It Is a Man's World: Romantic Relief In The Hollywood Blockbuster

Abstract

The Hollywood action blockbuster has been known to benefit from conventions that assure its success at the box-office. Since these films are often identified with male genres, they feature male protagonists, causing them to mostly appeal to male audiences. Nevertheless, to attract female spectators as well, blockbusters incorporate female characters and what I like to call “romantic relief” into their narrative. Moments of romantic relief allow both the characters in the film and the audience to forget about the main action of the film briefly. These, however, fail to change the storyline in any significant way. This article largely focuses on romantic relief and its manifestation in such films as Avatar, Armageddon, Transformers and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.