The Arena

The Arena is a crucial title in Pam Grier’s filmography. More precisely, it is a sort of outgrowth marking a possible second path of her filmography, which, fortunately for her and cinematic pop culture, remained untaken. It is Grier’s last collaboration with Corman’s New World Pictures, a manufacturer of cheap dreams that didn’t long for stars but rather preferred compliant actors. The Arena is one of Corman’s many ingenious concepts for the ultimate straightforward exploitation flick. The premise of female gladiators makes it possible to combine two popular trends in trash cinema – the genre of films with women in prison and B-movies set in ancient Rome. In the often recycled permanent settings of Italian studios, a straightforward tale from decadent antiquity is thus played out, introducing countless superficial attractions involving nudity, sex and violence. However, the film was also made to ride the coattails of a new box-office magnet, which was the duo of Margaret Markov and Pam Grier based on the success of Black Mama, White Mama. But whereas the previous film established both actresses as strong protagonists who do not submit to the masculine world, this time they are both assigned parts that joyously passivize and humiliate them, as if in the interest of appeasing the traditional patriarchy. From being put on display in the marketplace, the involuntary undressing and scenes of rape and submission to men to the very concept of women in the arena, which is conceived as a ridiculous parade of bimbos incompetently waving weapons around, everything in the film is subordinated to a chauvinistic perspective. Fortunately for Pam Grier, an offer came to abandon performing in supporting roles in unpromising exploitation flicks and instead take lead roles and achieve star status in the blaxploitation genre. Margaret Markov married the film’s producer, Mark Damon, and her career came to a halt. (28.09.2014)