My own textual analysis on my case studies from the 80's

The Terminator (1984) is, along with an Officer And A Gentleman, an example of an 80’s film where the lead role is predominately a man. It’s about a man showing off his powers and role as an ‘action’ hero, who is indeed a machine, and sent to track down this woman, who is due to give birth to a son who is a threat against the ‘machines’. This, like an Officer and a Gentleman, has both a man and a woman who are on the screens, although the man is a lead figure in both stories, and get opportunities to show off their skills, whereas the women are just like ‘spare parts’ there to help bring the story along and act as a ‘side kick’ to these men.
Aliens however, has a woman as the lead role, and is a continuation from the 1979 film Alien. This was probably the first major leading woman role, in a sci-fi horror/action, which was a huge contrast to the Terminator, which is based on a similar role of hero and survivor. A woman is able to outlive all of the males and females in each Alien film, and fight for a life, which was one of the first major changes in the roles of women on screen, as usually it would be a male taking the lead.
The film Beaches, is a totally different genre to The Terminator or Alien, and creates such a different type of emotion, due to the different situations dealt with the two leading women. It proves, like Alien, that you don’t need to have a male predominant in films to make it a huge success with its audiences, which is probably now why men and women roles are more or less equal now. It contrasts slightly with an officer and a gentleman, as although there are two women characters in both films, which seem close as friends, we experience the friendship closer in Beaches as they are the lead and focus of the whole story, whereas in an Officer and a Gentleman the two women are overshadowed by an overwhelming male majority.