The Maternal Action Heroine in Popular Cinema
大众电影中的母性动作女英雄

Maternity 产妇
Gender Binaries 性别二元论
Stereotypes 陈规定型观念

The representation of gender and sexuality within the action genre is constantly being discussed, and female action heroines that were once seen as sporadic (Tasker, 1998: 67) has since been described as forming an entire sub-genre of film known as the ‘strong woman’ sub-genre (Bergot, 2007: 65). This sub-genre is said to have formed in the science fiction and fantasy genre, films such as Alien (1979) and The Terminator (1984) are significant examples of this, however as Bergot explains with films such as The Silence of the Lambs (1992) and Thelma and Louise (1991) the subgenre has ‘begun to conquer’ the drama genre (Bergot, 2007: 65). Today this sub-genre is now apparent in various genres including children’s films such as Frozen (2013) and the action genre with The Hunger Games (2012). Alongside these depictions of “strong woman” however, are representations of patriarchal gender binaries which many suggest are there to make these women’s heroic actions plausible (Good, 2007: 70). The masculinisation of the female heroine, maternalisation and sexualisation are all examples of this, Yvonne Tasker puts it best “‘femininity’ which is defined by passivity and hysteria, the female action hero offers a fantasy image of (proletarian) physical strength showcased within narratives that repeatedly seek to explain her (and to explain her away). Female action heroes are constructed in narrative terms as
人们一直在讨论动作类型片中的性别和性特征，曾经被视为零星的女性动作女英雄（Tasker, 1998: 67）后来被描述为形成了一个完整的电影亚类型，即 "女强人 "亚类型（Bergot, 2007: 65）。据说这个亚类型形成于科幻和奇幻类型，《异形》（1979 年）和《终结者》（1984 年）等影片就是重要的例子，但 Bergot 解释说，随着《沉默的羔羊》（1992 年）和《塞尔玛与路易丝》（1991 年）等影片的上映，这个亚类型 "开始征服 "戏剧类型（Bergot, 2007:65）。如今，这种次类型电影在各种类型电影中都能看到，包括《冰雪奇缘》（2013 年）等儿童电影和《饥饿游戏》（2012 年）等动作类型电影。然而，除了这些对 "女强人 "的描绘之外，还有父权制性别二元对立的表现，许多人认为这些表现是为了让这些女性的英雄行为变得可信（Good, 2007: 70）。女英雄的男性化、母性化和性化都是这方面的例子，Yvonne Tasker 说得最好："'女性气质'是由被动性和歇斯底里所定义的，女性动作英雄提供了一个（无产阶级）身体力量的幻想形象，并在叙事中展示出来，叙事反复试图解释她（并将她解释掉）。女性动作英雄在叙事中被构建为
macho/masculine, as mothers or as Others: sometimes even as all three at different points within the narrative” (Tasker, 1998: 69). This article will explore the way in which these heroines are represented as the mother and what affects this has on the representation of gender.
大男子主义/男子气概、母亲或他人：有时甚至在叙事的不同阶段以这三种身份出现"（Tasker, 1998:69）。本文将探讨这些女主人公作为母亲的表现方式，以及这对性别表现的影响。

The female protagonist Ripley is positioned in the Alien (1979) films as an active, heroic figure with maternal characteristics, this Jill Good proposes is a way in which creates her as an over determined character that both male and female audiences can identify with (Good, 2007: 70). Penley takes this further suggesting that this maternal instinct marks her with a difference that is automatically taken to be a sign of femininity (Penley, 2004: 132). This maternal instinct that differentiates her as a woman can be seen to represent the patriarchal fantasy of the mother as serves to make her heroic actions plausible (Penley, 2004: 132). Ripley could therefore be seen an example of what Grant describes as “the re-inscription of gender onto female women who appear on the surface to be strong, countering stereotypically female roles” (Grant, 2013: 169) as are, arguably, the strong women of The Terminator (1984) and The Hunger Games (2012).
在《异形》（1979 年）电影中，女主角蕾普莉被塑造成一个积极主动、具有母性特征的英雄形象，吉尔-古德认为这是将她塑造成男女观众都能认同的坚定角色的一种方式（Good, 2007: 70）。Penley 进一步指出，这种母性本能标志着她的与众不同，而这种与众不同会被自动视为女性特质的标志（Penley, 2004: 132）。这种区别于女性的母性本能代表了父权制对母亲的幻想，使她的英雄行为变得可信（Penley, 2004: 132）。因此，雷普利可以被视为格兰特所描述的 "将性别重新赋予女性的例子"（格兰特，2013 年：169），她表面上看起来很坚强，与刻板印象中的女性角色背道而驰，可以说，《终结者》（1984 年）和《饥饿游戏》（2012 年）中的女强人也是如此。

Examples of maternity are most apparent in the sequel to Alien (1979); Aliens (1986) however as Jill Good makes clear themes of maternity are apparently in all instalments of the franchise. In Alien (1974) Ripley is positioned as a maternal action heroine evident in the scene where she returns to the alien infested spaceship to recover her cat, strikingly similar to this we also see this in The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay - Part 1 (2014) where the protagonist Katniss returns to her destroyed home district and recovers her cat. Secondly in Aliens (1986) Ripley becomes surrogate mother to girl survivor, Newt, again similar to Katnis’s relationship with her sister, and even more reminiscent of Katniss’s relationship with the young female character Rue in The Hunger Games (2012). Clearly this shows how Ripley is presented as a maternal figure, and what affects this has on the representation of gender as the fantasy of the mother makes her heroic actions plausible (Penley, 2004: 132).
母性的例子在《异形》（1979 年）的续集《异形》（1986 年）中最为明显，但吉尔-古德明确指出，母性的主题在所有系列电影中都有体现。在《异形》（1974 年）中，蕾普莉被定位为母性动作女英雄，这在她返回外星人出没的飞船找回她的猫的场景中显而易见，与此惊人相似的是，我们在《饥饿游戏》中也看到了这一点：在《饥饿游戏：嘲笑杰伊》（2014 年）第一部中，主人公凯特尼斯回到被摧毁的家园，找回了她的猫。其次，在《异形》（1986 年）中，雷普利成为女孩幸存者纽特的代理母亲，这与凯特尼斯与姐姐的关系相似，更让人联想到《饥饿游戏》（2012 年）中凯特尼斯与年轻女性角色芸的关系。这清楚地表明了雷普利是如何作为一个母亲形象出现的，以及这对性别表征的影响，因为对母亲的幻想使她的英雄行为变得可信（Penley, 2004: 132）。

If we compare Ripley to Katniss from The Hunger Games (2012) further, we can see how she, like Ripley, is presented as maternal. In the first
如果我们将瑞普利与《饥饿游戏》（2012 年）中的凯妮丝作进一步比较，就会发现她和瑞普利一样，都是以母性的形象出现的。在第一部
instalment of The Hunger Games, for example, Katniss becomes ‘surrogate’ mother to a young girl she meets in the games; Rue. This relationship is reminiscent of Ripley’s maternal relationship with Newt in Aliens (1986). It is through this relationship that Grant argues Ripley is transformed into a mother, exemplified most overtly with Newt even calling Ripley ‘Mommy’ (Grant, 1993: 170). It is through Katniss’s relationship with Rou in which I argue reinforces, in the same way, Katniss as a maternal figure, building upon her maternal relationship with her sister, exemplified most overtly when Katniss cradles Rou and sings her a lullaby like she did at the beginning of the film with her sister.
例如，在《饥饿游戏》中，凯妮丝成为了她在游戏中遇到的小女孩小芸的 "代理 "母亲。这种关系让人想起《异形》（1986 年）中雷普利与纽特的母子关系。格兰特认为，正是通过这种关系，雷普利变成了一位母亲，纽特甚至称雷普利为 "妈妈"（Grant, 1993: 170）。我认为，凯妮斯与胭脂的关系以同样的方式强化了凯妮斯的母性形象，建立在她与姐姐的母性关系之上，最明显的例子就是凯妮斯抱着胭脂，给她唱摇篮曲，就像她在影片开头对姐姐所做的那样。

Similar to Ripley it is this transformation to motherhood that could be said to be Katniss’s unmaking as a strong woman. Katniss’s power, strength and courage, which could be seen as progressive, now becomes clearly connected to her desire firstly, to protect her sister, and then to protect Rou. This, as Grant argues, in reference to Ripley, invariably transforms her power to a traditionally constructed gendered power (Grant, 1993: 170).
与雷普利相似，凯妮丝向母亲的转变可以说是她作为一个坚强女性的蜕变。凯妮丝的力量、坚强和勇气可以被看作是渐进的，现在她的这种力量、坚强和勇气显然与她的愿望有关，首先是保护她的妹妹，然后是保护鲁。正如格兰特在提到《雷普利》时所指出的，这无形中将她的力量转变为一种传统建构的性别力量（Grant, 1993: 170）。

Sarah Connor in The Terminator (1984) films is another prime example of both the “strong woman” and the maternal heroine. Again this role has been acclaimed as a positive, strong role that, in the words of Chotiner, “feminists should welcome” (Chotiner, 2009: 74). Chotiner states that the film displays unexpected things with sex roles, challenging the stereotypical woman (Chotiner, 2009: 74-75). The elevator scene in Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) is used as an example of this, as Sarah Conner is seen taking on the masculine, active role by shooting at the T-1000, thus deifying femininity that is defined through passivity.
电影《终结者》（1984 年）中的莎拉-康纳（Sarah Connor）是 "女强人 "和母性英雄的另一个典型例子。这个角色再次被誉为积极、坚强的角色，用乔蒂纳的话说，"女权主义者应该欢迎"（Chotiner, 2009: 74）。Chotiner 指出，这部影片在性别角色上展现了意想不到的东西，挑战了女性的刻板印象（Chotiner, 2009: 74-75）。终结者 2：审判日》（1991 年）中的电梯场景就是一个例子，莎拉-康纳（Sarah Conner）向 T-1000 开枪，扮演了男性化的主动角色，从而将被动定义的女性形象神化。

However her established maternal tendencies could be seen to make this action plausible; Jeffords says She (Sarah Connor) is an animal, she bares her teeth, she snarls… she has an animal voice. Like an animal, she does anything to protect her young […] Her emotions as a mother are primitive, stemming from her animal instincts" (Jeffords, 1993: 252). Therefore we
杰弗兹说："她（莎拉-康纳）是一头野兽，她龇牙咧嘴，她咆哮......她有一种野兽般的声音。就像动物一样，她会不惜一切代价保护她的孩子[......]她作为母亲的情感是原始的，源于她的动物本能"（Jeffords，1993：252）。因此，我们
could easily attribute this heroic action, albeit a masculine one as, as example of transgressive motherhood that cinema portrays with hysteria.
我们很容易将这一英雄行为（尽管是男性化的）归因于电影歇斯底里地描绘的越轨母性。

Sarah Connor shows more similarities too with Katniss Everdeen. Like Ripley and Sarah Connor, Katniss is presented, on the surface, as strong woman, countering stereotypically female roles (Grant, 2013: 169); she shows traditional masculine traits such as bravery and physical strength, and commits masculine acts such as Hunting, and Violence. The film also has within it, however, clear maternal themes reminiscent of those found in Ripley and Sarah Connor; which could be said to be reinscribing the traditional gender role of the mother and making her heroic actions plausible.
莎拉-康纳与凯特尼斯-艾佛丁（Katniss Everdeen）也有更多相似之处。与蕾普莉和莎拉-康纳一样，凯妮丝表面上是一位坚强的女性，与刻板的女性角色形成鲜明对比（Grant，2013: 169）；她表现出传统的男性特质，如勇敢和体力，并做出男性行为，如狩猎和暴力。然而，影片中也有明显的母性主题，让人想起雷普利和莎拉-康纳身上的母性主题；这可以说是对母亲这一传统性别角色的重新塑造，使她的英雄行为变得合理。

An example of this can be found when Katniss’s younger sister is randomly selected to fight to the death in the Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers in place of her sister, risking her life to save her sibling. At the surface level these activities represent Katniss as a strong women, (Grant, 2013: 169), from her traditionally masculine action of hunting animals, to her sacrificial bravery in volunteering for her sister, these actions could also be seen as challenging the stereotypes attached to femininity (Chotiner, 2009: 74). However, through the overt maternal relationship she has with her sister these actions could be said to be validated and made plausible by the stereotype of the ‘hysteric’ mother whose maternal instinct is to protect. (Good, 2007: 69-70).
凯妮丝的妹妹在饥饿游戏中被随机选中进行生死搏斗，凯妮丝自愿代替妹妹，冒着生命危险救出妹妹，就是一个例子。从表面上看，这些活动代表了凯妮丝作为一个坚强女性的形象（Grant, 2013: 169），从她猎杀动物的传统男性行为，到她自愿为妹妹牺牲的勇敢精神，这些行为也可以被看作是对女性刻板印象的挑战（Chotiner, 2009: 74）。然而，通过她与妹妹之间公开的母性关系，她的这些行为可以说得到了 "歇斯底里 "的母亲这一刻板印象的验证，并使其变得合理，因为母亲的母性本能就是保护。(Good, 2007: 69-70）。

Katniss might remain be seen to be a progressive character and avoid being gendered through maternity; Firstly, Like many male heroes, she cares about things beyond her family (Chotiner 2009: 75), her position in the overarching narrative could be read as more than just a mother as she becomes the figure head of a rebellion against the capital. Also, the fact that she is not actually mother, she is a sister, this could be viewed as an
凯妮丝可能仍然被视为一个进步的角色，避免了因母性而被性别化；首先，与许多男性英雄一样，她关心家庭以外的事情（Chotiner 2009: 75），她在总体叙事中的地位可以被解读为不仅仅是一位母亲，因为她成为了反抗首都的首领。此外，她实际上并不是母亲，而是一个姐姐，这也可以被看作是对 "母亲 "的一种诠释。
effort to avoid being attached to the gender binary of the mother, and maybe be more aligned to the theme of “sisterly solidarity” which is a Hollywood favourite (Cartmell and Welehan 1998: 1), therefore it may be difficult to attach these issues, that are concerned with maternity, to a sisterhood relationship.
为了避免与母亲的性别二元性联系在一起，或许应更多地与好莱坞最喜欢的 "姐妹团结 "主题保持一致（Cartmell and Welehan 1998: 1），因此可能很难将这些与母性有关的问题与姐妹关系联系在一起。

The main thing to consider however is, as I have illustrated, that there are still clear links with the maternal action heroine which could at least confuse and question Katniss’s position as a progressive feminist figure. And with 30 years between the films I have compared, the fact that these issues can still be appropriately attached to a contemporary text is interested and something that needs to be further discussed.
然而，正如我所说明的，需要考虑的主要问题是，《凯妮丝》与母性动作女英雄仍有明显的联系，这至少会混淆和质疑凯妮丝作为进步女权主义者的地位。我所比较的这两部电影之间相隔 30 年，这些问题仍能恰当地与当代文本联系在一起，这一点很值得关注，也需要进一步讨论。

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