Representation

The representation of gender in Taken reinforces traditional gender stereotypes. Liam Neeson plays the stereotypical white American male hero. In this movie he is portrayed as strong, fearless, courageous, aggressive and heroic in his quest to retrieve his kidnapped daughter. When the mission to find his daughter becomes increasingly difficult, Liam Neeson doesn't back down from the trial but instead faces the challenges head first and steps into the unknown world of trafficking without fear. These are typical qualities associated with men in action movies. Also the lack of female representation in this movie indicates that it's as if females are not seen as fit enough to face hard-hitting crimes which reinforce stereotypes. Also the fact that the plot of this action movie is that the heroic white male has to go out to rescue the helpless white female who has gotten herself in a sticky situation that she cannot escape on her own. This is a stereotypical plot and is used in many action movies. Females are presented as helpless and in need of rescuing. They are presented as needy as they can't ever seem to save themselves or do things on their own but instead they need a man to come and save them from the situations that they have gotten themselves into. This is an old-fashioned representation of women which is still present in Hollywood action movies today. Also the villains in this movie are Albanian, (Eastern-European) which fortifies stereotypes of action movies using foreigners as antagonists.