At first he seems like your typical college professor.
In the film “The Human Stain,” Anthony Hopkins
portrays Professor Coleman Silk, a Classics professor at a
prestigious Ivy League university. Middle-aged, over-educated, and
under-paid, he’s even got the tweed jacket complete with
elbow patches just to reinforce his scholarly worth.
But despite his outward persona, Silk leads a life based on
misconceptions. From sleeping with a younger, uneducated janitor
named Faunia (Nicole Kidman) to hiding his own ethnic background,
Silk finds himself caught between other people’s stereotypes
and his own reality.
The kind of stereotyping which helps to mold Hopkin’s
character in “The Human Stain” is nothing new to the
film industry. In fact, the idea of the traditional college
professor is something that has a great deal of history behind it,
according to UCLA English Professor Caroline Streeter.
“I think that when you first see a certain character,
there’s a whole litany of assumptions that we have about
them,” said Streeter. “One of those assumptions we
often make about the college professor characters is that they live
only in their heads, and not in their bodies,” she said.
There are three commonly used stereotypes filmmakers often model
their college professor characters after:
“¢bull; The Humorless Law Professor: Egotistical, pedantic and
stern are just a few traits about as common as are Fs in his
classes. He’s been made legendary by such characters as
Professor Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. (John Houseman) in “The
Paper Chase” or Professor Callahan (Victor Garber) in
“Legally Blonde.”
“¢bull; The Socially Awkward Science Professor: Fully equipped
with lab beaker and calculator at all times, the Science/Math
Professor might be able to light a Bunsen burner, but he
can’t get any fire started with the ladies. He’s been
perpetuated through such characters as Professor Sherman Klump
(Eddie Murphy) in “The Nutty Professor,” or Professor
Phil Brainard (Robin Williams) in “Flubber.”
“¢bull; The Inspirational Professor: It is required that the
Inspirational Professor always gets stuck with the worst class of
misfits, and somehow finds a way to teach them enough $2-words to
change their lives forever. This professor will live on through
such characters as as Professor John Keating (Robin Williams) in
“Dead Poet’s Society” or as Jaime A. Escalante
(Edward James Olmos) in “Stand and Deliver.”
“The Human Stain” attempts to go against such
stereotypes. As the film looks deeper into Silk’s life, he
becomes a man characterized less by success and more by the
inability to embrace his individuality. And according to UCLA film
Professor Richard Walter, a writer’s ability to stray away
from implementing stereotypes in characters makes a compelling
story and film.
“What is interesting is a character who runs against type,
who has surprises, someone you come to know gradually,
seductively,” Walter said in an e-mail. “The
all-familiar tart with a heart, the by-the-books cop, the kindly
priest, the all-knowing, all-nurturing Mr. Chips-ish college
professor who is also a bit of a rebel “¦ are all boring in my
own view.”