Representation Theory Analysis

The Expendables 3

Medhurst's theory is proven with men doing dangerous tasks as they are shown as doing dangerous tasks. The dangerous tasks could involve stunts that may seem life threatening such as the bike scene where one of the characters was riding a bike up a ramp and onto his destination. As well as that, they are also shown at being good at sport with that small dart scene as both characters have good accuracy. Also there are scenes with men drinking at the end as the men are shown in a pub which is stereotypically populated by men. They are also represented as good fighters as a majority of the scenes involves fight scenes. Perkins also has some element in this as a majority of the team are men. This is partly true in the sense that a majority of military forces would have men in them in comparison to having more females then males. Also men are more likely to do crazy stunts and be more violent than women so therefore they would mainly be men in the cast. Since this film is mainly about an all action cast, the majority of the cast are men which could also suggest that men are mainly in action films. As well as that, men make up a majority of the duration time in the trailer which could suggest that their audience would mainly be men since men are stereotypically known for watching action movies. The cast are also strong which could also factor towards masculinity as men are stereotypically seen as strong. There is also a strong dominant view of America as a majority of the cast are American which could suggest that they are a strong fighting force in comparison to other countries. Mulvey's theory is also represented as there is a small segment in the trailer with a "male gaze" as Sylvester Stallone's character is admiring the female character as she fights of against a few men. This scene also includes a subvert in the stereotype of women as we don't generally see them fighting people in clubs but would rather be seen with friends. Berger's theory is also linked with Mulvey's as they both mention how men would look at women. However, women are seen as weak or vulnerable. But as previously mentioned, this character in an alternate view on women as she fights off against them in comparison to the others. Levi-Strauss's theory is also presented as there is an element of power with a majority of the cast being white men. This could show that as The Expendables are shown as a strong fighting force and are American since it is created by an American company, they would want America to look good. Dyer's theory is also represented with a link with Levi-Strauss's theory as they both talk about power and those with power can dictate the beliefs that are represented in the film.