An ideological analysis of the construction of the young female action hero as feminist hero in The Hunger Games film franchise

Mathurine, Kim Elizabeth

Title: An ideological analysis of the construction of the young female action hero as feminist hero in The Hunger Games film franchise
Creator: Mathurine, Kim Elizabeth
Subject: Everdeen, Katniss (Fictitious character)
Subject: Women superheroes in motion pictures
Subject: Hunger Games films
Subject: Feminist film criticism
Subject: Feminism and motion pictures
Subject: Women in motion pictures
Date Issued: 2020
Date: 2020
Type: Thesis
Type: Masters
Type: MA
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142900
Identifier: vital:38174
Description: Young female action heroes have recently stepped into the limelight as commercial celebrations of Girl Power in Hollywood action-adventure films. Feminist films studies however have shown that these independent, tough female heroes claimed as feminist, are still constrained in various ways through stereotypical gender roles within the action-adventure genre. This thesis examines these claims through the ideological analysis of the young female action hero Katniss in The Hunger Games film franchise. Building on existing research on female action heroes, the research asks: ‘to what degree can the claim of Katniss as boundary-breaking, feminist hero be validated’? This question is addressed through a textual analysis of the four films of The Hunger Games film franchise, employing conventions of action-adventure genre, narrative analysis, mise-en-scène and cinematography to unmask the characterisation of the female hero. The discussion of the findings, utilising the themes of Love, Violence and Power, reveal both progressive and regressive elements present in the characterisation of Katniss. The findings indicate that while female action heroes can be celebrated for displaying progressive moments of liberated action, they remain constrained within dominant heteronormative gender roles in commercial Hollywood films, undergoing various acts of transformation and recuperation as a means of containing the threat of their transgressive behaviour.
Format: 116 pages
Format: pdf
Publisher: Rhodes University
Publisher: Faculty of Humanities, RU School of Journalism and Media Studies
Language: English
Rights: Mathurine, Kim Elizabeth

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