Film and Stereotype: A Challenge for Cinema and Theory (Film and Culture Series)

Since the early days of film, critics and theorists have contested the value of formula, cliché, conventional imagery, and recurring narrative patterns of reduced complexity in cinema. Whether it's the high-noon showdown or the last-minute rescue, a lonely woman standing in the window or two lovers saying goodbye in the rain, many films rely on scenes of stereotype, and audiences have come to expect them. Outlining a comprehensive theory of film stereotype, a device as functionally important as it is problematic to a film's narrative, Jörg Schweinitz constructs a fascinating though overlooked critical history from the 1920s to today. Drawing on theories of stereotype in linguistics, literary analysis, art history, and psychology, Schweinitz identifies the major facets of film stereotype and articulates the positions of theorists in response to the challenges posed by stereotype. He reviews the writing of Susan Sontag, Roland Barthes, Theodor W. Adorno, Rudolf Arnheim, Robert Musil, Béla Balázs, Hugo Münsterberg, and Edgar Morin, and he revives the work of less-prominent writers, such as René Fülöp-Miller and Gilbert Cohen-Séat, tracing the evolution of the discourse into a postmodern celebration of the device. Through detailed readings of specific films, Schweinitz also maps the development of models for adapting and reflecting stereotype, from early irony (Alexander Granowski) and conscious rejection (Robert Rossellini) to critical deconstruction (Robert Altman in the 1970s) and celebratory transfiguration (Sergio Leone and the Coen brothers). Altogether a provocative spectacle, Schweinitz's history reveals the role of film stereotype in shaping processes of communication and recognition, as well as its function in growing media competence in audiences beyond cinema.

Since the early days of film, critics and theorists have debated the value of formula, cliché, conventional imagery, and recurring narrative patterns of reduced complexity. The high noon showdown or last-minute rescue, the lonely woman standing in the window or two lovers saying goodbye in the rain-many films rely on these scenes, and audiences have come to expect them. Outlining a comprehensive theory of film stereotype, a device as functionally important to film narrative as it is problematic, Jörg Schweinitz builds an overlooked critical history from the 1920s to today.

Drawing on theories of stereotype in linguistics, literary analysis, art history, and psychology, Schweinitz identifies the major facets of film stereotype and articulates the positions of theorists in response to the challenges posed by stereotype. He reviews the writing of Susan Sontag, Roland Barthes, Theodor W. Adorno, Robert Musil, Béla Balázs, Hugo Münsterberg, and Edgar Morin, and he brings to light less prominent writers, such as René Fülöp-Miller and Gilbert Cohen-Séat, and traces the evolution of the discourse into a postmodern celebration of the device. Through detailed readings of specific films, Schweinitz also maps models for adapting and reflecting stereotype, from early ironic (Alexander Granowski) and conscious rejection (Robert Rossellini) to critical deconstruction (Robert Altman in the 1970s) and celebratory transfiguration (Sergio Leone and the Coen brothers). His history, which won the prestigious Geisteswissenschaften International award, reveals the role of film stereotype in shaping processes of communication and recognition, as well as its function in developing media competence beyond cinema.

Since the early days of film, critics and theorists have debated the value of formula, cliche, conventional imagery, and recurring narrative patterns of reduced complexity. The high noon showdown or last-minute rescue, the lonely woman standing in the window or two lovers saying goodbye in the rain-many films rely on these scenes, and audiences have come to expect them. Outlining a comprehensive theory of film stereotype, a device as functionally important to film narrative as it is problematic, Jorg Schweinitz builds an overlooked critical history from the 1920s to today. Drawing on theories of stereotype in linguistics, literary analysis, art history, and psychology, Schweinitz identifies the major facets of film stereotype and articulates the positions of theorists in response to the challenges posed by stereotype. He reviews the writing of Susan Sontag, Roland Barthes, Theodor W. Adorno, Robert Musil, Bela Balazs, Hugo Munsterberg, and Edgar Morin, and he brings to light less prominent writers, such as Rene Fulop-Miller and Gilbert Cohen-Seat, and traces the evolution of the discourse into a postmodern celebration of the device. Through detailed readings of specific films, Schweinitz also maps models for adapting and reflecting stereotype, from early ironic (Alexander Granowski) and conscious rejection (Robert Rossellini) to critical deconstruction (Robert Altman in the 1970s) and celebratory transfiguration (Sergio Leone and the Coen brothers). His history, which won the prestigious Geisteswissenschaften International award, reveals the role of film stereotype in shaping processes of communication and recognition, as well as its function in developing media competence beyond cinema Introduction -- Stereotype Theory: Concepts, Perspectives, And Controversies. The Stereotype In Psychology And The Humanities -- Some Aspects And Levels Of Stereotypization In Film -- The Intellectual Viewpoint Versus The Stereotype In Mass Culture -- A Discourse History: The Topic Of The Stereotype Throughout Film Theory -- Prelude : Walther Rathenau's Cultural Criticism, Hugo Munsterberg's Euphoric -- Concept Of Film As Art, And The Neglect Of The Stereotype -- Bela Balazs's New Visual Culture, The Tradition Of Linguistic Skepticism, And Robert Musil's Notion Of The Formulaic -- The Readymade Products Of The Fantasy Machine : Rudolf Arnheim, Rene Fulop-miller, And The Discourse On The Standardization Of Film -- The Stereotype As Intelligible Form : Cohen-seat, Morin, And Semiology -- Irony And Transfiguration : The Postmodern View Of The Stereotype -- Film Analysis : Critique And Transfiguration-three Case Studies -- Enjoying The Stereotype And Intense Double-play Acting : The Performance Of Jennifer Jason Leigh In The Hudsucker Proxy -- Epilogue. Jörg Schweinitz ; Translated By Laura Schleussner. Translated From German. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Includes Filmography. Contents 6 Illustrations 8 Introduction 10 Part I. Stereotype theory: Concepts, Perspectives, and Controversies 20 1. The Stereotype in Psychology and the Humanities 22 2. Some Aspects and Levels of Stereotypization in Film 61 3. The Intellectual Viewpoint Versus the Stereotype in Mass Culture 115 Part II. A Discourse History: The Topic of the “Stereotype” Throughout Film Theory 140 4. Prelude: Walther Rathenau’s Cultural Criticism, Hugo Münst erberg’s Euphoric Concept of Film as Art, and the Neglect of the Stereotype 142 5. Béla Balázs’s New Visual Culture, the Tradition of Linguist ic Skepticism, and Robert Musil’s Notion of the “Formulaic” 153 6. The Ready made Products of the Fantasy Machine 173 7. The Stereotype as Intelligible Form 205 8. Irony and Transfiguration 229 Part III. Film Analysis: Critique and Transfiguration—Three Case Studies 254 9. McCabe and Buffalo Bill 256 10. Enjoying the Stereotype and Intense Double-Play Acting 281 Epilogue 296 Notes 300 Bibliography 352 Filmography 376