The alienated male: Silence and the soundtrack in New Hollywood

Abstract

This article explores the audible link between masculinity, silence and the soundtrack by focusing on a selection of silent alienated male characters from renowned New Hollywood films. In this discussion, the ‘type’ of silence I often refer to is that described by Paul Théberge as ‘a kind of silence that is produced when, for example, music is allowed to dominate the soundtrack while dialogue and sound effects – the primary sonic modes of the diegetic world – are muted’ (2008: 51). The deployment of this technique in New Hollywood perhaps has something to do with Théberge's later observation that in Western culture silence is a sign of abnormality, or of something to be feared (2008: 52). The films selected for this discussion are Easy Rider (1969), Bonnie and Clyde (1968), and The Graduate (1967). I explore the specific use of silence in these texts as well as the ways in which non-diegetic music and diegetic sound frequently express meanings not divulged by the male characters, due to their limited dialogue. I argue that this acoustic construction contributes to a projected sense of alienation of male characters and can also be linked to the blurring of gender boundaries often accounted for by the counter-culture movements taking place in America throughout the 1960s and 1970s.