Representation of Masculinity in Die Hard 2 Essay

Representation of Masculinity in Die Hard 2 - Essay Example As such, this paper intends to analyze the representation of masculinity in one of the Die Hard films namely Die Hard 2 by drawing on Mulvey and Neale readings as well as discussion by Taster. Hegemonic masculinity associates with social dominance on one end. On the other, it involves physical prowess, sexual virility, and aggression (Rzepka and Horsley 2010: 61). These are potentially bewildering images of action heroes. With that in mind, it is interesting to note that this hegemonic ideal is not only hard to create, but also implausible to keep up with for the contemporary male. Therefore, this figure that depicts powerful masculinity may only exist or embody in legendary heroes, mythical figures, and probably a minute number of males within a society (West and Lay 2003: 27). Die Hard 2 is a story revolving around a cop who cites in New York and on fine day to Christmas, he visits his ‘distanced’ wife who lives in Los Angeles. Upon his arrival, he finds her and the re st of her work mates having a Christmas party at the same building where they work (Gates 2006: 35). Coincidentally, there happens to be some criminals posing as political terrorists who invade the building demanding for petty yet criminalist favors like release of war criminals jailed in one of the penitentiary facilities around America. John McLane works as a New York law enforcement officer. He stays far from his wife and have some unsolved issues which act as part of the reasons as to why they are no longer in goods terms (Rzepka and Horsley 2010: 89). He is a masculine male character with virile physical prowess and social dominance as well as high level of aggression. Post analysis of Hollywood presentation of male genres characterized Die Hard 2 as male driven action movie that the audience understands to be one of the most visually explosive films with a macho that portrays Hollywood genres (Milestone and Meyer 2012: 50). This is because of its spectacular sight and relevanc e of the hard male body set forth by the main character. Indeed, extant studies and research from with the some of the feminist film theories puts across clearly that the body masculinity of an action hero gives the preferential tone for an action narrative (Caroll 2003: 79). Analysis of Die Hard 2 highlights that movie directors construct action heroes like Bruce Willis exclusively via their physicality and the way they display their bodies form a vital ingredient of the visual effects or excess that they offer in the muscular action cinema (Gates 2006: 58). Several suggestions show that American action films strive hard and frequently at the expense of developing the narrative, to contrive situations or instances for displaying the body of an action hero. Ideally, extant literature that examines both the hegemonic male and the action hero routinely expound on issues such as sexuality, race, class, nationality, and above all the body (Bould 2005: 59). Despite his ageing body prowes s, most reviewers, and critics alike, received the Die Hard Series with a lot of zeal and plausible applauds. This is due to his ability to withstand physical assaults with his male hard body irrespective of age at that particular time (Berg 2002: 80). You should note that masculinity change must take place

Product Assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Product Assessment - Essay Example The table on the right shows that about 85% of the total population in the United States uses mobile phones. The age group which owns a mobile phone ranges from 18-29 years old while the age group with the least percentage of mobile phone ownership is the 65+ age group which stands at only 58%. The mobile phones have lost the popularity in the recent years and statistics reveal that it is likely that the product will continue to decline given the emergence and the sudden rise in the popularity of smartphones. It is estimated that in the year 2012, almost half of all the mobile phone users will have switched to the smartphones and this will mean that with time, mobile phone ownership and usage will decrease before it becomes more or less a non-existent product eventually. (Stewart) Companies such as Apple, Samsung and HTC have witnessed huge rises in their sales in the recent years and their popularity has gone sky high thanks to the introduction of newer versions of smartphones which offer an incredible amount of functions and opportunities to explore. This gives the mobile phone manufacturers and marketers enough to worry about with the US census supporting the view that people may actually shift from mobile phones to smartphones in the near future. The table above shows the methods used by the American households to use the internet. The usage of internet in the United States is very high and is now considered as one of the basic necessities of the public. The table shows the data from a US census in the year 2010 and it shows that about 9.1% of the households now use mobiles for internet usage. The internet accessibility in mobile phones is very limited and people have started to shift to smartphones due to the fact that these smartphones offer a wide range of internet options and much better accessibility and surfing options. Also the competition among the top 4 smartphone