Masculinity In Cinema Research Articles

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: The Evolution of Masculinity in Geri-action and Its Implications for Male Hegemony

In 2023, a new adventure film called Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny premiered in theaters around the globe. In this film, Harrison Ford returns to his iconic role as Indiana Jones, showcasing a new perspective on action-packed adventures with seasoned heroes, which brings forth exciting new possibilities. Examining Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, this study delves into the development of masculinity in older action heroes, highlighting how these seasoned protagonists can challenge traditional notions of male hegemony. The study employs discourse analysis to examine the portrayal of Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones and draws comparisons to previous iterations and other characters within the genre. This analysis highlights the film's departure from conventional portrayals of masculinity, indicating a movement towards dismantling gender norms and challenging male hegemony. The analysis highlights the importance of older heroes in portraying changing perspectives on masculinity and male roles in today's society. This study presents a fresh outlook on gender studies, highlighting the importance of portraying masculinity in film in a more nuanced way. It advocates for breaking away from traditional norms and promoting diversity in storytelling and character development.

Masculinity in Cinema: The Case of the Movie “Death of Two Lovers”

Erkeklik üzerine çalışmalar uzun yıllardır devam etmesine rağmen kısıtlıdır. Ancak günümüzde kadın çalışmalarının altının çizilmesi adına bile bu konular üzerinde derin araştırmaların yapılması elzemdir. Yaptığı çalışmalarla konuya önderlik eden ve "Masculinities’ (Erkeklikler) teorisini oluşturan Avustralyalı sosyolog Raewyn Connell ilgili alanın altyapısını oluşturmuştur. Toplumsal cinsiyet ve toksik erkekliğin tam anlaşılabilmesi ve konunun bütüncül değerlendirilebilmesi için sadece kadın-erkek ilişkilerinin değil erkeklerin aralarında oluşturdukları ilişkiler üzerinden de okumak gerekmektedir. Toksik erkeklik konusunun ağırlıklı olarak akademik düzlemde kaldığı ve sanat dallarıyla pek ilişkilendirilmediği gözlenmiştir. Bu çalışmanın erkekliğin rollerinin sorgulanması ve tartışılması, niteliksel olarak güçlendirilmesi, niceliksel olarak arttırılması, erkeklik üzerine yeni bir bakış açısı oluşturulması açısından erkeklik çalışmalarına katkı sağlayacağı ve yapılacak olan yeni erkeklik/sinema ilişkilendirilmesi çalışmalarına referans olacağı düşünülmektedir. Temel amaç, erkekliğin toksik davranışlarının film aracılığıyla nasıl işlendiğini, yansıtıldığını ve deneyimlendiğini ortaya koymaktır. Robert Machoian’ın yönettiği ilk uzun metrajlı filmi olan "İki Aşığın Ölümü/The Killing of Two Lovers" (2020), sinemada toksik erkekliği ana konu olarak işleyen son dönemdeki nadir filmlerden biridir. Karısını ve ailesini kaybetme korkusunun bir erkeği nasıl toksik saplantılara sürüklediğini anlatan yapımın toksik erkeklik - sinema ilişkisinin neden ve sonuçlarını ortaya koyduğu bu çalışmada belirtilmiştir. Sinema sanatının tüm anlatım olanaklarından yararlanarak hikâyesini seyirciye başarıyla aktaran bu önemli bağımsız film aynı zamanda tipik toksik erkeklik özelliklerinin de altını çizmeyi başarmıştır.

Misfits and Troubled Men. Masculinity and Violence in Romanian Socialist Cinema

This paper is part of an ongoing research project that aims at identifying types of masculinities in Romanian socialist cinema, by using gender studies and other contributions on the topic of masculinity in order to provide a sociological reading of Romanian films made during the communist regime. I will look at the way in which Western understandings of masculinity have been transferred to Eastern European categories of masculinity in cinema and I will establish a critical framework for my analysis, with an introduction to studies on masculinity, and expand on elements of sociological and psychoanalytical works, namely major contributions from Connell (1987), Segal (2007) and Horrocks (1994, 1995). Two defining concepts in masculinity studies are hegemonic masculinity (Connell 1987) and homosociality (Bird, 1996), theories which will constitute the basis for my case studies in order to see if male characters in Romanian socialist cinema fit into this categorization. The last part of this paper will be an analysis of three films, Reenactment (Reconstituirea, Lucian Pintilie, 1968), 100 Lei (100 de lei, Mircea Săucan, 1973) and At the End of the Line (La capătul liniei, Dinu Tănase), in which the male characters exist outside society, they cannot conform to what is being required of them as socialist subjects. The purpose is to see how gender performativity plays a role in the relationship between men, with a focus on violence and how it is connected to a search for a father figure and male friendships.

A New Kind of Monster, Cowboy, and Crusader?

Representations of boys and men in Disney films often escape notice due to presumed gender neutrality. Considering this omission, we explore masculinities in films from Disney’s lucrative subsidiary Pixar to determine how masculinities are represented and have and/or have not disrupted dominant gender norms as constructed for young boys’ viewership. Using Raewyn Connell’s theory of gender hegemony and related critiques, we suggest that while Pixar films strive to provide their male characters with a feminist spin, they also continue to reify hegemonic masculinities through sharp contrasts to femininities and by privileging heterosexuality. Using a feminist textual analysis that includes the Toy Story franchise, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Coco, we suggest that Pixar films, while offering audiences a “new man,” continue to reinforce hegemonic masculinities in subtle ways that require critical examination to move from presumed gender neutrality to an understanding of continued, though shifting, gender hegemony.

The Representation of Masculinity in Cinema and on Television: An Analysis of Fictional Male Characters

Mass media, especially cinema and television, are important devices that build and strengthen males and female roles in societies. The representation of gender in media is crucial because individuals get to know gender roles in the process of socialization. Besides the female identity, masculinity is also a constructible element and fictional male characters produced both in cinema and on television send messages about masculinity to the audience. In this study, the male representation both in the television series and in films were compared with this assumption and the question how male characters are represented on the two different mass media is examined in Turkey. Furthermore, the question "whether masculine representation reinforces the existing patriarchal male image or produces an alternative male model" is in the interest area of the study. The method of this study is reception analysis and in-depth interviews were undertaken with audiences with different demographic characteristics. As a result, it has been found that male representations in cinema and television are produced with similar myths, symbols, metaphors and messages, similar gender languages are used in different media, and fictional male characters in cinema and television have common characteristics.

Man and New Man: David’s Masculinity in Film

Abstract:This paper explores the masculinity of King David in the biblical text alongside three film versions dating to 1951, 1984, and 1997. The paper demonstrates how in different times David's masculinity is constructed to reflect contemporary mores.

A Qualitative Textual and Comparative Analysis of the Representation of Masculinity in the Action and Romantic Comedy Genres

This study is an exploration of the representation of masculinity in film, with particular focus on the way in which leading male characters in action genre and romantic comedy genre films represent masculinity. It is posited that masculinity is a construct, the meaning of which is dependent on the social context of the individual. Film as a social artefact and an agent of socialisation could have the potential of influencing individuals’ understanding of the construct. An exploration of the variations of masculinity across genres is a first step in understanding possible influences of the definition of masculinity. A triangulation of textual analysis methods was used to analyse fictional characters according to a set of codes and ‘real’ world norms. The results of the findings from this study indicate that the way in which male characters are developed in each genre are different, with male lead characters from the action genre having more characteristics that align with the ‘real’ world norms of masculinity (Levant et al., 1992), than their romantic comedy genre counterparts.

Masculinity in Film: The Emergence of a New Literature

Masculinity in Film: The Emergence of a New Literature

Superflies into Superkillers: Black Masculinity in Film from Blaxploitation to New Black Realism

N THE 1971 FILM SHAFT, ITS PROTAGONIST BEMOANS THAT HE “HAS two problems.” He was “born black and I was born poor.” Nearly 20 years later, the narrative of John Singleton’s film Boyz in the Hood seemed to be the period on Shaft’s complaint by proclaiming that “One out of every 21 Black American males will be murdered” in the poor streets of South Central Los Angeles. Obviously, there is a link between these movies created decades apart that goes beyond having black protagonists. What is this link and how do we understand its relevance for the study of the history of film and cultural resistance? How did the 1970s’ characterization of superflies become the 1990s’ superkillers? Film theorist Noel Carroll first coined the term “allusionism” to explain how contemporary filmmakers use old cinematic conventions in their films. He also explored why they use old conventions in their films. He argues that because filmmakers in the 1990s were the first generation to have grown up with intense film watching, they possessed a more solid knowledge of what had come before them. Therefore, they were able to comment on iconographic symbols in the past films, knowing that their audience would also recognize these icons. Carroll states that:

The Color of Manhood: Reconsidering Pompey in John Ford's <em>The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance</em>

Examinations of masculinity in John Ford's film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) tend to revolve around the two leading male protagonists played by John Wayne and James Stewart (Tom Doniphon and Ransom Stoddard, respectively), as evidenced by Martin Scorsese's comment in the American Masters retrospective profile, "John Ford and John Wayne: Pappy and the Duke" (2006): "What's great about the picture, for me, is—what defines a man? Is it Stewart or is it Wayne? Actually it's both, in a way." The film's title invites an interpretive pairing of the characters Tom and Ranse: one, the man who actually kills the outlaw Valance; and the other, the man who becomes known and respected for killing Valance. I argue that this critical pairing is a valuable but incomplete consideration of masculinity in the film because it ignores Woody Strode's portrayal of Pompey, a black character who plays a particularly integral role in the act of shooting Valance. Ford repeatedly presents Pompey negotiating race and place, resonating significantly with the civil rights movement that is contemporary with the film's release. Pompey's character draws attention to racial injustices in a film that also prompts the viewer to question triumphant American stories of settling the West.

American Cinema and the Construction of Masculinity in Film in the Federal Republic after 1945

Since 1945, film in the Federal Republic has maintained an ambivalent relationship to American cinema and its embedded ideologies and nowhere is this more evident than in (West) German film's representations of masculinity. This article focuses on three historical moments when political and social shifts resulted in a problematising of male identities in the Federal Republic: the mid-1950s, the early 1970s and the late 1990s. Cinema responded to a perceived destabilisation of gender norms by exploring constructions of German masculinity in relation to the ambivalently received models of male identity offered by American cinema. With a detailed analysis of three specific examples – Georg Tressler's Die Halbstarken (1956), Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Der amerikanische Soldat (1970) and Fatih Akin's Kurz und schmerzlos (1998) – this article investigates the manner in which German cinema engages with these competing conceptions of masculinity and demonstrates the ways in which divergent understandings of gender identity can impact on representations of national and ethnic identity.

Contesting Indonesian Nationalism and Masculinity in Cinema

In one of the most powerful films in the New Order regime in Indonesia (1966-1998), Arifin C. Noer’s Pengkhianatan G30S/PKI (The 30th September Movement Treason/PKI, 1984), a scene shows a general’s daughter looking admiringly at a portrait of her father in his military uniform (Fig. 1 ).The lowangle point-of-view shot of the portrait creates an aura of grandeur surrounding the general figure. The child tells her mother that she wants to have a star emblem on her chest like the one worn by her father. Her mother, while putting her husband’s uniform into the closet, replies that she has to fight in a battle (berjuang)fightfff in order to get a star. The father is absent from this home setting but the uniform, an embodiment of his presence, binds the mother and the daughter. This scene establishes the ideal manhood in the Indonesian military with the general becoming a heroic father figure in both public and domestic spheres. It introduces the culture of Bapakism /Father-ism in Indonesian politics, which is disrupted yet later restored within and outside the filmic diegesis.