The Difference in Movement and Tactics Used by American and Asian Actors in Action Films

In her article, “The Asian Renovation of Biracial Buddy Action,” Philippa Gates shows that Asian actors use different actions compared to their white, American co-stars in action movies. The Asian actors are depicted as using more feminine movements and attacks, while the white actors are muscular and go into hand-to-hand combat more often. She is arguing that these minorities are being used in buddy cop films to show off the white masculinity compared to the Asian co-hero. Other movies in the spy genre, including Spectre and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, both from 2015, use minorities and women in order to solidify the white hero’s manliness.

With James Bond films, a girl is usually one of Bond’s “targets” throughout the movie. This is no exception with Spectre, with Bond (Daniel Craig) becoming the ultimate definition of a man by rescuing, and running off with, Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux). He uses brute strength to rescue Swann from immediate death in the movie, and even starts out the film in a hotel room with a random woman, showing off his masculinity by being able to make any lady swoon over him. Not to mention Bond’s secretary Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), who is played by a minority, is depicted at points showing affection towards our super-male hero. The roles could be given to male actors, but these actresses are used to enforce the manliness that Bond portrays. Likewise, in Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) teams up with a female spy, Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), to defeat their common enemy. Throughout the course of the screenplay, Faust grows closer and closer to Hunt, which broadcasts his masculinity in being irresistible to any women working with him. These movies use co-stars of different color and gender to highlight the manliness of the white hero to the audience.