from previous entry
They Provide an Escape
Will the hero make the leap from one building to another? Will the bad guy get away with his devious plan? Can the predator ever really be stopped? While we can probably safely assume the outcome, it's fun to let your mind play along.
Typically, women spend a lot of time thinking. For some mysterious reason, men compartmentalize their thoughts much better than women do, as illustrated by their stress levels.
Action movies give us a sense of escapism from complex thought and from everyday living. Is this a gender-specific sentiment? No. But although men might see action movies as shoot-'em-up fun, for a thought-driven communicative woman, these films are like stepping into another world ... one filled with martinis instead of cosmos, guns instead of gossip, and the best way to communicate is often without words at all. Physical raw aggression or risk-free violence (except for the bad guy) will suffice for words.
For women, actions movies are the rare find that let them put their brains in standby mode. (When in real life, for example, might one discover an interstellar teleportation device that results in a fight against alien beings attempting to take over Earth, as is the case in "Stargate")? You'd think women could decompress with an old-fashioned rom-com, but the truth is, those often make us stress about different things (our romantic status, our looming age, etc.).
Many women fall prey to life's routine, becoming more akin to humdrum Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) in "True Lies" than her secret superhero husband, Harry (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Thus, action movies might be like Simon (Bill Paxton), the used-car salesman in the film who piques Helen's interest by posing as a spy leading a life of thrills. We know it's not the classiest way to use our time, but it sure is fun to step outside our own life sometimes and shake things up.
Action movies allow for vicarious living through attractive people with exciting lives. Over-the-top attire, exotic locales and exciting adventures are the raison d'etre of an action movie. They give the illusion of ease in doing incredible things .... without having to do much of anything.
Power Is Sexy
In movie math, attractiveness equates power. Let's face it: Villains are usually sexy (Lucy Liu in "Kill Bill" or Robert Patrick in "Terminator 2"). So are the good guys (Casper Van Dien in "Starship Troopers," or the ubiquitous Bond, James Bond). And, usually, they're fighting for the power to shift a situation's outcome in his or her direction.
Whether it is a reanimated supersoldier helping foil a terrorist attack (Jean-Claude Van Damme in "Universal Soldier"), a maniacal anarchist hell-bent on destruction (Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight"), or an FBI agent taking on the assassin who killed his family (Jason Statham and Jet Li in "War"), recklessness and heroics combined with charming faces and intense butt-kicking make for engaging cinema. Women like bad boys; they also like pretty boys. In an action movie, they get both. The muscles don't hurt, either.
Bonding Over Stallone
Most guys think it's hot when women appreciate an action movie, especially if it's one they also enjoy. That feeling of a shared connection lends itself to an increased sense of intimacy. And that's what women think is hot.
In the end, women like to be a part of the boys' club -- at least, temporarily. We know we like the men in our lives, and we know the men in our lives like action movies. Like any good social anthropologist (which is, by nature, most women), we want to be up-close-and-personal with our subject of interest. Action movies allow us to bond with the male species in their natural environment. It's our way of taking an interest in the men we care about. Plus, it gives us a great bargaining chip to get our man to come along the next time we want to see a chick flick.
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