Stereotype – a general belief or expectation about a specific group of people.

Countertype – a representation that challenges dominant ideologies about specific groups.

An example of stereotyping vs countertypeing in films is the contrast between people of colour in older films, where they may be perceived as criminals or comedic characters, as opposed to films from more recently where they are represented fairly and equally. An example of stereotyping race in film would be casting people in minority groups to provide an unserious contrast to a white character, such as Will Smith in Men In Black. An example of racial countertypes would be in a film like Tenet, where the protagonist is a person of colour but that aspect of his character is insignificant and he isn’t represented any differently to the white characters.