Essay On Fanboys

Submitted By rachhjam
Words: 847
Pages: 4

Today I will be exploring and exposing the stereotypical representations of various groups of society in the media of film. Stereotypes are commonly used in almost every genre of film for entertainment and to help the audience relate to characters and themes although, these stereotypes are not always a correct portrayal. The movie I will be exposing today, entitled ‘Fanboys’, is an example of a negative depiction of the stereotype ‘nerds’.
The humorous film, directed by Kyle Newman, follows the story of four Star Wars fanatics whom are referred to as ‘fanboys’, hence the name of the film. These fanboys go on a road trip mission to break into the George Lucas ranch to steal the newest Star Wars episode before its release date. Set in Ohio and travelling to Iowa and Las Vegas, the movie generalises these fanboys as a group of socially awkward, glasses wearing ‘nerds’ who are at least twenty years of age but still live with their parents and decorate their rooms with Star Wars decor. Their geek-like attitude and knowledge of Star Wars and Sci-Fi movies portrays the characters of this film as ‘nerds’ and to keep in focus with this conference I will prove the inequality of this portrayal.
Although the four fanboys are stereotyped as a group, their different characters are represented in slightly different ways. Eric is the smartest and the ‘mature’ one of the group. His career path as a cars salesman manager and no nonsense life choices as well as his choice of plain clothing without Star Wars logos, separate him from his friends. One of those friends Windows, a thin, four eyed man who on the other hand, works at a comic book store, has an online girlfriend, is never out of ‘uniform’ (Star Wars and other comic t-shirts) and brings his laptop to parties. Windows closest friend, Hutch, is very much like Windows in the way he dresses though he puts on a tough act to try and impress the ladies even though he drives a Star Wars painted minivan and lives in his Mum’s garage. And finally, Linus, who has been best friends with Eric since the second grade, lives with his parents, also is always in ‘uniform’ and calls himself a ‘professional’ gamer. All four of the boys are negatively represented as being nerds, and only being interested in gaming, technology, comic books and avoiding certain responsibilities which gives the term ‘nerd’ a bad reputation and the expectation that ‘nerds’ can only be male.
The director uses a very clear variety of film techniques to reinforce the representation of the four characters and their stereotypical lifestyles. A lot of medium and long shots are used to capture the environment that the boys live in and surround them self with (like the comic book store and Hutch’s elaboration Star Wars decorated garage). The longer shots showing the posters and figures that line their walls which are commonly associated with children. Close up shots are also used to depict the expressions and emotions that the boys feel and also to capture their ‘nerdy’ image of their untidy hair and glasses framed faces that the typical nerd is described as.
The overall settings that are used for the different places that the boys