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25-428: A gentleman thief , gentleman burglar , lady thief , or phantom thief is a stock character in fiction. A gentleman or lady thief is characterised by impeccable manners, charm, courtesy , and the avoidance of physical force or intimidation to steal, and often has inherited wealth. They steal not only to gain material wealth but also for the thrill of the act itself, which is often combined in fiction with correcting

50-544: A "self-derogatory and understating character". In American popular films, there are a wide range of stock characters, which are typically used as non-speaking extras in the background, bit parts with a single line, minor secondary/supporting roles, or major secondary/supporting roles. Stock characters in American films have changed over the decades. A 1930s or 1940s film's stock characters include newspaper vendors, ice vendors, street sweepers, and cigarette girls; in contrast,

75-399: A 1990s film has homeless " bag ladies ", pimps, plainclothes police, business women, and Black and Hispanic stereotypes. Stock characters in American popular culture, especially racial and ethnic stereotypes, often came to be seen as offensive in later decades and were replaced with new stereotypes. For example, the " lazy Black " and the " treacherous bespectacled Japanese " were replaced in

100-582: A creative writing professor and prolific fiction author, all characters begin as stock characters and are fleshed out only as far as needed to advance the plot. E. Graham McKinley says "there is general agreement on the importance to drama of 'stock' characters. This notion has been considerably explored in film theory, where feminists have argued, female stock characters are only stereotypes (child/woman, whore, bitch, wife, mother, secretary or girl Friday , career women, vamp , etc.)." Ulrike Roesler and Jayandra Soni analyze "not only with female stock characters in

125-481: A moral wrong, selecting wealthy targets, or stealing only particularly rare or challenging objects. In fiction, the gentleman thief is typically superb at stealing while maintaining a gentleman's manners and a code of honour. For example, A. J. Raffles steals only from other gentlemen (and occasionally gives the object away to a good cause); Arsène Lupin steals from the rich who do not appreciate their art or treasures and redistributes it; Saint Tail steals back what

150-558: A phenomenon had disappeared by the 1960s and 70s due to the decline of the genteel social class (that is, the British gentry ) as well as inflation . However, some writers have described the state of many modern creatives as genteel poverty, including writer Cosmo Landesman , who calls this group the "undeserving not-quite-poor": those who may have enough cash flow to afford small luxuries but have trouble saving for larger expenses like medical debt or retirement . Landesman attributes this to

175-531: A time- and effort-saving shortcut for story creators, as authors can populate their tale with existing well-known character types. Another benefit is that stock characters help to move the story along more efficiently, by allowing the audience to already understand the character and their motivations. Furthermore, stock characters can be used to build an audience's expectations and, in some cases, they can also enhance narrative elements like suspense, irony, or plot twists if those expectations end up subverted. There

200-459: Is determined by their local parish. Working-class people who have a higher level of education or training such as teachers or skilled artisans may be considered members of the genteel poor. The term can also describe people from working-class backgrounds who pretend towards a higher class through their interests and affectations, such as Leonard Bast of the 1910 novel Howards End : a lower-middle class insurance clerk who reads and attends lectures in

225-703: Is often confusion between stock characters, archetypes , stereotypes , and clichés . In part this confusion arises due to the overlap between these concepts. Nevertheless, these terms are not synonyms. The relationship is that basic archetypes (such as " hero " or " father figure ") and stock characters (such as " damsel in distress " and " wise fool ") are the raw source material that authors use to build on and create fleshed-out, interesting characters. In contrast, stereotypes and clichés are generally viewed as signs of "bad writing or shallow thinking". Some stereotypes, such as racial stereotype characters, may be offensive to readers or viewers. According to Dwight V. Swain ,

250-423: Is that, as with films, these stock characters can incorporate racial stereotypes , and "prejudicial and demeaning images". One concern raised with these gay stock characters is they tend to be shown as just advice-giving "sidekicks" who are not truly integrated into the narrative; as well, the gay character's life is not depicted, apart from their advice-giving interactions with the main characters. This also echoed

275-402: The "genteel poor" if they are perceived as more refined than others in their social class. Spinsters from wealthy families were likely to fall into genteel poverty during those points in history when women were barred from earning a living wage through work. Aristocratic families with a lack of male heirs risk falling into genteel poverty when the family money passes out of the household to

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300-405: The 1990s with the " street-smart Brother " and the "camera-happy Japanese tourist". Other groups more frequently represented as stock characters include women, Native Americans, Hispanics, Arabs, Gays/Lesbians, Jews, and Italians. Other briefly popular stock characters include the 1950s "overweight Communist cell leader" and the 1970s " Black Panther revolutionary". Even in timeless occupations,

325-456: The audience. In the late 1990s, there was a trend for screenwriters to add a gay stock character, which replaced the 1980s era's "African-American workplace pal" stock character. In the 1990s, a number of sitcoms introduced gay stock characters with the quality of the depictions being viewed as setting a new bar for onscreen LGBT depiction. One challenge with the use of stock characters in TV shows

350-428: The characteristics of stock characters in a story, whether it be a book , play , or film . Genteel poverty Genteel poverty is a state of poverty marked by one's connection or affectation towards a higher (" genteel ") social class . Those in genteel poverty are often people, possibly titled , who have fallen from wealth due to various circumstances. Others may be working-class people, but are seen as

375-508: The following: Phantom thief ( Japanese : 怪盗 , Hepburn : kaitō ) is the term for the gentleman/lady thief in Japanese media such as anime , manga , and JRPGs . It draws inspiration from Arsène Lupin and elements in other crime fictions and detective fictions . Notable phantom thieves in Japanese popular culture include the following: Stock character There are several purposes to using stock characters. Stock characters are

400-440: The oldest male relative. Those described as the genteel poor who do come from the aristocratic class may still retain one or more servants, and live off rental income or income from a country estate , although this money may not sufficiently cover daily expenses or the luxuries typical to those from a lineage of landed gentry . The genteel poor may also describe those on fixed income such as pensioners , or vicars whose income

425-574: The person in the job has changed, reflecting cultural and demographic changes. In the 1990s, a hairdresser (previously French) was often depicted as a gay man, a gardener (previously White) as Asian or Hispanic, a bartender (previously White) as Black, and a maid (previously Black) as Hispanic. Due to the scheduling constraints on television production, in which episodes need to be quickly scripted and shot, television scriptwriters often depend heavily on stock characters borrowed from popular film. TV writers use these stock characters to quickly communicate to

450-507: The plays' comic business and royal pomp." Tara Brabazon discusses how the "school ma'am on the colonial frontier has been a stock character of literature and film in Australia and the United States. She is an ideal foil for the ill mannered, uncivilised hero. In American literature and film, the spinster from East – generally Boston – has some stock attributes." Polly Welts Kaufman shows that

475-531: The pursuit of self-improvement. The term genteel poverty peaked in usage in the late 19th century. Characters in genteel poverty are often seen in English literature of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The genteel poor as seen in these works are typically not working class. Notable books containing characters which are members of the genteel poor include I Capture the Castle , Little Lord Fauntleroy , and many of

500-456: The schoolma'am's " genteel poverty , unbending morality, education, and independent ways make her character a useful foil for the two other female stock characters in Western literature: the prostitute with the heart of gold and the long-suffering farmer's wife.'" Stock characters can be further identified as an alazon , the "impostor and self-deceiving braggart" in a story, or an eiron ,

525-521: The sense of typical roles in the dramas, but also with other female persons in the area of the theatrical stage..." Andrew Griffin, Helen Ostovich, and Holger Schott Syme explain further that "Female stock characters also permit a close level of audience identification; this is true most of all in The Troublesome Reign , where the "weeping woman" type is used to dramatic advantage. This stock character provides pathos as yet another counterpoint to

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550-415: The way that Black and Latino characters were used in 1980s and early 1990s shows: they were given a stock character role as a police chief, which in put them in a position of power, but then these characters were used as minor characters, with little narrative interaction with main characters. In the 2000s, with changing views on depicting race, Latino/a characters are both typecast into stock characters and

575-509: The works of Jane Austen . For example, in Emma , Miss Bates and Mrs. Bates have fallen into genteel poverty because of the death of Mr. Bates, who was Highbury's clergyman. In Sense and Sensibility , the main characters, the Dashwoods, fall into genteel poverty as their family inheritance passes to the family patriarch's son by his first wife. Theodore Dalrymple suggested that the genteel poor as

600-483: The writers play with viewer expectations by making a seemingly stock Latino/a character act or behave "against type". Southern sheriff stock characters are depicted with a negative stereotype of being obese, poorly trained, uneducated, and racist, as was done with Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane from The Dukes of Hazzard . In the United States , courts have determined that copyright protection cannot be extended to

625-454: Was stolen or taken dishonestly or rights the wrongs done to the innocent by implicating the real criminals; Sly Cooper and his gang steal from other thieves and criminals. Another example would be Kaito Kuroba who only steals to amuse the audience, to find the Pandora Gem and find the people who killed his father. Notable gentlemen thieves and lady thieves in Western popular culture include

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