Existing Stereotypes
Mean Girls, High School Musical and other Productions
Mean Girls is an American teen comedy that shows the different stereotypical cliques in a High School, most commonly separated by different tables at lunch. High School Musical is a children’s romantic comedy musical and though stereotypes are more tame, they are still ever-present – stereotypes are also shown sat at different tables and doing certain activities that set them apart from everyone else e.g. the jocks play basketball, the populars are involved in drama, etc. The other producions used within this research are all british and provide much more suitable stereotypes, where as the two american productions show much more extreme clichés to emphasise the key features within each.
Arts
This can be sub-categorised into Performing Arts (subjects such as music, drama/theatre and dance) and Physical Arts (subjects such as art, graphics and photography). Stereotypically Perfoming Arts students are represented as being obsessed with their passions, they live and breathe it, it’s all they think about and they generally come across as unusual, meaning they are either labelled as 'cool kids' or 'weirdos' within shows. Physical Arts students are presented as more laid-back and friendly students with heightened creativity levels. They may also excel academically and can be represented similarly to a regular ‘geek.’ A lot of their free time is spent dedicated to their art.
In The Worst Witch: represented as very creative and talented, especially within art. She gains her a scholarship at the academy by submitting a first-class piece of creative writing, showing her talent within creative subjects such as english too, however she seems to struggle with scientific subjects such as maths and science. Mildred is kind-hearted and well-meaning and tries very hard, but she is also adventurous and impulsive.
In Mean Girls: represented as sexually active musical students and are only friends with other ‘band geeks’ within their group.
Asians
An example of an ethnic group of friends stereotypically represented as being ‘nerdy,’ and extremely intelligent. Maths is stereotypically their favourite subject and they have strict parents who always want them to get As. They are also sometimes stereotypically represented as being poor or not having much money.
In Hank Zipzer: represented as very smart and friendly, making rational decisions she is known as the 'nerd' of this british show.
In Mean Girls: represented as either extremely nerdy or extremely cool.
Sporty/Jocks
Often stereotypically represented as arrogant people, sometimes even bullies. They are represented egotistical and self-centred but everyone wants to be friends with them. They usually go to a lot of parties and sleep with lots of people. They can also be represented as unintelligent.
In Grange Hill: As shown in Grange Hill, British kids TV shows use stereotypes similar to the American ‘jock.’ These people are very sporty and usually quite popular. As well as this, they are shown as being mischievous and sometimes badly behaved, particularly in a classroom setting. They spend most of their time thinking about sports rather than wanting to learn.
In High School Musical: Represented as friendly but wholly dedicated to their main sport – basketball. They don’t really care about their education as much as everyone else and just want to focus on their team.
In Mean Girls: Represented as dumb and weirdly aggressive
Eating Disorders
Usually shown as girls. Stereotypically represented as being extremely insecure and introverted, sometimes they are part of a ‘popular’ clique. They are usually portrayed as having very thin figures, being obsessed with their image and only ever eating salad, if anything.
In Mean Girls: represented as having extreme relationships with food, they either ‘eat their feelings or don’t eat anything.’ The girls who don’t eat anything are represented as all being friends with each other and sharing drinks. Girls who eat a lot are represented as being happy and loving food.
Popular Girls
Stereotypically, they are represented as ‘dominating’ the female social hierarchy. They are shown as being so beautiful that everyone else is envious, and even sometimes glamorous. However they are also represented as being judgemental, two-faced and sometimes even bullies.
In Mean Girls: called ‘The Plastics’ and represented as ‘the worst people you will ever meet.’ They are portrayed as fake, judgemental and overly glamorous. They are only friends with each other and are romantically involved with other popular males.
In Britannia High: Claudine is the popular and 'cool' girl of Britannia High, but unlike most stereotypes and the ones previously shown here, she isn't blonde and doesn't have long hair, challenging the usual stereotype. This is an example of how more modern shows are breaking outside the boundaries of traditional stereotypes in terms of appearance, which is something that we would like to parallel in our own work with our 'popular' girls for a more realistic approach.
In High School Musical:There is one main character who is popular rather than a group. She is in the ‘drama club’ and loves being on stage. She wants to be in a relationship with the most popular jock and is seen as rude and nasty by a lot of people. She is presented as being rich, pretty and skinny.
Nerds
Nerds are stereotypically represented as excelling academically and being very introverted. They usually dress in quite a ‘smart’ manner, wear glasses and have braces. Their voice is usually quite nasal and quiet. Often, they will be seen carrying around notebooks and textbooks in a school corridor.
In So Awkward: The‘ nerd’ character in this british production is established by the character Ollie Coulton. He is presented as very intelligent and friendly, specialising
In High School Musical: The main ‘nerdy’ characters in High School Musical are the protagonist, Gabriella, and her friend, Taylor. They are presented as very ‘preppy,’ they are pretty and kind-hearted. They break the mould of a ‘nerd’ stereotype as Gabriella loves to be on stage and they are both dating jocks. They are, however, both very smart so therefore they are still stereotypically ‘nerdy’ in certain ways.
Chavs
In Bad Education and Catherin Tate's Comic Relief Sketch: The ‘chavs’ are always shown as extremely bad behaved and unwilling to learn in class. They use a lot of slang and come from specific regional areas such as Essex or Liverpool. In the school setting, their uniform doesn’t look smart and is always scruffy e.g. their tie is undone, their shirt isn’t tucked in, etc. The female ‘chavs’ have a very stereotypical look – they often wear lots of makeup and have large hooped earrings, as well as a scruffy uniform similar to the boys.
Chavs are usually shown to be quite ditsy and not very well educated as they refuse to engage in school.
Regional Stereotypes
Liverpool
In Harry Enfield’s sketch ‘The Scousers,’ Liverpudlians were given a set stereotype that has not budged since. This is the most famous stereotype for Liverpool citizens, with phrases like ‘Calm down!’ becoming almost iconic. In the city’s other most famous portrayals, it is often portrayed as a poor, run down working class area, containing many of the ‘chav’ stereotypes.
More recent portrayals of people from Liverpool (or surrounding areas) include characters situated in British soap opera Hollyoaks – which is targeted more towards teens and young people than most British soaps. Hollyoaks usually portrays Liverpudlians as feisty and loud-mouthed, and often people who like to go out and get drunk.
Edinburgh
The most famous portrayal of Edinburgh citizens was from Trainspotting. This shows the capital of Scotland as poor and run-down, therefore the people living there are shown similarly.
Yorkshire
People in Yorkshire or, generally, the North East, are portrayed as friendly and often have large amounts of older people living there. The characters usually have occupations such as farmers or butchers, as the settings are mainly fields and farms. This is shown in British soap opera Emmerdale.
London
London is often presented in two extremes. Soap operas like Eastenders portray loud cockneys living in small towns and having fights at the pub every night. They usually have strong regional accents and speak using lots of Southern slang.
However, other portrayals of London citizens (in films like Notting Hill) show more ‘posh’ citizens who have more money. Sometimes they are business people, however other times they can just be from middle class families. There are usually shown to be many charming young men and couples who are in love.
Occasionally, portrayals of London citizens can include upper-class citizens who use the Queen’s English, have lots of money and live in big houses or mansions. This is similar to the portrayal of some characters in British period drama Downton Abbey (which is, however, set in Yorkshire but in the earlier era of 1912-1925).
Alternative
'Alternative' people are often shown as people who like to be different from everyone else, which is shown through their sesne of style. Sometimes goths/emos can fit into this category.
In Girls in Love: The character of Nadine in Girls in Love is considered 'alternative' and sometimes a goth as she fits the stereotype with her dark clothing, coloured hair and dark make up. However, she isn't quite as extreme as some of the 'goth' characters that are presented on TV, which is why she wuld best fit into this category.
We decided that we wouldn't use any specific regional stereotypes as we would not be able to establish this sufficiently within our short opening sequence, so alongside our main character we chose to use the 5 stereotypes of Alternative, Arty, Geeky, Popular and Sporty. This allowed us to create a diverse range of characters which could be portrayed in a manner that would be relatable for many of our target audiences.
Our choices
