I have been considering this question for a while now. The question that I will be analyzing in this essay is, Why are so many young male teenagers attracted to Action/Adventure Films. I have chosen this question because it interests me in two ways. One way is I can relate to the question because I am a young male teenager and love action and adventure films. Another way is the genre Action/Adventure seems to be the most popular genre amongst my peers. I have not been able to determine why my generation is so attracted to this genre. In my essay I will be examining ten action and adventure films to verify my opening statement. I will provide important material to study this topic, why male teenagers all around the world are attracted to films of this genre.
The first movie, “The Expendables”, was directed by Sylvester Stallone. He is also the main character. There is a group of highly trained ex-military agents that have survived in many dangerous missions. This particular mission is about infiltrating a South American country and overthrowing its very corrupt dictator. There are many scenes with blood and gore. The movie also carries many exiting and thrilling scenes of explosions and ground combat fighting.
The spectators watch the many action and violent scenes in enjoyment. One of the reasons for this amusement is most people are used to the violence in watching the TV shows and have adapted to find this genre very entertaining. In one of the scenes near the end of the movie, the protagonists are in a tunnel and they fend of the countless bad guys. There is a lot of intense martial arts fighting and military combat. They manage to escape just before their time bombs decimate the dictators palace. They leave many injured and dead enemy soldiers behind (The Expendables). In this scene there is extreme examples of action and violence. Teenage males have a high rate of testosterone. This natural chemical enables them to feel more entertained by the violence in the film.
The second movie, “Salt”, is directed by Phillip Noyce. This intelligence agent is also secret Russian spy. As a child, she is trained to be a killing machine and is later activated to kill the American President. Agent Salt tries to hide her past until the past catches up with her. Her suppressed instincts enable long lost killing machine and amazing survival skills.
There are several reasons why a teenager love this movie. Other reasons include the unusual uses of violence and the unpredictable stunts which seem defy logic. There is one scene at the end when her Russian partner tells Salt, “Tonight you will finish ahead of me again. Tonight you will kill America's President.”(Salt) The plot builds and keeps viewers interested. Another reason why this attracts young males is the use of a very good looking actress. Every young male is attracted to a beautiful woman. Evelyn Salt is played by Angelina Jolie. She is regarded as the one of the hottest performer's in the world.
Evelyn does a very good job in attracting young teenage viewers. She plays the part as a killing machine while maintaining her innocence. A “I didn’t do anything” kind of girl. The violence take the form of self preservation apposed to the big strong man beating up unfortunate victims. These two qualities create a master piece for young viewers to enjoy.
The third movie, “Rambo: First Blood”, is directed by Ted Kotcheff. The main actor is Sylvester Stallone. This movie is about a Vietnam veteran who is just looking for a fellow Green Baret and place to eat. An over zealous police officer does not want him to corrupt the town. Rambo is looking for a place to eat and the officer takes him to the edge of town and tells him the nearest restaurant is thirty miles away. Rambo then walks casually back and the officer arrests him for disrespect and resisting arrest. He escapes from the local jail and retreat to the mountain, his safe haven. He resists urge to kill anyone who gets in his way. He is now the predator and his pray is the police force that previously abused him.
This movie also has extensive use of violence. Rambo: First Blood appeals to teenagers because of the obvious amount of violence throughout the movie. When he is in the mountain, it completely transform Rambo into wanting to kill everything in sight. Rambo is a hardbody film, “These films showcase hyper masculine characters engaged in various feats of heroism.”(Ayers, “Elements of the hardbody film”) John Rambo portrays a hardbody character very well. In this movie he beats up many police officers and kills for respect. His feats of heroism are unrealistic, but are considered “cool” and “awesome” to teenage boys across the world. It appeals to their imagination and makes them believe they can too perform those heroic feats. They idolize Rambo and consider him to be a hero. His feats and stunts are unrealistic to the average adult due to there higher knowledge, but to an average teen they believe the feet can be done by anyone with the specialized training. Teen like this movie because of the strong action and violence and also the hardbody characteristics used by Stallone.
The fourth movie, “Dark Knight”, is directed by Christopher Nolan. The main actors were Christian Bale as Batman and The joker played by Heath Ledger. This movie is about Batman being portrayed as a violent and ruthless hero. The joker is there to make the city corrupt and is playing a game with Batman throughout the movie. The movie is based on the philosophy of Good vs Evil. This movie contains a lot of violence, blood, and action stunts and heroic feats.
Batman is known as a hero. However Batman is not a typical hero he has no super powers. He is able to create superior weapons and vehicles to defeat his enemies. The use of violence and action creates a new meaning for Batman. The Dark Knight is a perfect title to describe Batman. He is dark in the sense of his secret side of killing and intimidation. He is also heroic and brave. This movie appeals to teens mainly due to the violence. This movie is almost rated R due to the blood and gore. The heroic scenes and Good vs Evil theme appeals to the young viewers. Also the production was amazing and special effects is extraordinary. This movie earns 8.9 out of 10 stars and shows its popularity. The movie is PG 13 you can bet most of the audience are teenagers. This created a viral affect because of the popularity among teenagers. They see a movie, like it and tell others about it. The violence, blood, gore and special effects create an ideal movie for young teenage viewers.
The fifth movie, “Fast and the Furious 4”, is directed by Justin Lin. The main actors are Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Michelle Rodriguez. This movie is about revenge of a gang assassination. Vin Diesel’s beloved Letty is murdered in Los Angeles. The movie pushes the limits of a car combined with high drama and action. The qualities that make this film interesting to teens are violence, good looking girls and special effects.
The first notable quality is the violence. There is a lot of violence and automobile stunts in this movie. The movie contains large quantities of action with gang members. The fighting between the gangs is very accurate in the sense of reality vs. Hollywood.
Many teen males also like cars. The use of customizing muscle cars was vital in attracting that portion of the teenagers around the world. There is also a characteristic of hardbody in this film. This quote tells it all, “Muscle beats import every time punk.”(Lin) This refers to the cars in the movie, but it can also refer to the fighting. How muscle symbolizes the hardbody characteristic and import symbolized the average Joe. This theme appeals to the audience because of the action, cars and good looking girls.
The girls in this movie are very attractive which attracts young male viewers. In street racing you have girls start the race and girls as prizes for winning. This movie exemplifies the reality in the racing scenes. All of these qualities make this movie “a must see” for young teenage males.
The sixth movie, “Transformers”, is directed by Michael Bay. The main actors are Shia Labeouf and Meghan Fox. The film is about two main robots: Optimus Prime and Megatron. They inhabit earth and the lives of two young teenagers will be changed forever. The qualities that I am going to focus on are the use of heavy violence and attractive young girls.
I will start with the violence. The young male viewers find this movie suitable and filled with many scenes of action and violence. The violence is not between humans, but of Robots. This is also very interesting due to the fact many Sci-Fi action movies fail to incorporate high intense action films. Optimus Prime is the hero in this film. This quote symbolizes his bravery and willingness to serve and save the humans, “We cannot let the humans pay for our mistakes.”(Bay) The movie is about the autobots trying to save and help the humans from getting killed by the Decepticons. The teenage male will be attracted to the heroic feats and violent scenes of killing and fighting.
Teenage males enjoy Meghan Fox. She is considered one of the hottest actress’s in the world. The director knows how to put her in roles to attract young teenage viewers. She plays the part as Shia’s girlfriend. Meghan Fox is a key asset in attracting male viewers. These two qualities make this movie an exiting movie to watch. This film earns a 9.3 stars out of 10 stars. The actors play their roles perfectly and special effects added a new kick to the film. The movie is filled with action, violence and a hot teenager which attractes the young viewers of our generation.
“Law Abiding Citizens” is my seventh movie and is directed by Gary Gray. Main characters include Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx. This movie is about the murder of his family. He is not pleased with the release of the killer and decides to take action by getting arrested. After he is arrested he becomes a mass killer in prison and threatens to kill millions. This movie is a thriller and packed filled with action and violence.
There are many aspects of this movie which you can analyze that appeal to teenage males. One of them is the immense amount of violence in this film. The whole movie is about, the viewer, watching the movie and figuring out who he is going to kill next and how. Teenage males love violence and get hyped up about it. Robert Hanke once wrote in his artical, “Violence is cheap, industrial ingredient used to project a sense of male power and to hype up otherwise dull programs or films”( Hanke, “From A Better Tomorrow to Face/Off”). This quote shows that it doesn’t take much to attract a male with violence. This movie attracts the teenage male by providing many scenes with explosions and mass killings.
Another quality that could possibly attract teenage males is the thrilling aspect of this movie. Many kids like to have the sense of fear instilled in them when they are watching a movie. This movie provides that quality. When he is in prison you do not know what his next plan to action is and you, the viewer, depicts imaginary scenes as the movie progresses. You are on the edge of your seats watching this movie and you like the feeling of being scared.
Teenagers will enjoy this movie due to those two qualities that I have analyzed. As mentioned previously, the quote in my article proved my point of why violence was important to put into films like this. The action and thrilling aspect of the movie drew in many viewers to make this film a 7.2 out of 10 stars.
The eighth movie , Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, is directed by Steven Speilberg. The main actor is Harrison Ford. Mr. Jones gets called back into action and tries to uncover the secret behind the Crystal Skulls. This is an action packed adventure where you will experience his journey and fighting against the soviets to uncover this long lost mystery.
Teenagers love this movie for two reasons the action and adventure. The Indiana Jones movies have been known all over for there action and adventure packed scenes. First I will start of with the action. The scenes where Indiana escapes from the custody of the soviets in the warehouse. You almost feel like you are right there experiencing the thrills he is experiencing. The action has been proven to attract teenage males and this movie accomplishes that goal. There are also scenes when Indiana escapes these impossible feats and resembles a hero to some people. This intern results to Indiana being an idol to many young kids all around the world.
The adventure goes hand in hand with the action to create a violence enhanced movie and filled with adventurous scenes. When Indian Jones is in the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull he performs miraculous stunts with his whip and saves others on his way. Teenagers all around the love Indiana for his fighting ability and his hardbody characteristics. They look up to Indiana as being a hero. After you watch this movie you feel like you just performed the same feats as Indiana and come out a braver person.
The ninth movie, Gladiator is directed by Ridly Scott. The main actors are Russel Crowe and Connie Nielson. The movie is about a Roman General who was betrayed and his family murdered. He seeks revenge by becoming one of the Greatest Gladiators to ever live.
This is another great example of a hardbody film. Russel Crowe is a very muscular man who demolishes other gladiators in the ring. The action and fighting in this film is superb. The bravery of Russel Crowe fighting in the ring guys twice his size attracted teenage males. The reason is most people like to see the underdog win. Russel goes into the main event as a puny little guy fighting against a Goliath sized man. He surprisingly defeats him and his the crowd favorite among the people. Maximus is a true hero and portrays the characteristics that make him very entertaining to watch. His bravery earned him respect. His fighting ability earn him the viewers favorite. His determination keeps the viewers tight in there seats enjoying the work ethic Maxiums has and as a result is a gladiator legend.
The adventure side of the film shows us what kind of person Maxiumus truly is. In this film he is not looking to be a top gladiator for fun he is trying to prove a vital point. He is making himself known amongst the people. The King therefore hears of this and feels threatened. Maximus achieves his goal he wanted revenge against the government and succeedes. This accomplishment was very heroic and earnes the teenage viewers a thumbs up. The action and adventure in this film defiantly attracts the teenagers, but also the characteristics Russel Crowe brings to the film.
The last movie I have decided to use is Pirates of the Caribbean: the Curse of the Black Pearl. The movie was directed by Gore Verbinski. The main actors are Kierra Knightly, Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp. The movie is about a blacksmith who gets together with a renowned legend Captain Jack Sparrow. They will face an army of undead pirates.
The action and fighting scenes in this film was absolutely phenomenal. Captain Jack Sparrow is a true icon and crazy, but interesting pirate. Many teenagers will enjoy this movie because of the violence and killing. People don’t realize what pirate fighting was. Many people see pirates as nonexistent. This movie shows there true side which is how ruthless they are with one another and the violence and killing portrays this ruthless behavior. Many teens enjoyed this attitude and thought it was “cool” for there age. They did not understand the meaning of the pirates rather they understood with there eyes. They watched the violent pirate behavior and were very attracted to the movie.
As you can conclude, all of the movies I have chosen have similar qualities that attract teenage males to Action and Adventure films. These reasons include the violence and action in the films I have chosen. Most males like the hardbody characteristics in actors and enjoy the fight scenes. Some of the movies I have chosen contain very attractive women. This will attract teenagers for the obvious reason and increase ticket sales. The adventurous aspect of the movie goes well with the action part of the movie because it adds thrill to the audience. All of the films I have chosen exhibit most of these qualities and I provide clear scenes with examples of these qualities to prove my point. The point is with action, girls and adventure attracts almost any teenage male.
