Representation in Action Films Task: What would be positive and negative representations of women in action adventure films be like? What about for ethnic minorities?

Watch two clips/trailers Who is being represented? How are they being represented? Is it generally positive or negative?

Race Villains are often non-white or ‘foreigners’ in Hollywood Action Adventures. The Mummy - Egyptians The Goonies – the Fratellis (Italian) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – Indians and Raiders of the Lost Ark - Germans

Race 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.

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. 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 improvements Samual L Jackson Denzel Washington Wesley Snipes Will Smith

Gender

Women Allowed to be tough, but still wear revealing clothes and are, for the most part, controlled by or need rescuing by men. Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider and Mr and Mrs Smith

Unnecessary shows of flesh such as this scene from Crocodile Dundee

Keira Knightley before and after being photoshopped for King Arthur

Charlie’s Angels marketing

Men 80s super macho men Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan the Barbarian and Commando Sylvester Stallone in Rambo

More ‘metrosexual’ heroes Jack Sparrow – slightly camp and very goofy Spiderman – he cries Legolas (Orlando Bloom in Lord of the Rings) Bromance with Aragorn?

Ability/Disability Villains are often disfigured or depicted as insane. Heroes are beautiful, graceful and gallant. ‘Jaws/Zbigniew Krycsiwiki’ in the Bond films The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979) : YouTube - James Bond vs Jaws (Round 2) Jaws is meant to be Polish. Bloefeld YouTube - Bond Villian Ernst Stavro Blofeld Nick Nack in The Man with the Golden Gun Rotten Tomatoes: Top 5 Bond Villains

Albinos The Twins in Matrix Re-loaded Silas in The Da Vinci Code

Bald Bond - Bloefeld Robin Hood - Sir Godfrey Damodar in Dungeons and Dragons Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End – Sao Feng (with facial scar also) The Mummy Returns - High Priest Imhotep

Alternative Kill Bill – female heroes and villains Daryll Hannah as Elle Driver Demi Moore as Jordan O’Neill in GI Jane

Point to consider Is it possible to include positive representations of minority groups and still appeal to the mainstream? TASK – use imdb to find out how successful the films with positive and negative representations are? (See gross figure under ‘Box Office’) What does this tell you about the audience?