Action Argumentative Essay

A genre is a kind or type. In film, the use of repeated elements, or motifs categorize a genre. Because “elaborate definitions always seem to throw up exceptions” (Neale 189) I propose a simplified definition of the Action film. The repeated use of action scenes "of quest and discovery, and spectacular . . . combat, violence and pursuit" (Tasker, Yvonne 2), shot and edited using techniques known to increase tension, defines the Action genre. Nonetheless, there are "broadly consistent and identifiable themes underpinning action” (Tasker 2) that influence the story and style of the Action genre. The story structure, or narrative, of Action films borrows broadly from the mythic Hollywood films "these include the quest for freedom from oppression,
In Star Wars, Luke is the Jedi master prophesied to save the universe, but until the enemy murdered his family, he was a just a boy working on his uncle's farm; Apocalypto's Jaguar Paw was living an idyllic life as a hunter until slave runners decimated his entire village, after which he outruns and kills the entire group of battle hardened warriors. The hero must "respond to mortal threats directed at their weaknesses" (O'Brien 11), altruism most popular. Villains gaining an advantage over the hero by exploiting their concern for something other than themselves is a familiar trope, established since ancient times. Early literature often used the damsel in distress as a metaphor of the hero's altruism, borrowing from that, early American films used a "helpless woman" character, played by attractive women, for the same purpose. In fact, some films made from book adaptations, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1920), introduce a "damsel" even if the text that had none. In modern films the "damsel" is not always a woman and may be, for instance, a male buddy, or a child or dog, or even something abstract such as love or redemption.