It Is a Man's World: Romantic Relief In The Hollywood Blockbuster

Esma Kartal

doi:10.5195/cinej.2014.89

Abstract

The Hollywood action blockbuster has been known to benefit from conventions that assure its success at the box-office. Since these films are often identified with male genres, they feature male protagonists, causing them to mostly appeal to male audiences. Nevertheless, to attract female spectators as well, blockbusters incorporate female characters and what I like to call “romantic relief” into their narrative. Moments of romantic relief allow both the characters in the film and the audience to forget about the main action of the film briefly. These, however, fail to change the storyline in any significant way. This article largely focuses on romantic relief and its manifestation in such films as Avatar, Armageddon, Transformers and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

Highlights

This journal is published by the University Library System of the University of Pittsburgh as part of its D-Scribe Digital Publishing Program and is cosponsored by the University of Pittsburgh Press
In the case of Hollywood blockbusters, which are dominated by action and adventure genres, these expectations are often met since film companies are fully conscious of what the audience wishes to see on the screen, of which they make use to do well at the box-office
Rick Altman states “At every turn, we find that Hollywood labours to identify its pictures with multiple

Summary

Introduction

In the case of Hollywood blockbusters, which are dominated by action and adventure genres, these expectations are often met since film companies are fully conscious of what the audience wishes to see on the screen, of which they make use to do well at the box-office. To attract female audiences as well, these mainstream films traditionally incorporate female characters and romance subplots into the mix. Female characters are usually left out from the venture taking place or are present in the film for the entertainment of men.

Results

Conclusion