Science-fiction X Film-noir X Thriller X X Detective X X X Melodrama X Comedy X Children X
R.H= Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves; T.2= Terminator 2: Judgement Day; S.L= The Silence O f The Lambs; B .1= Basic Instinct; H.K= Hook; L.W.3= Lethal Weapon 3
ACTION/ADVENTURE
Action/adventure is a genre and a category into which some other genres will fit. For instance the films I have labelled action films could also be labelled historical/folk legend, science fiction and detective films. Action/adventure genres are male oriented dramas that use action and spectacle to entertain an audience. By male oriented dramas I mean they are more often than not centred around a central male character, they are set in an outside or non-domestic space mostly populated by men and most importantly engage in discourses with most relevance to the experience of the masculine subject position. Cawelti ( 1978 ) states that in the action/adventure genre the main focus of interest is the hero and how he overcomes a series of obstacles. Any romantic interest or plot machinations come secondary to this main aim. The three films I have identified as action/adventure can be divided into a series of chases and confrontations. In the case of Robin Hood the narrative can be broken down into ten sequences each ending in a chase or a fight involving the central, heroic character. Terminator 2 is one long chase with most sequences ending with the central characters evading capture until they finally destroy their pursuer. Lethal Weapon 3 is a detective film in which the two male leads, who are policemen, do not do any detecting. The plot exposition and detection
functions are carried out by the romantic interest and comic relief characters. Once directed the hero/heroes then pursue and confront the villains. In all three films chase, pursuit and confrontation are central organising themes of the narrative.
An essential element of the action genre is the action hero. The star images of the four actors Kevin Costner, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Douglas and Mel Gibson are all associated with action/adventure roles. Our expectations of the roles of these actors in a narrative are that they solve the central dilemma through their direct personal
intervention, that they will act heroically. Such heroes are easily related to a masculine subject position. The self sufficiency and competence in all situations reflects the expectation that men deal with everything the outside world throws at them. The constant stream of obstacles reflect something of the initial fear that must occur in the transition from a familiar domestic to an unknown work space and the sense of threat from the competition of other men. Ultimately the action hero offers the fantasy of overcoming those fears. Action heroes present those qualities that men require to fulfil the masculine role, they are ego-ideals. It is often believed that this positive pleasure offered by the popular action hero is the only basis for the popularity of action films. However as I mentioned earlier relevance is essential to the experience of pleasure and pride in the theoretical ideal of masculinity is only one aspect of the experience of masculinity. When talking about the body image of Sylvester Stallone, Yvonne Tasker (1993) relates this star to a specifically working-class masculinity where the male body is both the sight of endurance, of manual labour, and also of resistance. Traditional
methods of gaining prestige for the working classes has been the attainment o f physical endurance and strength in manual labour and in sport. The physicality of the action hero reflects this association between strength and prestige/masculinity. Fanon (1985) in The Wretched O f The Earth describes how men in colonised countries often have dreams where they achieve unusual physical prowess. He interprets this as a fantasy of
overcoming limitations and of the achievement of freedom. I would apply this argument to explain the popularity of action heroes particularly those that emphasis the physical power of their bodies. The action/adventure genre presents the opportunity of watching action heroes repeatedly displaying unusual physical prowess through a series of
masculinity the relevance of the discourse goes beyond that. A physically powerful masculinity as an ideal gives virtue to the performance of manual labour. This is a re negotiation by working-class men of their status in a class hierarchy. Physical prowess as a positive male attribute was a response to the demands of manual labour but it was also a response to relative powerlessness. The ability of the physically powerful to overcome obstacles, in theory, also liberates the individual from the constraints o f the outside world. This gives the pleasure of the action genre a wider appeal than just working-class men. Powerlessness is a feeling that many will have in a complex society. It is also a symptom of the many unrealisable demands of masculinity which most if not all men will fail to achieve at some time. Therefore watching heroes overcome obstacles both reflects the demands of the masculine subject position to be able to act and the sense of threat that these demands create. The discourse on power reflects a need to be powerful, an essential component of successful masculinity, and a sense of threat and
powerlessness. The repetition of situations of threat, which is a defining element of this genre, suggests that coming to terms with a need for power that exists alongside a sense of powerlessness is a key component of the pleasure of the genre, rather like the
compulsion to play with a painful tooth. Even though the feelings of threat addressed in action/adventure largely stem from the demands of the masculine role, exacerbated by the contradictory demands of a class and racial hierarchy, the solution to these anxieties is always the masculine ego-ideal. As Tasker puts it the male body is the only place of safety. This reinforces the demands on masculinity and the definitions of masculinity that I have identified as causing anxieties. The action genre and its stars have a circularity that helps to maintain the emotions that are the basis of these pleasures making it a potentially lucrative commercial product.