Representation: 21 Jump Street

For today's blog post, I will analyze representation in the movie 21 Jump Street. 

21 Jump Street is a movie that is humorous and based on a buddy cop formula that sets two young underachievers thrust back into high school. The film sees police officers Schmidt and Jenko go undercover as high school students. Schmidt: Schmidt is the typical nerd at first—awkward and just trying to make it through school — while Jenko on the other hand, was a cool jock. But in the process of telling this story, both characters are liberated from their reductive stereotypes. Schmidt becomes more confident and begins to accept himself for who he is, Jenko learns that one does not have to be an athlete in order to appreciate intelligence. This change goes to show that people are more than just labels.

The movie also showcases various high school groups like the goths and popular kids, revealing that everyone has a tale to tell. It pushes the boundaries of these stereotypes for comedic effect, which is a classic portrayal in this series but demonstrates that people are more complicated than they appear. As they explore around the school, Schimidt and Jenko learn that their classmates are not just types of people you pick out in movies or TV, but have real lives and feelings — blowing up any preconceived notion about highschool ideals.

This movie is a great example of representation in media. Many stereotypes are used, which shows how the media perceives certain groups of people. For example, jocks are portrayed as dumb, strong, and mean by the media. But, in reality, this isn't always true. This movie also does a great job in showing its audience again that people are just more than the identities we choose for them. Jenko, a typical jock, breaks his stereotype and turns out to be a very different person than described before.