and goes streaking down the main road that his wife just so happens to be driving on.  She picks him up, and they end up in therapy because she is worried about him. This part of the movie shows that Frank never truly moved on from his college days and is lacking in the maturity department.  This even further shows the stereotype of fraternities and the media’s portrayal of them.  Sure we all do stupid shit when we’re drunk, but it is often not to this extent.  At this party, Mitch manages to hook up with a hot chick, another fraternity stereotype of sex, but this girl just so happens to be his boss’s daughter who is still in high school.  At one of the “brother’s” 89th birthday party, the even have a wrestling match in a pool of KY jelly.

When most people hear the words “fraternity” or “sorority,” their minds automatically picture crazy college kids, excessively drinking, making bad decisions and skipping class.  Although there are other stereotypes associated with them such as behavior and dress, those are the main ones.  Practically all collegehumor movies are built off of these stereotypes for the sake of comedy.  Old School portrays these stereotypes to a tee.  The Lambda Epsilon Omega fraternity, although not your average frat, displays boundless drinking, naked girls, crazy parties, hazing pledges, and major defiance of administration.  Not to mention, the fraternity was created for the sole purpose of “getting ass.”  The parties they throw and their actions all point to the typical frat guy, even though half of them aren’t even students.  Hazing in the movie hits an extreme when the house leaders tie a rope to a cinder block around the pledges’ privates and makes them drop the cinder blocks off of a balcony in a “trust” exercise.       

Another film to be added that portrays then breaks the stereotypes and expectations of college and college life is Good Will Hunting. Good Will Hunting was directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. It is a drama, focusing on a boy with a genius level IQ. Will Hunting (Matt Damon), the main protagonist in the film, works as a janitor at MIT. When he is caught answering graduate level mathematics questions that no one else knew the answer to, things start to change for him.

Through out most of the film’s story Will has no desire to do anything but spend his whole life in Massachusetts with his loyal group of friends. He doesn’t see the point of going after anything ambitious because he likes what he is doing. Professor Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgård) is the one who catches Will answering the question and wants Will to work with him because he doesn’t want to see the genius wasted. Will is sent to multiple psychiatrists in an attempt to see why he lacks motivation and doesn’t feel the need to use his genius.

Using his knowledge he goes through the psychiatrists one after another breaking them down, until he meets Sean Maguire (Robin Williams). Maguire is the only one to get through to Will, but not in the way Prof. Lambeau wanted. Maguire wants will to live his life in a way that will make him happy, and to stop pushing everyone away, while Lambeau wants Will to start working and become successful and famous. Eventually Will finally leaves Massachusetts but not to become successful and famous, instead to go after the woman he loves.

There was a faster way to summarize it all, but the way I did it was necessary to give a better idea of who Professor Lambeau is. There is a stereotype that he portrays that relates to graduate students and PhDs. There are typically two kinds of graduate students who get PhDs. The ones who show it off, rubbing it in peoples faces, and going after personal glory,  and the ones who keep it to themselves and go on to make the biggest difference by teaching at lower ranked colleges. Lambeau represents the first type I brought up.

The stereotype of graduate level college students in this film, portrayed through Lambeau and a few other minor characters, is that graduates think that they are better than everyone else because they are getting a PhD. They look down on people who didn’t have an education assuming they are dumb. A great example of this in the movie is when Will embarrasses a grad student trying to pick up chicks in a local bar. Will calls the student out on just repeating exactly what he had read in one of his classes books, then goes on to ask why he would spend so much on an education that he could get for a nickel down at the public library. The student retaliates by saying when he graduates he will have a degree with a prestige and a high pay job, making him better than Will. That scene right there really wraps up the superiority that grad students often feel.

A feeling of superiority doesn't always only apply to grad students, unfortunately, undergrads at certain colleges or with certain academic standings can be the same way. At this point it becomes more of a culture thing. Competition has become a huge part of our culture, and if someone is the best on paper often they will act like it.Good Will Hunting shows us that it doesn’t matter how good you are on paper, people can still be better than you. It is not nearly as much as an issue now as it has been in the past. For undergraduates, the superiority that used to come from going to college has been majorly reduced mostly due to college becoming more and more available for everyone.

Another stereotype that the movie shows then has Will break is the type of people we expect in college. When you think of college students and their lifestyle, most of the time we don’t consider them to be criminals because they are educated. This leaves the stereotype that most petite criminals are uneducated people. The movie attacks this stereotype with a great scene. Will has been arrested for assault after him and his friends beat up some old bullies of theirs. In the next scene we see Will in a courtroom defending himself and Prof. Lambeau walks in to find him. In the scene Will starts to quickly list a large number of supreme court cases that should prove him to be innocent. Some cases going back to the 1840s. The judge stops him and then lists off a long list of offenses that will has committed over the years, each of which he got out of using other judicial cases. When we see Lambeau after the offenses are read it is obvious that he is shocked at the number of things Will has done. In his mind only the uneducated commit crimes and Will has completely proven him wrong.

Good Will Hunting along with all of these movies make a point about stereotypes. Legally Blonde fights that blond sorority girls are dumb, Monsters U with finding your true self, Old School with fraternities, and Good Will Hunting with who can be smart. All of it really shows that no matter what everyone thinks, you can still follow reach your goals and do the unexpected. Don’t let anyone stop you because of where you come from, or what you look like.