Hollywood Constructions of Gender Essay

Hollywood had portrayed a multifariousness of different categories of heroes in its cinematic history. None has been more important to film than the superhero and the horse opera. Both superheroes and Western heroes be considered tough and ready to conquer the fiendishs of the introduction. Any actor turninging dot is able to portray the bit of Steel simply by putting on the red cape while buns Wayne and Clint Eastwood realize the characteristics of true Western heroes. Male superheroes and Western heroes ca-ca dominated the big book binding for many decades notwithstanding there are contradictory mythologies that these heroes also embody.These are discussed as they relate to superheroes and Western heroes. The role wo men play in establishing traits of these heroes is also analyzed. There hasnt been another actor who has so captivated audiences with his portrayal of point as Christopher Reeve did in window glass in 1978. In this movie, Superman is really an alien fro m atomic number 36 who has been sent to Earth before his home planet explodes. On Earth he is adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent who raise them as their throw son, Clark. Clark works at a newspaper and embodies a certain disconsolate mortala (Donner, 1978 Engle, 744).The contradictory mythology surrounding Superman is that he is a mild mannered man in the form of Clark Kent hardly is a man of steel with superhuman provides when he takes on the characteristics of Superman (Engle, 744). Superman has dominated Hollywood since Christopher Reeve played him in 1978 beca mapping of his undying efforts to save up the world from the clutches of evil (Engle, 744). In Superman, Christopher Reeve must save the world from the evil plots devised by Lex Luthor to launch missiles in rig to make a fortune in real estate (Donner, 1978).The audience is numerateing on Superman to save the day and this is what makes Superman a true superhero. The American people know that they can count of Supe rman to rid the world of evil and this why Superman has continued to dominate the big covering in several remakes since the 1978 classic. Through bulge Superman, Christopher Reeve is pursuing Lois Lane who is pursuing Superman (Donner, 1978). The superhero pursuing a beautiful womanly gives somewhat human characteristics to hero status. Clark Kent was unable to persuade Lois Lane to go out with him but had she known that he was really Superman she would have loved nothing less.The beautiful womanly pursuing the hero gives credibility to his hero status (Seger, 317). Women have allowed male heroes to dominate the big secrete because they have secret fantasies of a superhero swooping in and livery them from their troubles. Therefore, superheroes provide something for everyone. Small boys embody hero characteristics through play, men enjoy hero movies because of the action and the overcoming of evil and women enjoy these movies because of the desire to have a big, substantive s uperhero risk life and limb to save them.Western heroes have also dominated the big screen for decades. The Wild West caused great fear in many civilized people from the East (Engle, 747). The Western hero was able to portray attempts to tame the Wild West through independence, self-reliance, face-to-face honor, sympathy with nature, and respectable uses of violence (Engle, 747). John Wayne was one such actor who truly embodied the characteristics of a Western hero. In The Searchers, John Wayne plays a Civil War veteran who is searching for his abducted niece. It takes place during a time when the westernmost was still considered wild.Wayne internalizes the Western hero characteristic of independence because the movie opens and no one knows where he has been for the then(prenominal) three years (Ford, 1956). In this way he is also understanding his own self-reliance. He is a typical Western hero because he is a loner and takes care of himself without needing anyone else along f or the ride. Wayne decides to search for his niece but doesnt call in many people to help in his search (Ford, 1956). Similarly, Wayne was able to show personal honor through his personal quest to find his abducted niece.Finally, John Wayne is typically associated with cowboy hats and guns rank in to save the day. He uses violence in an ethical manner in The Searchers because he smell outs it is his personal duty to track down his niece and he is willing to go to whatever lengths necessary to do so (Ford, 1956). Since characters like John Wayne stood for what good American boys should want to be (Engle, 747) there was no shortage of female pursuers. The contradictory mythology surrounding Western heroes is that they appear rough and tough on the outside but have a gentle nature that isnt revealed to just anyone (Engle 747).This is opposite of the superhero characteristics that show an everyday normal person morphing into a rough and tough hero sent to save the day. Western heroes are considered brave men as compared to the more civilized men of the East. Men who were brave enough to saddle up and guide West were considered heroes because of their lack of fear of the wild west (Engle, 747). Therefore, women longed to attract the attentions of a Western hero because they would feel unafraid and protected with such a brave, strong man around.Villains help mold a superhero or Western hero into an American icon. Superheroes avoid their arch enemy because the enemy has discovered their weakness and tries to use to defeat the superhero. Villains in Western films are usually the outlaws or Indians that must be defeated in order to preserve a peaceful and safe place to have. The villain in hero movies represents some sort of adversity that must be flog (Seger, 317). In the case of Lex Luthor, Superman must suppress the greed that he portrayed in order to save the world and keep it a safe and prosperous place (Donner, 1978).In the case of John Wayne, the villains he had to defeat were the ones who stood in the way of determination his niece (Ford, 1956). The villains force the heroes to go to whatever length is necessary in order to reach their goal. Superman had to overcome the evil Lex Luthor in order to save Lois Lane and John Wayne had to overcome his adversaries in order to save his abducted niece. Therefore, villains push heroes to change and grow in order to remain true heroes. Superheroes and Western heroes are both(prenominal) considered hyper masculine. They are what embody the true definition of a hero.They are willing to put their own lives on the line to save the lives of others. Hero stories are myths simply because one person is not capable of ridding the world of evil and saving everyone in trouble. Myths help humans create a vision of where they would like to go and what they would like to do. Myths take the injustices of the world and give humans hope for change (Seger, 317). What makes heroes so heroic is that they live rather simple lives until the call to action is sent out. Superman is really Clark Kent who is a newspaper reporter.John Wayne is a Civil War veteran just like so many other men during the time of the Wild West. The difference between normal humans and heroes is that heroes take it upon themselves to make the world a better place (Seger, 317). This is why myths are so contradictory. The heroes take on human characteristics but underneath they possess superhuman abilities to fight evil. Myths bring depth to the hero story (Seger, 326). Hero myths have the power to dominate the big screen because they allow humans to imagine the contradictory aspects of heroes being incorporated into their own lives.Small clawren will play hero games endlessly as they dream of growing up and saving the day. However, this desire to rid the world of evil doesnt go away as a child gets older. Instead, it grows stronger as adults realize that mythological heroes are unlikely to exist. However, humans re turn again and again to theaters to match hero movies because they provide hope for the future. They allow humans the ability to hold onto childhood dreams that they can be heroes and superheroes and Western heroes embody those desirable characteristics bravery and strength.