1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910784158703321

Autore

Gallagher Mark <1968->

Titolo

Action figures [[electronic resource] ] : men, action films, and contemporary adventure narratives / / by Mark Gallagher

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, N.Y., : Palgrave Macmillan, c2006

ISBN

1-281-36360-X

9786611363604

1-4039-7723-2

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (240 p.)

Disciplina

791.43/655

Soggetti

Action and adventure films - United States - History and criticism

Men in motion pictures

Masculinity in motion pictures

Heroes in motion pictures

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [223]-226) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction : popular representations of active masculinity since the late 1960s -- 1. Armchair thrills and the new adventurer -- 2. "I married Rambo" : action, spectacle, and melodrama -- 3. Omega men : late 1960s and early 1970s action heroes -- 4. Airport fiction : the men of mass-market literature -- 5. Restaging heroic masculinity : Jackie Chan and the Hong Kong action film -- Conclusion : the future of active masculinity.

Sommario/riassunto

What accounts for the massive global popularity of action films and adventure literature? How do men and women respond to iconic screen stars such as Jackie Chan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steve McQueen, and Charlton Heston? Action genres have been Hollywood's most profitable global exports for most of its history, their male heroes the subject of much fascination and derision. Bestselling literary thrillers, from The Hunt for Red October to Into Thin Air , have also contributed markedly to popular understandings of male activity. Action Figures takes stock of action narratives' many appeals and recognizes how contemporary crises of gender identity manifest themselves in popular commercial texts.