Representation In Thrillers

Representation In Thrillers

Representation is portraying something in a specific way. It is so present something or stand for something. The word suggests that something was already there and might of been represented by the media. 

In films characters are represented as you find out information like social class, sexuality, culture ect without them having to directly tell the audience. This could be through characters conversations or objects around the scene that could represent it, for example if a character was religious they could have a cross symbol in their bedroom to show that they are a religious.

Stereotypes in thriller films;

What is stereotyping? The portrayal of people or paces through a few obvious characteristics.

Mr & Mrs Smith

Females are usually the victims who are vulnerable and young. Sometimes the female can be the antagonist this is usually in thrillers where the women is some sort of agent or assassin therefor she has to be cold-hearted and unattached to the victim.

The Purge

Males are usually portrayed as a strong hero, who saves the day by figuring out the enigma however in some thrillers they are the antagonist (villain) like in The Purge.

Development of thrillers;

Alfred Hitchcock's first movie was The Lodger (1926) which was based on Jack the Ripper. It was a typical psychopathic thriller as it followed the typical story line however it was a silent movie. Hitchcock's first sound movie was Blackmail (1929).

He continued to make films through the 1940's until the 50's where colour was added to his films, he produced films such as Strangers On A Train (1951) and Niagara (1953) which starred Marilyn Monroe. Niagara is a film about a women's plot to kill her husband.

In 1960 he released Psycho. In the film was the iconic scene where a women is brutally stabbed in the shower. This type of scene has been re-enacted in many other thrillers making it an icon in the thriller genre.

In the 70's and 80's Brian De Palma made several thrillers that had themes of guilt, paranoia, voyeurism and obsession. One of his psycho-thriller films was Sisters (1973) which was about dual-personalities.

At the end of the 80's the film by Phillip Noyce Dead Calm (1989) inspired many thrillers that were made in the 90's. It showed themes of being trapped and obsessions.

Throughout the 90's the theme of obsession and a agent hunting down a serial killer became extremely popular. A lot of the thrillers took inspiration from the horror genre.

Throughout the history of the thriller genre it seemed to be all about the psychological thrillers however in present day they seem to be more similar to horrors as there is more brutal behavior and violence. Some examples of recent thrillers are; Eden Lake (2008), P2 (2007), Cellular (2006), Unknown (2011), Hostage (2005).