The Italian job questions- media studies

1.      The protagonists in the Italian job fit the stereotype to some extent. The group of good guys consists of a typical computer nerd who enjoys learning about technology and knows a lot about it. This is not so fitting to the male stereotype although most of the male leads are strong, confident, physically attractive and well built. The typical nerd talks in complicated language in which most of the other characters don’t understand and a normal person wouldn’t understand. This means that he bends the typical role of a hero. Mos Def’s character is well educated and enjoys learning about culture and architecture, at the start of the scene he is seen reading a book about architecture and art in Venice and when he is asked what he will do on the money he replies with ‘I will buy a house and fill it with first edition books’ whereas all the other guys laugh and have banter about how they will use their money to get girls. Donald Sutherland flouts the stereotype because he is an older, less attractive member of the group. But he is skilled, and this is shown where he breaks the safe open underwater, so he is a valuable member of the team. He is shown as a father figure to the team because he calls the other younger guys ‘kid’ and looks out for them during the heist. All the men work together as a team and each of them does a different job and they are all skilled in different ways, one is good at code breaking one is good at bombs and mixing up nuclear explosions, they all join forces and escape from the heist with loads of money.

2.      The two main nationalities are Italian and American. The Italians are shown as the enemy and the antagonists whereas the Americans that are in Venice are the heroes. When we are shown the Italians they are smoking and watching football in the top room of the building where the heist is taking place. They are shown as stupid, lazy, useless and foolish. The audience are encouraged to like the Americans and even though what they are doing is wrong and against the law, they are meant to support and want them to succeed, rather than wanting the Italians to catch them, this is because all the male Americans are very likeably and friendly and they all get on very well and the audience enjoys watching the jokes they have. The city is beautiful and there are many wide angle shots of Venice which make the heist seem more exciting if it was just in a concrete building in the middle of nowhere.