Blog 24

Stereotypes are used every day for both legitimate reasons and due to people’s own personal bias.  Although Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer both showed that stereotypes are not always true, stereotypes can be used as an effective way to get information about a specific person.  People often act in a predictable way and repeat many of their everyday routines.  Police officers use criminal profiling as a method of understanding an offender and determining their behavior.  By examining their typical behavior, they can get an idea of where they might be or what they might do next.  With criminal profiling, it is assumed that all offenders will commit crimes in a similar manner.  If offenders do not behave rationally, it is almost impossible to predict their behavior.  But at the same time, police officers may use their own personal opinions when determining the innocence of a criminal.  Some officers may use racial profiling as a means of determining the innocence of an offender.  In both cases, they are using stereotypes, but in one situation they are using evidence while in the other situation they are using personal judgment.  Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog shows that the actual hero and villain are not always who you would expect.  If a police officer uses unfair or stereotypical opinions, they could be considered the villain, while the offender could be considered the innocent one.  At times, the hero may actually use deceptive actions in order to accomplish their goal or objective.  But using deceptive acts causes a hero to look more like a villain.