Mako Mori and the Gender Politics of Pacific Rim 2013

Year 2014, Issue: 39, 113 - 122, 01.04.2014

Nathanael Hood

Abstract

Carefully balancing on the top of an escape pod somewhere in the South China Sea, pilots Raleigh Becket Charlie Hunnam and Mako Mori Rinko Kukuchi embrace after successfully saving the world from an invasion of giant, extra-dimensional monsters known as “kaiju.” This ending from Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim 2013 seems to cohere to traditional narrative tropes within the Western action genre wherein the hero triumphantly kisses his love interest after a great struggle, battle, or fight. And yet, a close inspection of this scene reveals a shocking subversion of this reliable concluding scenario: Becket and Mori do not kiss. They draw close, touch foreheads, and even lean in for a hug as the screen cuts to the credits. But again, they do not consummate their victory with a kiss.

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