Hollywood Constructions of Gender

Name

November 11 , 2008

Hollywood Constructions of Gender

Outline

Introduction

Superheroes

Western heroes

Superman

1978 movie

Affect of women

Western heroes

John Wayne The Searchers

Affect of women

Villains

Conclusion

Hollywood had portrayed a variety of different categories of heroes in its cinematic history . has been more important to film than the superhero and the Western . Both superheroes and Western heroes are considered tough and ready to conquer the evils of the world . Any actor playing Superman is able to portray

the Man of Steel ' simply by putting on the red cape while John Wayne and Clint Eastwood embody the characteristics of true Western heroes . Male superheroes and Western heroes have dominated the big screen for many decades however there are contradictory mythologies that these heroes also embody . These are discussed as they relate to superheroes and Western heroes . The role women play in establishing traits of these heroes is also analyzed

There hasn 't been another actor who has so captivated audiences with his portrayal of Superman as Christopher Reeve did in Superman in 1978 In this movie , Superman is really an alien from Krypton 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 own son , Clark . Clark works at a news and embodies a certain gentle persona (Donner 1978 Engle , 744 . The contradictory mythology surrounding Superman is that he is a mild mannered man in the form of Clark Kent...