Prelims

Half Title Page

Gender and Action Films 2000 and Beyond

Series Title Page

Emerald Studies in Popular Culture and Gender

Series Editor: Samantha Holland, Leeds Beckett University, UK

As we re-imagine and re-boot at an ever faster pace, this series explores the different strands of contemporary culture and gender. Looking across cinema, television, graphic novels, fashion studies and reality TV, the series asks: what has changed for gender? And, perhaps more seriously, what has not? Have representations of genders changed? How much does the concept of ‘gender’ in popular culture define and limit us?

We not only consume cultural texts but share them more than ever before; meanings and messages reach more people and perpetuate more understandings (and misunderstandings) than at any time in history. This new series interrogates whether feminism has challenged or changed misogynist attitudes in popular culture.

Emerald Studies in Popular Culture and Gender provides a focus for writers and researchers interested in sociological and cultural research that expands our understanding of the ontological status of gender, popular culture and related discourses, objects and practices.

Title Page

Gender and Action Films 2000 and Beyond: Transformations

Edited by

Steven Gerrard

Leeds Beckett University, UK

And

Renée Middlemost

University of Wollongong, Australia

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2023

Editorial matter and selection © 2023 Steven Gerrard and Renée Middlemost. Chapter 3 © 2023 Steven Gerrard. Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

Individual chapters © 2023 by Emerald Publishing Limited.

Reprints and permissions service

Contact: permissions@emeraldinsight.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters' suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-80117-519-7 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80117-518-0 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80117-520-3 (Epub)

Dedication

The world of studying, analysing and writing about Action Cinema is – to me – as exciting as watching Rambo vanquishing all before him. As a fan of action movies, I wish to dedicate this book to these unforgettable action heroes: John J. Rambo, Douglas Quaid, John McClane, Chev Chevios, Ellen Ripley, Project Alice and probably many more who have entertained me on their journeys through action movies. But if there is one person who stands out for dedication, it is my co-editor Renée Middlemost – her unswerving support in this project has made it all possible. In the immortal words of Chev Chelios… ‘Chicken and broccoli!’

– Steven Gerrard, 2022

I dedicate my work on this book to my research partner in crime, Steve Gerrard. I couldn't ask for a better collaborator, colleague and friend. Our planning meetings for this project truly kept me afloat during lockdowns – here's to many more academic adventures!

– Renée Middlemost, 2022

About the Contributors

Glen Donnar is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. He has published diversely on stardom and celebrity, and popular cultural and screen representations of men and masculinity in film and television. He is the author of Troubling Masculinities: Terror, Gender, and Monstrous Others in American Film Post-9/11 (University Press of Mississippi, 2020) and completing a book on Ageing Masculinity in Hollywood Action Film (Bloomsbury) and a co-edited volume on Asian Celebrity and Digital Media (Hong Kong University Press). His research has also featured in Media International Australia, Celebrity Studies, Journal of Popular Culture and Senses of Cinema.

Steven Gerrard is a Reader of Film at Northern Film School, Leeds Beckett University. He has written monographs about The Carry on Films (Palgrave-MacMillan) and The Modern British Horror Film (Rutgers University Press). He is co-editor for Emerald Publishing's Gender in Contemporary Horror series and sole editor of their From Blofeld to Moneypenny: Gender in James Bond. He was instigator and co-editor of Crank It Up: Jason Statham – Star! (Manchester University Press). Steve would love to be either Status Quo's rhythm guitarist or the new Doctor Who. He'll have a long wait.

Dany S. Girard completed her PhD research at Lancaster University. Her research focuses on how queer people view (and respond to) queer representation in popular media, with a tight focus on mainstream representation and homo-restrictive viewing practices. She is interested in all aspects of sexuality, gender, femininity and pop culture.

Nancy R. Gomez is a Professor in Gender and Communication topics at the Department of Communication and Journalism at Universidad del Norte, in Barranquilla, Colombia. Among her research interests are the questioning of gender violence in media discourses, gender inequality in private and public spaces, women's resistance and identity, and embodied memories. Her work has been published in international journals, such as Gender and Education, Gender, Place and Culture, Journal of Applied Communication Research and the Journal of International Women's Studies.

Claire Hines is a Lecturer in Film at the University of East Anglia, UK. Her work on the representation of gender and sexuality in popular culture includes publications on genre films, James Bond and men's magazines. She is the author of The Playboy and James Bond: 007, Ian Fleming and Playboy Magazine (Manchester University Press, 2018).

Kelvin Ke Jinde is Assistant Professor in Communication Studies at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. His research interests include film and video, media practice and cultural studies. He is particularly interested in the topic of artistic and cultural representations and has published articles examining the issue of genre and gender in Southeast and East Asian films. As a media practitioner, his short films were previously screened at prestigious film festivals such as the Berlin International Film Festival and Chicago International Children Film Festival.

Natalie Le Clue is a PhD candidate and a Lecturer currently teaching in the Department of Media and Communication at Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Her research focuses on television studies with a particular emphasis on fan studies, fairytale mythology and elements of new media.

Khara Lukancic is a doctoral student in Mass Communication and Media Arts at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and publications editor at the Southern Illinois University Press. She has authored six academic book chapters for edited collections including: ‘“I Seek the White Mask”: The Intertextuality of Halloween and Moby-Dick’ in A Celebration of Slashers (2018), ‘Weeping Angels: Doctor Who's (De)Monstrous Feminine’ in Gender and Contemporary Horror in Television (2019), ‘#MeToo Masculinity: Critiquing Gendered Aggression in Beauty and the Beast (1991 and 2017)’ in A Celebration of Disney (2019), ‘Not All Monsters Are Universal: Gothic Parody in “Monster Movie”’ in Supernatural Out of the Box: Essays on the Metatextuality of the Series (2020), ‘(Dis)Abling Dinah: Childhood Agency and the Allegory of the Cave in The Langoliers (1995)’ in Children and Childhood in the Works of Stephen King (2020), and ‘Uncle Vlad's Cabin: Intertextuality Between “Cabin 33” and Blade’ in A Celebration of Superheroes (2021). Additionally, she has written two film reviews in academic journals, three book reviews and several magazine articles. Her research interests include film and television criticism, film geography, horror studies, Slavic studies, Russian and Eastern European Cinemas, and environmental humanities. She is the assistant editor of Film Criticism.

Renée Middlemost is a Lecturer in Communication and Media at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Her research focuses on fan participation, celebrity and popular culture, and has been featured in collections The Routledge Companion to Cult Cinema; Crank It Up: Jason Statham – Star!; Aussie Fans: Uniquely Placed in Global Popular Culture and Gender and Australian Celebrity Culture. Her recent work has been published in journals including Celebrity Studies, American Behavioural Scientist, M/C Journal and the Australasian Journal of Popular Culture. She is the co-founder of the Fan Studies Network Australasia and a co-editor of Participations: Journal of Audience and Reception Studies.

Cain Miller is a PhD student in Cinema & Media Studies at the University of Washington. His research predominantly focuses on gender and sexuality with particular emphasis on portrayals of masculinity in film and media. His areas of expertise include the horror genre, exploitation cinema and cult films.

Juan-Pablo Osman has a PhD in Communication Studies, and is a social communicator and journalist. He obtained a Master of Arts in Filmmaking at the London Film School, and is a graduate of the Universidad de Barcelona. He is currently a Professor and Researcher in Media at Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia. Among his fields of study are Media and Sport, Media and History, and Media and Culture.

Dr Deepthi Krishna Thota is an Assistant professor at the Department of Media Studies and Visual Communication, Gitam University – Hyderabad Campus. She previously worked as a Project Fellow at Council for Social Development. She has teaching experience at the University of Hyderabad, St Francis College for Women, Hyderabad and Royal Thimphu College, Thimphu, Bhutan. She has PhD in film studies from the Centre for Regional Studies, University of Hyderabad.

Janelle Vermaak-Griessel is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Media and Communication at the Nelson Mandela University in South Africa, and teaches in a varied range of disciplines including, but not limited to, Scriptwriting, Film Studies, Communication Studies and Written Communication. Her primary research interests include fan studies, film studies and television studies.

Acknowledgements

This book would not have been possible without the encouragement, help and patience from the entire team at Emerald Publishing, especially Katy Mathers, Lydia Cutmore, Abinaya Chinnasamy and Helen Beddow who have not only encouraged us but also made our work look like it's part of Action Cinema with this wonderful cover. Both Renée and I want to thank our terrific contributors, some stepping in at the last minute, in the way that they have not only produced excellent, cutting-edge and ground-breaking work in this field, but just as importantly embraced the project.