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Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication
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Feminine Purity And Masculine Revenge-Seeking In Taken (2008), Casey Ryan Kelly
Feminine Purity And Masculine Revenge-Seeking In Taken (2008), Casey Ryan Kelly
Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications
The 2008 film Taken depicts the murderous rampage of an ex-CIA agent seeking to recover his teenage daughter from foreign sex traffickers. I argue that Taken articulates a demand for a white male protector to serve as both guardian and avenger of white women’s “purity” against the purportedly violent and sexual impulses of third-world men. A neocolonial narrative retold through film, Taken infers that the protection of white feminine purity legitimates both male conquest abroad and overbearing protection of young women at home. I contend that popular films such as Taken are a part of the broader cultural system of …