Jock (athlete) - Portrayal in The Media

Portrayal in The Media

Stereotypical jocks are often present in books, movies, and television shows involving high school or college. The stereotype is most prevalent in movies for teenagers such as College, American Pie, and Revenge of the Nerds. The stereotype extends beyond the high-school and collegiate age group, trickling down into media intended for younger audiences. Examples of this include the high school quarterback Dash Baxter in the Nickelodeon cartoon Danny Phantom. Other notable portrayals of the stereotype include the popular athlete love interest Tommy Ross in Carrie, the spoiled bullying antagonist Luke Ward in the first season of The O.C., and Kim's wealthy athlete boyfriend Jim in Edward Scissorhands.

The mass media borrows many stereotypical characteristics of jocks, and they are commonly used to portray a character who is relatively unintelligent and unenlightened, but nonetheless socially and physically well-endowed. Usually, jocks will play aggressive sports such as football or basketball. The main jock character often occupies a high position, such as the quarterback or captain of the football team. In many cases the jock is shown to come from a wealthy family: driving a fancy, expensive sports car or SUV, and wearing expensive, name-brand clothing; however, this is not always the case. In this regard there may be significant overlap with the preppie stereotype.

As a protagonist, the jock is often a dynamic character who through an epiphany or new understanding will lead to a change in the values of the jock. This change often means a cessation of athletics and/or some other equivalent social sacrifice which leads to the character no longer being considered a jock. Examples from movies include Randall "Pink" Floyd in Dazed and Confused and Andrew Clark in The Breakfast Club. Examples from television shows include Nathan Scott in the teen drama series One Tree Hill, Whitney Fordman in Smallville and Luke Ward in The O.C..

As antagonists, jocks can be stock characters shown as lacking compassion for the protagonist, and are generally flat and static. Often, in high school comedies or dramas where the main characters are not popular, the jock is the chief antagonist and cruel to the main characters. He is disliked by the nerds and other people considered unpopular, and usually has an unfortunate (and in some cases, violent and/or fatal) ending. Heathers' "Kurt" and "Ram" roles, the Spider-Man character Flash Thompson and Jean Grey's first boyfriend Duncan Matthews in X-Men: Evolution are such examples. There are also numerous jock antagonists found in teen dramas such as the rapist Dean Walton from Degrassi, among others.