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1 – 10 of over 2000This chapter focuses on spy action as a way to answer the question: where can we find queer female action heroes? The chapter will identify three films – D.E.B.S. (Advocate, 2005…
Abstract
This chapter focuses on spy action as a way to answer the question: where can we find queer female action heroes? The chapter will identify three films – D.E.B.S. (Advocate, 2005), Atomic Blonde (David Leitch, 2017) and The Spy Who Dumped Me (Susanna Fogel, 2018) – worth attention to highlight the potential and problems of the queer female hero in spy action. This chapter examines how each of these spy action films contributes to the ongoing yet uneven development of the female hero as a queer figure in post-millennial action cinema. The chapter will consider to what extent these queer female-led action films may pose a challenge to some of the dominant standards and conventions associated with the action hero, gender roles and the representation of sexuality, but also reinforce others. Some comparisons will be made to James Bond in recognition that the Bond franchise has played an important role in the spy action genre.
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The dismissal of the ordinary and the embrace of chaos are characteristics of the thriller which has, over the last decade, accounted for nearly 25 percent of the best‐seller…
Abstract
The dismissal of the ordinary and the embrace of chaos are characteristics of the thriller which has, over the last decade, accounted for nearly 25 percent of the best‐seller market. In spite of its existential overtones, the thriller, with rare exceptions, is seldom viewed as quality fiction, yet is not generally classified as genre fiction with attendant categorization by libraries and bookstores. Readers of thrillers in pursuit of authors must either search through the general fiction or “mystery” shelves where thrillers are sometimes placed. However, the latter solution offends both mystery and thriller readers.
The Jason Bourne series of films (2002–2016) are widely acknowledged with helping to successfully re-invent the action thriller genre in the 2000s by focusing more on motivation…
Abstract
The Jason Bourne series of films (2002–2016) are widely acknowledged with helping to successfully re-invent the action thriller genre in the 2000s by focusing more on motivation and plot than over-the-top spectacle. Featuring a profoundly wounded son figure in the titular character, the films are indicative of an awareness of the vulnerabilities and reactions of a fatherless masculinity within a post-Cold War political reality.
This chapter will argue that Bourne's onscreen pain and subsequent violent responses to his various narrative predicaments are a result of being repeatedly betrayed by a series of older males, in many cases, father surrogates. Bourne's experience of this paternal disruption and betrayal is the key psychological motivating factor, with the films and the story arc of the character only being resolved when both he and the audience finally discover and reconcile the role that his biological father played in shaping his destiny and his life. This ‘father hunger’ – in effect a need for a continuative masculinity – that Jason Bourne experiences, and that is arguably at the heart of the franchise, will be analysed and explored within the contexts of post-Jungian screen theory. Alongside the deliberately casting of ‘quality’ actors (such as Brian Cox, Joan Allen, Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn) and other formalist elements of the text, archetypal energies and symbolism are also rife throughout the film, and can be, in part, credited with the critical and commercial success of the films. Finally, the films are put in their cinematic context in terms of the influence they subsequently exerted on other action film franchises – particularly James Bond (1962 to present).
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Steven Gerrard and Renée Middlemost
In this, the third volume of Emerald Publishing's Gender and Action Film series, the emphasis is placed firmly on the way that Action Cinema has transformed in the post-millennial…
Abstract
In this, the third volume of Emerald Publishing's Gender and Action Film series, the emphasis is placed firmly on the way that Action Cinema has transformed in the post-millennial period. Through a series of in-depth case studies, and using a mix of theoretical approaches and analysis, each chapter will offer comparative gender studies that are both evocative and interrogative of a genre that has often been lambasted for the way in which gender is portrayed. The volume covers such areas as ageing action stars and the roles they portray in geriaction movies, critical examinations of gender in Action Cinema post-9/11, and changes aspects of feminism, gender practices and metamodern narratives.
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Philip L. Pearce and Hera Oktadiana
A summary statement of the meaning of tourism intelligence is built in this chapter by considering multiple sources. Tourism intelligence is then cast as the sum of the resources…
Abstract
A summary statement of the meaning of tourism intelligence is built in this chapter by considering multiple sources. Tourism intelligence is then cast as the sum of the resources available to a decisionmaker coupled with their interpretive ability to use it. Academic researchers can contribute to this resource base but need to deal with the likely use of other inputs by decisionmakers. Tourism intelligence can be a bridge between academic inputs and broader influences provided that concerns about credibility, trustworthiness, and accessibility of the scholarly work are well managed. The tourism intelligence concept has value for all stakeholders and the chapters in this volume follow a structure to assist the transition from analysis to action.
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Unlike Joss Whedon's cult series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), Angel (1999–2004) and Firefly (2002–2003), Dollhouse (2009–2010) is largely considered to be both a critical…
Abstract
Unlike Joss Whedon's cult series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003), Angel (1999–2004) and Firefly (2002–2003), Dollhouse (2009–2010) is largely considered to be both a critical and commercial failure. Dollhouse is often dismissed as Whedon's worst television series, with critics citing their discomfort and disgust in watching hero Echo's (Eliza Dushku) repeated exploitation. Unlike other popular acclaimed TV series featuring a female action hero like Xena: Warrior Princess (1995–2001), Alias (2002–2006) and Nikita (2010–2013), the hero of Dollhouse is not empowered from the series' outset, but rather she slowly comes to her power and agency due to various traumatic and violent experiences. This chapter argues that Dollhouse stages a reworking of the cinematic female action hero figure by delaying empowerment and forcing the audience to linger in the hero's lack of agency. Dollhouse enables an unpacking of the female action hero popularised in films like Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), The Fifth Element (1997) and the Alien franchise (1979, 1986, 1992, 1997). By exposing the mechanics of hero-creation, Dollhouse forces viewers to consider how heroes are made and who is exploited in the process. As such, this chapter considers Dollhouse as an intervention into the female action hero film and television cycle through an analysis of how the series adheres to and subverts the tropes of the cycle.
The trip is one of several for Rousseff, who is looking to accelerate ongoing trade talks with the United States and the EU in order to provide a much-needed boost to the…
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DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB200322
ISSN: 2633-304X
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A great meeting was held at the Albert Hall on July 30th to call for the internment of all aliens of enemy blood. Mrs. DACRE FOX presided, and read the resolution which it was…
Abstract
A great meeting was held at the Albert Hall on July 30th to call for the internment of all aliens of enemy blood. Mrs. DACRE FOX presided, and read the resolution which it was proposed to put to the meeting, as follows :—
Anna Goussevskaia, Carlos Arruda and Samir Lótfi
Firms across many industries use acquisitions as a vehicle for renewing their capabilities. Many such acquisitions fail to achieve their goals, mainly because of the trade-offs…
Abstract
Purpose
Firms across many industries use acquisitions as a vehicle for renewing their capabilities. Many such acquisitions fail to achieve their goals, mainly because of the trade-offs involved in managing the post-acquisition integration process. The acquisition integration process not only is an important phenomenon by itself but also offers a unique opportunity to gain insight into how firms transform their capabilities more generally. Recent strategic management literature has begun to recognize the importance of incorporating individual-level cognitive, motivational and behavioral mechanisms into firm-level explanations, although empirical studies within this vein have been scarce.
Design/methodology/approach
This longitudinal inductive study traces the process of capability transformation in an acquisition of a medium-size entrepreneurial firm by a larger corporation.
Findings
The authors found that capability transformation involved a continuous interplay of knowledge leveraging and interest alignment mechanisms, converging around a set of practices that were considered critical for the capability. Only after firms achieved an agreement about this set of practices that knowledge leveraging efforts translated into actual performance.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the literature on competitive advantage by developing a better link between the potential advantage derived from the availability of knowledge-based resources and the translation of this availability into actual firm performance. This study also advances knowledge on managing post-acquisition integration process by demonstrating which managerial skills and actions contribute to the integration capability.
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