Stereotypes of characters

The protagonist character of our film is a white, teenage, female. Normally the protagonist is a young adult, white, male. This is challenging the stereotype of a protagonist character. Normally female characters fill the character roles of a heroine or romantic interest.  Female characters, especially young ones, are often associated with being innocent, vulnerable and naive to situations. They are normally the ones who get into danger and are incapable of saving themselves. Our character however, has a side to her which is incredibly strong both physically and mentally. This ensures that she is able to save herself from situations which occur instead of relying on the help of others. Although strong willed, she does have a vulnerable and weak side which is presented during parts of the trailer and I have written into the actual storyline that she is saved not once but twice by a male character. Originally I did this without thinking about it, it is written into my brain the idea of males being the ones that always end up saving the day, because it is such a strong stereotype of the character type. The fact that her character is mostly independent and has the power such as to fight and kill someone, makes her a good challenging character for fantasy film stereotypes. As the audience for my film will be mostly females, having a female protagonist attracts this audience in. 

Another stereotype is that white characters are normally the "good guys" within the film, although the protagonist fits this stereotype, the 'side kick' character is black and therefore challenges these stereotypes. He is also male, this also fits the stereotypes as normally in fantasy films the side kick character is male. An example of this is Sam in Lord of the Rings who is Frodo's (the protagonist) side kick. Sometimes, however, the side kick is female if they are placed there for a romantic interest purpose. Ours is in reverse with the side kick as a male and the protagonist as a female and there being a romantic interest between the two.