I’m not certain what specific genre I’m going to be doing for my project yet but if I were to do adventure, a particular issue I would address in my project would be the lack of strong and independent female leads in these type of films. In your typical adventure film, the protagonist is usually a strong, attractive, and brave man who, through a series of obstacles and challenges, gets to his destination, finds the treasure he’d been looking for, etc. But in my project, I want to represent the integrity and courage of a strong female who can navigate her way through those obstacles. Rather than portraying a charming and heroic man who gets the girl at the end of the plot; I’d want to portray a woman lead without her having to rely heavily on other people and without a typical romantic subplot. I would possibly make the leading role have a romantic relationship with another woman and incorporate more LGBTQ+ representation in adventure films.

One of many examples of this issue regarding representation would be Raiders of the Lost Ark. This movie is one of the most popular adventure films and I feel like it set the stereotype for adventure films needing to have a strong, attractive and heterosexual male role. Throughout this movie we see the courage and the daringness that Indiana Jones exhibits, and how by the end of the movie he gets a love interest, Marion, who falls for his charming looks and heroic deeds. Aforementioned, I feel this movie put a setting stone for the representation of people in adventure films (man is strong lead and his woman “sidekick is there to help). Most adventure films portray a strong male role and I’m just listing two of the many, but these filmmakers need to explore different elements to incorporate more women lead roles. Another film that represents a typical brave man who saves the day would be Jurassic World. In this movie the two main characters are Claire (a woman) and Owen (a man). Claire goes to Owen when she needs help to find her nephews in the park when all the dinosaurs are unleashed and he ultimately saves her nephews from death. The movie basically portrayed Chris Pratt as the hero of the movie; using his former military skills and animal expertise to save everyone. Claire sort of played as Owen’s sidekick through it all, guiding him with the in and outs of the park, while he did most of the action. 

I feel like the representational characteristics of this genre is not fair nor correct. The lack of independent female roles is not only specified in adventure films but it sure is prominent in this genre. There have been several attempts to portray a strong female role, for example in the film Tomb Raider, the protagonist was an independent woman, but the movie wasn’t necessarily good. I still appreciate that some filmmakers are making an effort to make more films with a woman lead. I just think that the portrayal of the typical attractive, brave, and charming young man is so overdone and not fair to those of other characteristics. There needs to be more representation of those who differ from the norm portrayed in adventure films. Even though I’m arguing against some of the characteristics in adventure films, I would retain some of them for my own project. For example, I’d still use the brave, fearless, and adventurous characteristics of an individual in my film, it’d just be portrayed through a woman rather than a man used in all adventure films.