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Raiders Of The Lost Ark Gender Analysis

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Raiders Of The Lost Ark Gender Analysis
In this essay, I will be looking at the representation of women in the action film genre and study the social messages that are constructed and conveyed by the media. The two media texts I will be comparing from are The Raiders of the Lost Ark and Tomb Raider. The female lead in Raiders of the Lost Ark is Marion Ravenwood who is played by Karen Allen and the male lead; Harrison Ford plays Indiana Jones. In Tomb Raider Angelina Jolie plays the female lead, Lara Croft.

Marion Ravenwood is seen as a typical action heroine. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Marion unveils different characteristics about herself; for example Marion tends to be quite feisty. She displays this in the beginning, when we see Indy walking into her bar. Acknowledging that they had a past and that Indy left her, instead of being quiet, she goes and slaps him. Another scene is when she’s trying to escape after she’s been
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As times have changed so have women's roles in society, and accordingly their representation in the media. The representation of women has improved as they have moved forward into a more equal society.

Hollywood is a reflection of real life, and the point that the representation has improved because of society views, making it easier for the audience to relate in general, has proved this. Also, if an Action film has a male lead, chances are that the majority would be male audience as women are mostly not interested. But if an Action film has a female lead, there's more possibility of both gender audiences, as it would contain a bit of emotional drama that women would enjoy and the female lead would have to be attractive, appealing to the male gaze. This shows that Hollywood imitates what has been going on in the natural

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