Gender and Action Films

Since the 1990s, Charlize Theron has appeared in films from a wide range of genres but has seen significant financial success from starring in action films, such as Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) and Atomic Blonde (2017). However, unlike some female action leads, she has not solely been defined or pigeonholed by these roles but has been able to transition between action roles and more ‘respectable’ dramatic roles, as well as the other conventions of female celebrity, such as being the face of advertising campaigns for perfume brands.

Theron has notably received several physical injuries during filming, such as breaking her teeth practising fight choreography during the production of Atomic Blonde. These injuries have frequently been added as part of the publicity campaign for the films and Theron's star image overall as signs of ‘authenticity’, leading these action films a sense of increased legitimacy. Tasker states that a female action star's ‘[public] formulation is indicative of the uncertainties generated by her image’ (1993, p. 14). Media attention is divided between focusing on Theron's physicality, both in the sense of the traditional Hollywood gaze and in terms of Theron's molding of her marketable image. Theron has managed to succeed as both a mainstream star and an action heroine. This has enabled Theron to transition between genres and franchises such as The Fate of The Furious (2017), and an Oscar-nominated dramatic role in the biopic Bombshell (2019).

This chapter will unpack the public persona of Charlize Theron as an action film star, exploring both the filmic texts and the presentation of Theron's often complicated and contradictory image in the media.

An amateur boxer; A professional soldier turned indestructible zombie; A fast-driving heister; A combat pilot on another world; A taco truck driver with a heart of gold; A Smurf; Michelle Rodriguez, American actress, has played them all. As Leticia ‘Letty’ Ortiz, Rodriguez' most famous role offers both a sensitive portrayal of a tenacious woman living out a tough existence who exhibits as much courage, strength, moral standing and fibre as her male counterparts, whilst also revealing a softer, emotional side and one that focuses on family and ideals of accepting Motherhood. This is what makes Rodriguez such a fascinating contradiction. Whilst much praise is heaped on other actresses for their roles in action films, this chapter will offer, through both an overview of her action-hero career and in-depth look at Rodriguez's work in the Fast and Furious films, an insight into the importance of this actress to the growing canon of action hero(ine) characters and film stars.

For much of its peak popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, women in action films were relegated to the damsel in distress and/or the romantic interest for the male lead. This was particularly evident in action films where women were depicted as being petite and submissive, especially towards the heroic male. Rarely did women occupy the primary focus in action films. Nowadays women are more frequently occupying positions of creative power as producers and actors, and there are some notable examples of progressive female roles in modern film. Female action stars tended to occupy one of two roles, that of what Marc O'Day (2004) labelled ‘action babe’ cinema, using the colloquial and dismissive term ‘babe’ as an indication of the derogatory nature of the female action hero who was often just a supermodel with a gun. However, there has emerged another type of female action star, the tough, aggressive and physically capable female action star, such as Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1992).

Yvonne Tasker coined the term ‘musculinity’ to define this new model of tough women; female action stars who appropriate what are considered traditionally masculine traits (developed muscles, aggression, confidence, leadership skills, bravery). The presence of athletic women in action films, especially when compared to their male counterparts, defies expectations for women, and as such provides a unique example to analyse in terms of gender dynamics. This is especially true of combat sports, where aggression is a feature of the sport and still considered a testosterone-oriented attribute. Indeed, in the 1970s and 1980s, the peak of the male action star, martial arts and associated combat sports provided opportunities for many former athletes to transition into action films. Using Tasker's framework of musculinity, I will examine Haywire (2011) as a notable progression in the representation of female action stars and musculinity. Focusing on a case study of Gina Carano's role in Haywire, and her subsequent career narrative, this chapter highlights how perceptions of masculinity and femininity in both combat sports and action films have previously limited roles for women and how much that has shifted in contemporary filmmaking.

Unlike Joss Whedon's cult series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), Angel (1999–2004) and Firefly (2002–2003), Dollhouse (2009–2010) is largely considered to be both a critical and commercial failure. Dollhouse is often dismissed as Whedon's worst television series, with critics citing their discomfort and disgust in watching hero Echo's (Eliza Dushku) repeated exploitation. Unlike other popular acclaimed TV series featuring a female action hero like Xena: Warrior Princess (1995–2001), Alias (2002–2006) and Nikita (2010–2013), the hero of Dollhouse is not empowered from the series' outset, but rather she slowly comes to her power and agency due to various traumatic and violent experiences. This chapter argues that Dollhouse stages a reworking of the cinematic female action hero figure by delaying empowerment and forcing the audience to linger in the hero's lack of agency. Dollhouse enables an unpacking of the female action hero popularised in films like Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), The Fifth Element (1997) and the Alien franchise (1979, 1986, 1992, 1997). By exposing the mechanics of hero-creation, Dollhouse forces viewers to consider how heroes are made and who is exploited in the process. As such, this chapter considers Dollhouse as an intervention into the female action hero film and television cycle through an analysis of how the series adheres to and subverts the tropes of the cycle.

A young man plucks information from digital data streams; a woman leaves digital clues about herself online – no screen, keyboard, or cable in sight. Characters found in TV series like Alphas and Heroes offer only two examples for a (fairly) new superpower that has been added to the catalogue of abilities for action heroes: that is, they have the power to manipulate digital information, and hacking into systems without using any kind of device.

This chapter analyses which visual mechanisms are used to convey these ‘new (media) superpowers’ by focusing primarily on Alphas and Heroes and considers them important predecessors for filmic examples. Such analysis will examine ideas about their transmedia extension as well as real-life developments in the field, such as specific hand movements that remind the viewer of the ‘Apple Swipe’ or social media trends. Combining theoretic approaches of cultural, television and media studies, this chapter discusses the ‘wireless’ connection between the new (super)heroes, their televised abilities, and the (online) audience, which also allows for a projection of (possible) future developments.

Games are rapidly becoming a site where cultural ideas are explored and consumed and have recently become an arena for debate around representations of gender. This chapter draws attention to key debates occurring in the field of video games that are also applicable to film studies. This interdisciplinary approach demonstrates the relevance to game studies of a rich vein of scholarship on the gendered action body in film studies. Drawing on research by Yvonne Tasker (1993, 2015), Lisa Purse (2011) and Jeffrey Brown (2011), this chapter seeks to unpick the tensions around gender and violence in the reception of The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog, 2020), particularly regarding the surprisingly vehement backlash against the unconventionally muscular deuteragonist Abby.

This chapter asks what happens when the ‘spectacular’ and ‘hard’ bodies of the action heroine enter the soft virtual world of the video game. A focus on whether Abby's body is realistic in the reception of the game leads to a discussion of the ontological status of games as a virtual medium. I argue that the process of motion capture and the real-world reference of CrossFit athlete Colleen Fotsch trouble the conventional dichotomy that understands the medium of games as virtual and film as indexical. Throughout, I use the more ambiguous and ambivalent historical reception of the body of Lara Croft as a useful point of contrast. I argue that the obsessive, hysterical response to Abby's muscular body is indicative of larger tensions between conservative ‘hardcore’ fandoms and the industry's recent drive for progressive change. By denying Abby's authenticity such players also deny female access to traditional masculine pursuits and identities, whether that be bodybuilding or gaming. This is because virtual female action stars, just as much as their real-world counterparts such as Linda Hamilton, trouble the gendered norms that underpin both second-wave feminist accounts of muscular women and the audience of hardcore video game players. As Fron, Fullerton, Morie, and Pearce (2007) critique in their article ‘The Hegemony of Play’, a double standard therefore exists in which such women must justify the reality of their musculature through a kind of ‘proof of process’. Ultimately, I conclude that a similar demand is made of the emergent female audience of gamers, who are continuously made to justify their right to play in a traditionally male space.

The Jason Bourne series of films (2002–2016) are widely acknowledged with helping to successfully re-invent the action thriller genre in the 2000s by focusing more on motivation and plot than over-the-top spectacle. Featuring a profoundly wounded son figure in the titular character, the films are indicative of an awareness of the vulnerabilities and reactions of a fatherless masculinity within a post-Cold War political reality.

This chapter will argue that Bourne's onscreen pain and subsequent violent responses to his various narrative predicaments are a result of being repeatedly betrayed by a series of older males, in many cases, father surrogates. Bourne's experience of this paternal disruption and betrayal is the key psychological motivating factor, with the films and the story arc of the character only being resolved when both he and the audience finally discover and reconcile the role that his biological father played in shaping his destiny and his life. This ‘father hunger’ – in effect a need for a continuative masculinity – that Jason Bourne experiences, and that is arguably at the heart of the franchise, will be analysed and explored within the contexts of post-Jungian screen theory. Alongside the deliberately casting of ‘quality’ actors (such as Brian Cox, Joan Allen, Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn) and other formalist elements of the text, archetypal energies and symbolism are also rife throughout the film, and can be, in part, credited with the critical and commercial success of the films. Finally, the films are put in their cinematic context in terms of the influence they subsequently exerted on other action film franchises – particularly James Bond (1962 to present).

This chapter examines how the breakthrough of Zhang Ziyi's depiction of a female kung fu master in The Grandmaster (2013) transforms the figure of the heroine in Chinese action films. Zhang is well known for her acting in action films conducted by renowned directors, such as Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou and Wong Kar-wai. After winning 12 different Best Actress awards for her portrayal of Gong Ruomei in The Grandmaster, Zhang announced that she would no longer perform in any action films to show her highest respect for the superlative character Gong. Tracing Zhang's transformational portrait of a heroine in The Grandmaster alongside her other action roles, this analysis demonstrates how her performance projects the directors' distinctive gender viewpoints. I argue that Zhang's characterisation of Gong remodels heroine-hood in Chinese action films. Inheriting the typical plot of a daughter's use of martial arts for revenge for her father's death, Gong breaks from conventional Chinese action films that highlight romantic love during a woman's adventure and the decisive final battle scene. Beyond the propensity for sensory stimulation, Gong's characterisation enables Zhang to determine that women can really act in action films – demonstrating their inner power and ability to create multi-layered characters – not merely relying upon physical action. This chapter offers a relational perspective of how women transform the action film genre not merely as gender spectacles but as embodied figures that represent emerging female subjectivity.

Wesley Snipes has had an extensive career on the big screen starting out as part of the New Black Cinema movement in the 1990s working with Spike Lee and Mario Van Peebles. His roles have been incredibly varied covering drama, comedy, action, thriller, horror and Science Fiction: he has played everything from jazz saxophonist to paraplegic and drag queen to vampire, as well as recently appearing as character actor D'Urville Martin in Eddie Murphy's critically acclaimed Dolemite Is My Name. However, despite his versatility as an actor and his popularity in action films such as Demolition Man and the Blade Trilogy, Snipes has been, surprisingly, the subject of minimal analysis unlike, for example Schwarzenegger and Stallone. Unfortunately, he has also fallen foul of the direct to video curse from around 2005 as well as being sentenced to three years in prison for tax evasion. However, this should not negate Snipes' contribution to cinema, especially in the genre of action. Snipes can be a commanding presence given the right script and direction – as an expert martial artist he is lithe and agile; he has strong facial features and a powerful voice, plus the ability to deliver the wisecracking humour which often goes hand-in-hand with action performances. The aim of this chapter, then, is to focus on Snipes as an action star and, more specifically, his significance as a black action star, examining several key films which have helped to develop his onscreen persona and performance style.

While there is no question that women on movie screens are frequently eroticised, with countless shots of heaving bosoms or curvaceous rear ends, action stars do occasionally get a reprieve. Pam Grier, the first female action star, was not so lucky. While Grier's Amazonian status should be celebrated, the dark side of her career should also be noted as a cautionary tale of just how much misogyny and racism lurks behind Hollywood doors and intertwined into American cinema history. This chapter examines how Grier's career forces us to rethink both femininity and racism, as well as action films themselves.

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood, in addition to his broad popular appeal. Since his transition from a successful pro-wrestling career to a full-time actor, his onscreen persona has transitioned from one dimensional action hero to more balanced star ‘type’ (Dyer, 1991), alternating action films with more family-friendly fare. Johnson's starring role in the Fast and the Furious franchise has been central to the growth of his career, yet as I will argue, this success is fuelled by his apparent rivalry with other action stars onscreen (Jason Statham) and offscreen (Vin Diesel). As I will show, these rivalries are rooted in the star ‘types’ formulated by Richard Dyer (1991), and this tension is central to the ongoing fan interest in the series.

Johnson's expanding profile has also led to the establishment of his own production company, Seven Bucks, and transition into television series Ballers (2015–2019) and Young Rock (2021–), both of which allowed him to explore autobiographical elements of his early life. As I will demonstrate via a case study of Hobbs and Shaw (2019), Johnson's success as a transnational action star and creative control allowed by Seven Bucks has allowed more explicit on-screen engagement with his Sāmoan heritage. The production history of Hobbs and Shaw illustrates both the successful co-existence of rivalry between action stars as a successful marketing strategy for action franchises, and the evolving action genre which allows a more personal exploration of race and masculine identity.