REPRESENTATION IN ACTION ADVENTURE FILMS

To identify stereotypes To explore representation in Action Adventure Films

Learning

Objective:

Traditional stereotypes

• Traditionally men have held power in our society – this system where men have power and control in society is called patriarchy.

• Patriarchy = society run by men for men

• The result of this is that traditionally male qualities and attributes have generally been seen to be superior to female attributes.

• Consider, for example, the fact that traditionally it was the eldest son who inherited – even if he had several older sisters!

• This was often reflected in the media, as most media companies were run by men!

• Masculinity was often represented in ways that were shown to be superior to feminine qualities. Men were often shown to be more important and powerful than women.

• Women were often shown in roles that suited men and which kept them from challenging men for power.

• In other words, the media showed men and women how men wanted them to be!

Write down a list of words under the heading, ‘Representation of men in film’ using the images below:

Representation is a very important term within the genre of Action Adventure.

Men and women have very clear and stereotypical gender roles. These have been enforced over decades of films.

Notice what physical similarities all of these characters have.

All are exaggerated examples of masculinity. They are role models for the male audience to aspire to and want to be like.

Less ‘masculine’ heroes?

Geeky

Metrosexual

Camp/ comical

Everyday man

In the past the stereotypical role of the female character was the attractive damsel in distress who would often either get in the way or cause the hero to get into peril.

Naturally she would ‘fall for his oh-so-obvious charms’.

Most audiences are over-familiar with the idea of the damsel-in-distress female character so film makers have adapted them.

We are beginning to see an increase in ‘strong’ female characters – some are even considered to be important enough to be the lead role.

Diamond 9

In pairs – re-arrange the diamond shape putting what type of female character is represented as being the strongest.

You’ll need to discuss with your partner and perhaps compromise to reach an agreement. Be ready to explain your reasons.

Who’s the strongest?

Empowered Women Allowed to be tough, but are still sexually objectified as they wear very revealing clothes to maximise their sexual appeal. They are mostly (not always) controlled by or need rescuing by men.

Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider and Mr and Mrs Smith

Because of their target audience, Action Adventure films are shot from a male point of view. This was called by Laura Mulvey the ‘male gaze’.

Men are watching men on the screen. Remember: the heroes are role models for the male audience to aspire to and want to be like.

The camera will often linger on a shot of a woman’s body to gratify the male audience.

Unnecessary shows of flesh or revealing clothes

Crocodile Dundee

Star Trek: Into Darkness

Keira Knightley before and after being photoshopped for King Arthur

Represented as perfect

Female characters

Female characters can be sorted into two categories:

Empowered Sexually Objectified

Charlie’s Angels

Clip 1

Write a response to the following question:

Some critics argue that action adventure films feed into sexist stereotypes about the roles and men and women. To what extent would you agree or disagree?

You should think about what we have talked about this lesson and make sure you refer to representation in Charlie’s Angels.

Stereotype Representation Gender Target Audience

Expectation Roles Male GazeFor years, the roles of men and women are almost always very clear and defined within Action Adventure films...

• Villains are often non-white or ‘foreigners’ in Hollywood Action Adventures.

Ethnicity

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – Indians and Raiders of the Lost Ark - Germans

The Mummy - Egyptians

The Goonies – the Fratellis (Italian)

Ethnicity• Asian (Chinese, Japanese etc)

characters are often wise or skilled in martial arts (Karate Kid, Jackie Chan/Jet Li/ Bruce Lee films).

Blaxploitation• The 1970s also saw the emergence of black action cinema (sometimes called

"blaxploitation") with both male and female heroes deploying violence, gun power, and martial arts against oppressive enemies and institutions.

YouTube - Shaft trailer (1971)

•Many critics regard blaxploitation as a problematic mode of film production because it typically employed familiar but unwelcome racial and sexual stereotypes. Significantly, though, black action films of the 1970s strongly evince the influence of Hong Kong filmmaking on American cinema. In particular, the international stardom achieved by the Hong Kong cinema martial arts icon Bruce Lee (1940–1973) suggests the possibility of shifting the seemingly fixed association between heroism and whiteness in US cinema. Lee's premature death, in the same year that his first (and only) American production, Enter the Dragon (1973), scored a huge commercial hit, reinforced his iconic status.

Biracial casting• Just as 1970s blaxploitation deploys uncomfortable racial

and sexual stereotypes, the 1980s variant of biracial buddy movies, such as 48 Hours (1982), the Lethal Weapon series (1987, 1989, 1992, 1998), and the Die Hard series (1988, 1990, 1995), has been read as a strategy to exploit and contain black male stars, such as Eddie Murphy. These films pair black and white stars in order to appeal to the widest audience demographic, and in the process black characters are typically portrayed within primarily (or entirely) white institutional contexts. More recently, Mary Beltrán considered Hollywood's deployment of biracial and multi-ethnic stars such as Vin Diesel and Keanu Reeves in terms of economic and cultural expediency.

Die Hard

The cowardly/incompetent black side kick

• Chris Tucker as Ruby Rap in The Fifth Element

•Snails in Dungeons and Dragons (Marlon Wayans)

More recent improvementsDenzel Washington

Wesley Snipes

Samual L Jackson

Will Smith