Abstract

This paper is a study in press reception with the intent to examine how twelve female actionheroes have been portrayed in Swedish media between 1974 – 2006. The purpose is to discern patterns and differences in how the female movie character is received by their contemporary journalists and to relate their views to social and gender related theories.

 The female actionhero is an independent and brutal character, often alone and without a mother or a child. This separates her from typical female roles, which historically been characterized by passivity, fear and dependency on the male characters in the movie.

 The female actionhero as a character opens up for complex reception. One perspective in the research identifies the independent woman as a feministic icon. Other researchers and writers relate her masculine attributes, sexual charisma and the movies' financial driving force as a projection of male fantasies.

 The summarization of the critique expressed by Swedish press journalists based on 124 movie reviews and other film related articles expose noticeable differences. From a girl who stood in the shadow of male heroes to a coarse woman who surpass them. But there are still areas in which 30 years haven’t changed a thing. Critics still fixate on the female heroe's physical appearance and her achievements are with few exceptions compared to men, and not other women. The critic reception also establishes that journalists since 1974 have become less inclined to apply gender or other social theories to the movies and female heroes. A gender related perspective is despite an independent and strong woman in the background for other perspectives while male critics are in comparison to female critics significantly more inclined to apply feministic theories to movies with female actionheroes.