1. 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?

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

3. 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

4. Race
Asian (Chinese, Japanese etc) characters are often wise or skilled in
martial arts (Karate Kid,
Jackie Chan/Jet Li/
Bruce Lee films).

5. 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.

6. 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

7. The cowardly/incompetent black side kick
Chris Tucker as Ruby Rap in The Fifth Element
Snails in Dungeons and Dragons (Marlon Wayans)

8. More recent improvements
Samual L Jackson
Denzel Washington
Wesley Snipes
Will Smith

9. Gender

10. 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

11. Unnecessary shows of flesh such as this scene from Crocodile Dundee

12. Keira Knightley before and after being photoshopped for King Arthur

13. Charlie’s Angels
marketing

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

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

16. 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

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

18. 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

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

20. 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?