Doom’s Children

Abstract

Conan the Barbarian (Milius, 1982) is notable for its contrast and opposition of white and black masculine forms, which may be explored in relation to wider issues of its era, including those associated, however loosely, with the Reagan presidency. Ronald Reagan’s Republican administration (1981–1989) promoted ideas and images of masculine toughness that drew in part on the male body, though Reagan was not the creative progenitor of this ideal, rather a refraction of a larger cultural movement. This valorisation of male strength was echoed and seemingly endorsed by American action films such as Rambo: First Blood Pari II (Cosmatos, 1985). Susan Jeffords argues further that, in 1980s US action cinema, ‘masculinity is defined in and through the white male body and against the racially marked male body’, identifying the heroism and individualism promoted by the Reagan administration specifically with the white body (Jeffords, 2000, p. 148). By implication at least, these same values are denied the non-white body, marked as an alien entity that lacks true masculinity. This approach may be criticised as over-generalised and overly simplistic, suggesting as it does that racial tensions within America were being addressed and worked through in action films in regular, consistent and antagonistic fashion. It is, however, notable that the heroic white male body, frequently exposed for the camera, assumed especial significance in American cinema and the wider popular culture of this era, while the non-white body was often depicted as problematic if not overtly hostile.KeywordsMale BodyReagan AdministrationAction CinemaRacial TensionAmerican CinemaThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.