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If you’d asked a movie buff to name his/her list of favourite action movies in the 90s, chances are the usual suspects would have been Terminator, Rambo, Universal Solider, and Conan The Barbarian. Fast forward to the year 2018, and there’s been a paradigm shift, of late. Some of the most buzzworthy action movies in recent times have been The Hunger Games franchise, Wonder Woman and the like. Women are proving that they can kick almost as much rear end, as the men!
Yes, in recent times, women have been taking over a male dominated genre of cinema. Be it Michelle Rodriguez in the Fast and the Furious franchise, or Scarlett Johansson in the Avengers saga, each one of them is revelling in setting the silver screen on fire with death defying stunts. And of course, fans have been rooting for their heroines too, earning them massive success at the box office.
Much of this change has come from the women themselves. Action movie stars such as Jennifer Lawrence have been outspoken about the representation of women in Hollywood and the wage gap that exists between the men and women. At the Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Awards Show, Lawrence said the following: ‘I’ve been given a platform, and the fact is that if I don’t use it, then I don’t deserve it’. The world is waking up and the results can be seen clearly!
Scarlett Johansson too has been very vocal about the representation of women in action films. A fierce feminist herself, Johansson has spoken up about how women are represented in films. She famously said to the Press Association: ‘I think the audience has to be vocal and demand what they want to see and that they want diversity and that they want stories that reflect the zeitgeist.’
Because of this movement in women’s rights, women centric roles are consistently being created across various sub-genres within the umbrella of the ‘action film’. Whether it’s Jennifer Lawrence immortalizing the character of Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games for the Young Adult audience or Alicia Vikander reprising the iconic role of Lara Croft in Tomb Raider for video game buffs, each of them is blazing the way for young, talented girls to follow in their able footsteps.
Other women are setting an example through their past body of work. Take MMA megastar Ronda Rousey for example. After a record setting UFC run (that recently earned her a place in the Hall of Fame), Rousey would make a beeline for Hollywood. She’s been a part of many exciting movies thus far, like The Expendables 3 and Furious 7. With the essential package of strength and beauty, now she’s ready to sizzle the silver screen in Mile 22.
Playing the role of Sam Snow, Rousey will team up with Mark Wahlberg, John Malkovich and Lauren Cohan in the film, which deals with transporting an important asset through 22 miles of hostile territory. Rousey has revelled in her action movie roles, having equated her run in WWE to a ‘live action movie’, during a talk show appearance recently. Rousey has been a trailblazer for women everywhere, inspiring girls to follow their dreams in both sports and entertainment.
Speaking of women of action, how can Lauren Cohan be kept out of the conversation? Cohan plays Alice Kerr, and will share the screen with Ronda Rousey in Mile 22. You may remember her from movies such as The Boy and Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. More famously, she has appeared on TV shows such as Chuck, Supernatural and The Walking Dead.
Rousey has been dubbed the ‘baddest woman on the planet’ for a reason. One look at her and you know that she’s the quintessential action movie superstar. Like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and John Cena before her, she’s the latest WWE star to have formed a symbiotic relationship with Hollywood. Except in her case, she was an established movie star when she made her way to the world’s largest sports entertainment promotion. One wonders if she will pave the path for other women from WWE to make inroads in the cinema world. From the Olympics to the UFC to the WWE to cinema, her road has been truly commendable.
Whether its sports or music or business or any other sphere of life, women have emerged from the shadows and taken on the roles that have been traditionally reserved for men. They have consistently proved that they can stand shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts, and at times, even overshadow them.
Be sure to catch Rousey’s new movie- ‘Mile 22’ at a movie theatre near you! Se sure to Tweet out your thoughts with the hashtag #rouseyinmile22.
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