Anatomy Of An Action Hero - Sword-And-Sandal Superstars
Times change, tastes change, and styles change. And while the action movie has long been with us, so it has always reflected the zeitgeist.
Name: Moses or Judah Ben-Hur if they’re Biblical types; Spartacus, Demetrius or Lightning if they’re gladiators. Surprisingly few Garys, Shanes, Waynes, Bretts, Brads and Owens.
Home: A cell, clamped in heavy chains. Or an army barracks if he’s been pressed into service. Or on a ship if they’re a galley slave. Or at a gladiatorial training camp where he feasts and dallies with slave girls when not facing certain death.
Work Environment: The heat and dust of the gladiatorial arena, or among the ranks of the Roman army (albeit begrudgingly), or (even more begrudgingly) as an oarsman aboard a Roman military vessel. He can also be employed as a servant of God, charged with such important tasks as leading the chosen people across the Red Sea. On foot.
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