The Tortures of Mel Gibson

Abstract

The long-standing tradition of male masochism in popular cinema represents a dilemma for psychoanalytically informed gender studies. The persistent image of heroic male bodies bruised, beaten, and displayed for the film audience challenges the gendered binaries that have characterized such moments of powerlessness as feminine. The excessive physical tortures endured by Mel Gibson's characters in such movies as Lethal Weapon, Braveheart, and most clearly Payback illustrate the importance of suffering as an essentially masculine trait. Instead of representing sadism as categorically masculine and masochism as categorically feminine, the torture of cinematic heroes, such as Gibson's Porter in Payback, signifies the necessity of both sides of the sadomasochistic continuum in constructing a superior and unified image of masculinity. Moreover, the visual evidence of physical suffering on display in Gibson's films enhances his sex symbol status by clearly positioning the character's masculinity as undeniably heterosexual and authentic.