Hollywood main stream cinema’s treatment of gender in the 1980’s Essay

To what extent is Rambo First pipeline Part 2 typical of Hollywood mainstream movie theatres preaching of gender in the 1980s?Action use ups in the 1980s reflected the changes and hazards within Ameri hindquarters society. There had been a rise in feminism meaning that the masculine form and dominance was being undermined and light working class males did non know where their place was in society. It was likewise in the immediate judgment of conviction after the Vietnam War and confusion and evoke still lingered. The Vietnam War divided the the Statesn nation as a whole because, as it has been in recent ms with the state of contend in Iraq, people didnt fully understand why the States call for to impose their presence in a country where they felt they had nil to gain. The go through mental picture in the 1980s introduced a belligerent that tell masculinity and femininity using the form of the personate as a way of ensuring power, dominance and self- adore. Rambo First family Part 2 is a typical film of this era in terms of masculinity and the shipway in which men and women argon portrayed.In the film Rambo First Blood Part 2 Sylvester Stallone portrays a typical action hero of the war film genre in the 1980s only also an shipwreck survivor of society after the Vietnam War. He is a veteran of Vietnam and came home to cause that everything he had known had changed and he was no longer considered an honourable pass but more(prenominal) as a war criminal. Rambos accusation in this film is to go back to Vietnam and see if he can find a camp that he is told has servicemany POWs. If he finds the men, he can only take photographs but he has a problem with this and risks his own life to save them. He is very tough and muscular and is able to defeat the soldiers, Russian and Vietnamese, single handed. Douglas Kellner states that the filmFollows the conventions of the Hollywood genre of the war film, which dramatizes conflicts between the U nited States and its enemies and provides a clever ending that portrays the victory of good over horror. (Kellner, 1994, p.10)This means that America ever won no matter who the enemy was. In reality this is something that America could not accomplish. There was no happy ending and there were no immediate heroes. Rambo is allowed to bring glory upon America and diffuse a power that could have cost the American multitude even more respect and dignity. America had lost some of its power within the world and they strived to stick it back. It had lost its primary war and it had become important to remasculinize America. There was a growing fear of communism in the country and displaying male heroes which went against the communist regime was their idea of establishing the ideal through issue the world by a means of globalization.Globalization had been taking place throughout the history of photographic film by a means of film that was imported and exported to places around the world. In effect most of the action films set in Vietnam, and other films which accord a strong view of patriotism and heroism within America in the 1980s, can be seen as propaganda films against the rise of communism.The purpose, with or without the intimacy of the audience, was to get the idea across to a mass audience that communism was against the principles of the country. In Rambo the evil point of references are the Vietnamese and Russian soldiers and ironically, it turns out that the superlative threat to Rambo is not the Vietnamese, although they do pose a strong force, it is the Russians. The Russians are shown as being extremely strong, relentless, and resulting to put a man through torture to get what they want. Nevertheless, whatever the Russians do you cannot beat a man with as much physiologic and mental strength as Rambo. This adheres a pattern throughout action films in the 1980s. One film that is suggestive of this is Rocky 4.Rocky 4 (1985) also stars Sylve ster Stallone but this time he is a boxer. He is affairing against a strong Russian fighter named Ivan Drago. Drago is very tough and stands at over 6ft tall. The Russian bear on all stand behind their fighter but when the final fight is over and Rocky defeats him with all of his strength the Russians begin to show acquit for Rocky and boo their fighter. This is the film industrys way of evoking patriotism and the ever-growing fear of the communist regime after the Cold War. Philip L. Gianos states thatThe advent of Vietnam in film provided an opportunity for filmmakers who were denied an actual shooting war a parallel, renewal setting in which cold war themes could be played out. (Gianos. 1998, P.159)The first response from the film industry during this time was a set of anti-communist films to oppose to the changing policy-making environment. The villains are almost always portrayed as foreign internationals such as Russian, German, and sometimes English and they are common ly a communist operative. They are never American in these films because the hero is American. He is fighting for his country and if it were another American he is fighting against he is effectively fighting against America.Other action films that were released at that time include, The Terminator, Rocky, Predator, and Die Hard. Millions of people worldwide, mainly consisting of young males went to see these films at the cinema. They gave them a chance to latch on to big, muscular, violent men as cinematic heroes. (Katz, 1994, p134) These heroes gave the audience the chance to gain self-respect and security as it represented a masculinity that was unaffected by the rise of feminism.Gender roles had been change due to the growing rise of a feminist movement that showed women were more and more moving into the workplace rather than staying at home. The displaying of the male physique and the bodily torture it goes through to enable glory and victory over evil is further suggestiv e of masculinity in crisis and the gain of global respect. Women could not gain this kind of respect because they could not attain that degree of physical strength and endurance so hence this was one thing that they couldnt take away from men.The female role in the action film of the 1980s appears at first glance to be on enough footing with the male. However, there are some differences in the ways in which they go about their missions. In Rambo First Blood Part 2 the main female character, Co Bao, is strong, resourceful and a very suitable fighter. She is Rambos contact in Vietnam and later becomes his love interest. During the film she cautions Rambo to follow his orders and when she goes to save him from the Russians in the POW camp she uses a different technique than Rambo. While Rambo attacked her captor from behind and overpowered him she sneaked into the camp as a prostitute. Therefore the issue of strength and power is present in the male character but in the female chara cter it is more about subtlety and intelligence.Rambo is the definitive male of 80s cinema and was joined by characters such as John McLain (Die Hard) and Rocky Balboa (Rocky). In these films the main action centres around one hero and the female character is usually the love-interest or accomplice. In previous war/actions films and Vietnam films the veterans were seen as both psychopaths, such as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, or tragic characters, give chase Hyde in Coming Home. In the films of the 1980s, however, the hero fights back.In Rambo Part 2 Rambo can be seen as an anti-hero because of his rebellious behaviour by way out against his orders to leave the POWs and by telling Murdock that he will come and get him when he gets back from the jungle. This makes his character more precarious and exciting to the audience as you dont know what he is going to do. He has many people after him in Vietnam but he also has enemies at home. He has to deal with home-grown discrimination because of the war and in effect he is no longer fighting for his country. He is doing it for the comrades that he fought withIn these films the enemy is not the enemy in a war that is officially over but rather the civilian and military leadership that failed to win the war (Gianos. 1998, p.166)After Co Bao is killed Rambo channels his emotions into retribution and thus becomes a fighting machine that is only out for revenge. sooner she was killed he was ready to leave after finding that Murdock sent him out just to get free of him and stem reports that there were POWs still in Vietnam.The style of the film helps to build the perception that he is a god and that he is invincible. The use of lighting and camera angles are utilize to enhance his physique and the fast paced editing in the action shots are used to show that he is fast, strong and practical in the ways he attacks his enemies. Rambo shows us the ideal, very well-built muscular body of the white male in a place where he appears to belong. Commonly used iconography for Vietnam films included dense jungle, camouflage equipment and hi-tech weaponry. He uses the jungle to an favor and appears to know it better than those who live there. He uses his initiative and intelligence in the jungle and is able to use it to gain the upper hand in a battle. One example of this is the scene in which he attacks a US soldier after he hides in a verify of mud with his eyes being the only thing visible.The male body in these films constructs the white man as physically superior, yet also an everyman, built to do the job of colonial world improvement (Dyer, 2002, p.269) The concomitant that the superior build of the heros body establishes him as an everyman means that it is something that any man can attain as long as you are white. Black men are rarely portrayed in this manner and if they are they are usually the villains of the movie and end up being defeated.In conclusion, the gender representation in the fi lm is an suit from the United States to fulfil the growing need of remasculinizing American society, in particularly, in the dominant white majority of the working class. With the rise of feminism, fear of communism, political scandals and the Vietnam War, it became imperative for America to try and rebuild the image of men in a positive light. Rather than focusing on men as a collective these films focused on one individual and therefore a view of machismo, strength and determination became the norm.The films of the 1980s became a kind of vessel of the ideal and most of these films are still ordinary in todays society and may still be what some men aspire to be. If you were like these men you were considered to be potent and if you werent you were understood to be weak and not the typical American male. The male hero in these films was put there to win. America essential a hero and they found him in these films. The masculine form was in crisis and the wholesomeness and fearles s heroes could make an impact on the male audience who would past seek to be like the characters they watched on screen.BibliographyGianos P.L (1998) Politics and Politicians in American Film, London, Greenwood PressDyer, R, (2002) The White Mans Muscles in Adams. R and Savran. D (eds) (2002) The Masculinity Studies Reader Oxford, Blackwell PublishersJeffords S. (1989) The Remasculinization of America Gender and the Vietnam War indiumpolis and Bloomington, Indiana University PressKellner D. and Katz. J (1994) in Dines G and Humez J.M (eds) (1994) Gender, Race and Class in Media London, Sage Publications