Atomic Blonde trailer - red band. Nice.

quote:

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She gets hit in the face by a grown man and recovers instantly.

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There is a certain unreality to almost any movie fight scene where a John Wick or John McClain beats up several men in succession. But there are also rules of action that make physically imposing men more able to do these kinds of things on screen with relative credibility. It wouldn't work very well with Paul Giammati in the lead either.

If you are a Mila Jollvich you might be able to pull it off in some ways but you wont' be able to do a gritty down and dirty fight like a heavyweight man (in which your fists are the primary weapon).

The other half of the issue is probably purpose of the genre. Yes, some women casually enjoy watching women "kicking arse" - my wife is one of them. But they don't fill up the theaters for the genre. Men are heavily and disproportionately represented when you look at people who pay to watch professional fighters and people who pay to watch action movies. That audience is probably fantasizing about themselves as the lead to some extent but doesn't generally get very much out of a legitimately tough woman who can beat up men.

Why should they really? Hitting a woman is off limits for any normal scenario. Beating one up offers no reward, only negatives. And women don't become more prized by men as sexual partners if they can beat up other women or men. So, there's no reward when it comes to social standing or sexual attractiveness.