Does this reflect the true gender politics in the fight for survival?

The article in the Media Magazine only takes into account two modern representations of the gender politics and therefore this can’t be a sound representation for all of the other TV shows and Films based upon survival.
Therefore, a deeper analysis of films is needed from various decades in order to make a decisive decision about whether men and women return to the stereotypical traits and ways or if they subvert them and exhibit traits of the other stereotypes.

Die Hard

Die Hard was first released in 1988 and was given an age rating of 18 due to the strong graphic violence, the level of threats and the amount of foul language used in the characters’ dialogue.
The film follows LAPD cop John McClain who visits his estranged wife Holly at work as they have a Christmas party however that night a group of terrorists arrive and take over the building in order to get to the vault and the contents within.
It’s up to McClain who escaped being held captive to defeat the terrorists and save his wife and her work colleagues from death at the hands of the terrorists in time for Christmas.

John McClain is the main representation for the male species within the film however a look at the hostages also reveals if they conform or not to the stereotype.
John conforms to the entire masculine stereotype through the way in which he is portrayed to be the hero as he ends up saving everyone.
Key examples that show this are his constant use of the gun in order to protect himself which essentially adds to the male presence and connotes a level of violence.
Violence also adds to the male stereotype as stereotypically it is the males that go looking for violence, start the violence or get involved with the violence and this displays their dominance, aggressive behaviour, their control and their physical presence and strength.
John does this through his confrontations with the enemy terrorists (shown through the large gun fights or the single combat).
However a small feminine stereotypical trait occurs when John talks to policeman Al in which they discuss how Al chose not to continue doing field work.
This shows the stereotypical traits of being caring and sensitive to others as he is depicted to genuinely care about the other man.
John also physically conforms to the male stereotype due to his muscular appearance, highlighting his physical strength through the suggestion that he has worked out but also through his dominating presence when he has screen time.

When we compare John to the male hostages, we can see that he holds most of the male stereotype due to the male hostages cowering in fear when there is gun fire, henceforth demonstrating feminine stereotype traits.
There is an exception to this however due to one of Holly’s work colleagues Harry Ellis confronting the terrorists.
Here he demonstrates the male stereotypical qualities of being brave and dominant through the illusion that he is in control of the situation when he is negotiating with the terrorists in order to get John to stop interfering with their plans.
However, when John interferes through the radio and tries to explain how out of depth Harry is, we see that Harry is actually demonstrating more of the feminine stereotypical qualities through the over emotional plea towards the end for John to stop due to Harry’s life being on the line but also through the theatrics and the false façade he uses to try and save the people he cares about, especially Holly.
Alternatively this could be a side effect from the drugs in which he snorted at the beginning of the terrorist take over.

When looking at the female side of the cast, there are only three main distinctions throughout the film.
The first would be the two police officers in which John contacts in order to get help with the terrorist attack.
Her uniform provides her with the male stereotype of being dominant and in control through her job as the stereotypically seen as male job as a Policewoman.
However, as she works with the people it can also be shown that her job provides her with the feminine stereotype still due to her having to be compassionate and sensitive to people who call the line.
Although she is not threatened in a survival situation, her aid is important and thus contributing to the survival of the other characters making this character useful to look at when considering how the powers in control respond in a survival situation.

The female hostages in the room being held captive exhibit stereotypical female traits in the violence like the other male hostages.
There we can see them caring for each other and huddling in safety in order to provide comfort to each other when it becomes rather stressful.
Furthermore they take very good care of the most vulnerable such as the younger women, who can be seen to be in the middle of a huddle or the pregnant or the physically limited.
This connotes to the stereotypical motherly type of female and thus provides more evidence for the women maintaining their feminine stereotype traits when it comes to survival.

When looking at the female hostages as a whole, they all portray the stereotypical female traits in which they act afraid and essentially fall into the trait of being weak and inferior to the male terrorists.
This is shown through their cowering and screaming when the guns go off when the terrorists first enter onto the 32^nd floor at the beginning of the film.
Again this can be seen when all the hostages are taken to the roof and when John comes to save them by firing gun shots over their heads to get them to go down the stairs.