Abstract
Heroism has historically always played an important part in the shaping of culturally prevailing gender norms. And yet, because it traditionally articulates itself around a set of stereotypical masculine practices, traits and attributes, the status of “hero” tends to become problematic when applied to women.1 Bearing this in mind, I shall consider, in the film Zero Dark Thirty by Kathryn Bigelow (2012) and the television series Homeland by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa (created in 2011) both the figures of the two female CIA officers and the war on two fronts in which they fight. Primarily devoted to key issues of gender and power negotiation, my comparative analysis will mainly focus on the initiatory journey the characters undertake and the verticalization of power relations implied to reach a heroic status. In this chapter, I will explore how the woman director Kathryn Bigelow engages with the complex relationship between heroism and femininity in the war film genre today.
I wish to thank Karen A. Ritzenhoff and Jakub Kazecki for their helpful comments on this essay.
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Films
Courage under Fire. Directed by Edward Zwick. USA, 1996.
Dream On. Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman. USA, 1990–1996.
Fair Game. Directed by Doug Liman. USA, 2010.
G.I. Jane. Directed by Ridley Scott. USA, 1997.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Directed by David Fincher. USA, 2011.
Homeland. Created by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa. USA, 2011.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Directed by Francis Lawrence. USA, 2013.
The Interpreter. Directed by Sydney Pollack. USA, 2005.
Pearl Harbor. Directed by Michael Bay. USA, 2001.
Prisoners of War (Hatufim). Created by Gideon Raff. Israel, 2009–2012.
The Right Stuff. Directed by Philip Kaufman. USA, 1983.
Saving Private Ryan. Directed by Steven Spielberg. USA, 1998.
Skyfall. Directed by Sam Mendes. USA, 2012.
State of Play. Directed by Kevin Macdonald. USA, 2009.
Up in the Air. Directed by Jason Reitman. USA, 2009.
We Were Soldiers. Directed Randall Wallace. USA, 2002.
Zero Dark Thirty. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. USA, 2012.
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© 2014 Karen A. Ritzenhoff and Jakub Kazecki
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Courcoux, CA. (2014). There’s Something about Maya. In: Ritzenhoff, K.A., Kazecki, J. (eds) Heroism and Gender in War Films. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137360724_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137360724_15
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