The Thrilling Conclusion

So, at the end of the day, how do I justify my "masturbation or liberation" title besides its inherent, rhymey catchiness? Do I buy the idea that women in The Arena are strong and independent and follow their own pattern of heroism or do I have to admit that this is just a movie pandering to guys who like scantily-clad chicks beating each other and other people up? Or can I have "I want to be her" and "I want to do her" at the same time? Let me conclude with another quote, this time from Marc O’Day’s article "Beauty in Motion: Gender, Spectacle and Action Babe Cinema": "cinematic identification is a complex and fluid process - at any given moment each of us is capable of making a range of fantasy identifications in relation to any given film." Women in The Arena straddle the lines between captivity and freedom, sexual object and sexual aggressor and civilization and barbarity without making a decisive move to one side or the other. They are clearly showcased, both by other characters and by the director, as objects for male gratification, but their relations with the other gladiators and with one another demonstrate that they have a more subversive potential. Warrior women can be a male fantasy, but they are one which may fight back.