Of dozens of of films I know of that have the subject of kidnapping or disappearance as a center, I don't know about a single one in which the kidnapped person is a male, a woman of color or an elderly one. Not a single case. Come on, cliche over cliche...
Of dozens of of films I know of that have the subject of kidnapping or disappearance as a center, I don't know about a single one in which the kidnapped person is a male, a woman of color or an elderly one. Not a single case. Come on, cliche over cliche...
Although I won't argue that you have some well made points, I still stand by what I said, although modified: A film that centers on kidnapping or disappearance and a person is primarily in the position of a victim, it will be young white female. Sometimes it will be a man, but only prepubescent, hence, still perceived weak and small.
About first of all, there apparently is something called 'Missing white woman syndrome':
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_white_woman_syndrome
And while movies are according to that, there is awareness that being high lightened as a victim more often doesn't equal realistic statistics.
I did see some of the films, mentioned and although they all differ from the mold I established, they all have different circumstances:
For example, while women in Taken 2 and Cellular aren't 'young as a daisy', they are still fairly young and attractive and the first one is in the position of a love interest, which kind of collides with the stereotype aforementioned. The first movie Taken is even more cliche with the kidnapped one being the daughter.
Hostel does indeed concentrate on the kidnapping of men, but the concept is vastly different. These men aren't victims in the crossfire between good guys and bad guys, but are heroes themselves and whatever happens, they make it so. That is unlike stereotypical kidnapping victims in most investigatory type films, who are first and foremost, objects of interest, rather than heroes.
Moreover, to pinpoint the stereotype, classic female kidnapping victim is perceived as innocent. Even in the cases in which she turns out to be the accomplice or a villain, it is a twist rather than expected outcome. On the other hand, when a male is kidnapped, he either himself violently confronts his kidnappers afterwards or is somehow 'responsible' for his kidnapping, often being corrupt man of position, kidnapped by a villain who is pushed on the edge by his deeds.
And still stands that none of the people involved in these movies (as I know of) are of any race other than white.
So, while you indeed are right, and there are films that have kidnapping victims of other profiles, I would say:
Films which concentrate on a kidnapping from an investigation POV and have their victim being perceived as innocent and needed to be saved, always put a white fairly young woman in the position, with sometimes exception of a small boy.
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Even if what you are saying is the truth, it is apparent by these very numbers that while white females are the majority of kidnapping victims, they are not VAST majority, like in the media. The difference between men and women, for instance, 316 on 311 thousand kidnappings, is only by a tiny little, with aproxy 49% of kidnapped people being males. On the other hand, an adult male is going to get kidnapped ONLY in the situations in which he will himself be the one to break free and defeat his kidnappers. Among all the films depicting a kidnapping of an innocent person haven't I seen them being male, nor a woman of a different demographic. Even if there are rare cases of such, those characters are almost always killed off soon and not the main focus of the film.
Because as the other person replied, the majority of kidnapped/missing persons are white females
Don't try to cash in love, that check will always bounce.share
Why is it always young woman? Becouse common fucking sense, that's why. Why would anyone kidnap a 90 year old man, for example? That's what i thought.
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