Screening the Male - Exploring Masculinities in the Hollywood Cinema

Cohan Steven. (ed.) Screening the Male - Exploring Masculinities in the Hollywood Cinema 1993 [pdf 283sc 272c . 1.45mb] Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 Notes on contributors......Page 10 INTRODUCTION Steven Cohan and Ina Rae Hark......Page 12 PROLOGUE: MASCULINITY AS SPECTACLE Reflections on men and mainstream cinema Steve Neale......Page 20 VALENTINO, 'OPTIC INTOXICATION,' AND DANCE MADNESS Gaylyn Studlar......Page 34 'FEMINIZING' THE SONG-AND-DANCE MAN Fred Astaire and the spectacle of masculinity in the Hollywood musical Steven Cohan......Page 57 MAMA'S BOY Filial hysteria in White Heat Lucy Fischer......Page 81 THE DIALECTIC OF FEMALE POWER AND MALE HYSTERIA IN PLAY MISTY FOR ME Adam Knee......Page 98 'DON'T BLAME THIS ON A GIRL' Female rape-revenge films Peter Lehman......Page 114 DARK DESIRES Male masochism in the horror film Barbara Creed......Page 129 'MORE HUMAN THAN I AM ALONE' Womb envy in David Cronenberg's The Fly and Dead Ringers Helen W.Robbins......Page 145 ANIMALS OR ROMANS Looking at masculinity in Spartacus Ina Rae Hark......Page 162 FEMINISM, 'THE BOYZ,' AND OTHER MATTERS REGARDING THE MALE Robyn Wiegman......Page 184 THE BUDDY POLITIC Cynthia J.Fuchs......Page 205 MASCULINITY AS MULTIPLE MASQUERADE The 'mature' Stallone and the Stallone clone Chris Holmlund......Page 224 DUMB MOVIES FOR DUMB PEOPLE Masculinity, the body, and the voice in contemporary action cinema Yvonne Tasker......Page 241 CAN MASCULINITY BE TERMINATED? Susan Jeffords......Page 256 Index of films......Page 274 General index......Page 278 Arts, Language and Literature Book Cover 1 Title 4 Contents 5 Notes on contributors 10 INTRODUCTION Steven Cohan and Ina Rae Hark 12 PROLOGUE: MASCULINITY AS SPECTACLE Reflections on men and mainstream cinema Steve Neale 20 VALENTINO, 'OPTIC INTOXICATION,' AND DANCE MADNESS Gaylyn Studlar 34 'FEMINIZING' THE SONG-AND-DANCE MAN Fred Astaire and the spectacle of masculinity in the Hollywood musical Steven Cohan 57 MAMA'S BOY Filial hysteria in White Heat Lucy Fischer 81 THE DIALECTIC OF FEMALE POWER AND MALE HYSTERIA IN PLAY MISTY FOR ME Adam Knee 98 'DON'T BLAME THIS ON A GIRL' Female rape-revenge films Peter Lehman 114 DARK DESIRES Male masochism in the horror film Barbara Creed 129 'MORE HUMAN THAN I AM ALONE' Womb envy in David Cronenberg's The Fly and Dead Ringers Helen W.Robbins 145 ANIMALS OR ROMANS Looking at masculinity in Spartacus Ina Rae Hark 162 FEMINISM, 'THE BOYZ,' AND OTHER MATTERS REGARDING THE MALE Robyn Wiegman 184 THE BUDDY POLITIC Cynthia J.Fuchs 205 MASCULINITY AS MULTIPLE MASQUERADE The 'mature' Stallone and the Stallone clone Chris Holmlund 224 DUMB MOVIES FOR DUMB PEOPLE Masculinity, the body, and the voice in contemporary action cinema Yvonne Tasker 241 CAN MASCULINITY BE TERMINATED? Susan Jeffords 256 Index of films 274 General index 278 Prologue : Masculinity As Spectacle : Reflections On Men And Mainstream Cinema / Steve Neale -- Valentino, 'optic Intoxication,' And Dance Madness / Gaylyn Studlar -- 'feminizing' The Song-and-dance Man : Fred Astaire And The Spectacle Of Masculinity In The Hollywood Musical / Steven Cohan -- Mama's Boy : Filial Hysteria In White Heat / Lucy Fischer -- The Dialectic Of Female Power And Male Hysteria In Play Misty For Me / Adam Knee -- 'don't Blame This On A Girl' : Female Rape-revenge Films / Peter Lehman -- Dark Desires : Male Masochism In The Horror Film / Barbara Creed -- 'more Human Than I Am Alone' : Womb Envy In David Cronenberg's The Fly And Dead Ringers / Helen W. Robbins -- Animals Or Romans : Looking At Masculinity In Spartacus / Ina Rae Hark -- Feminism, 'the Boyz,' And Other Matters Regarding The Male / Robyn Wiegman -- The Buddy Politic / Cynthia J. Fuchs. Masculinity As Multiple Masquerade : The 'mature' Stallone And The Stallone Clone / Chris Holmlund -- Dumb Movies For Dumb People : Masculinity, The Body, And The Voice In Contemporary Action Cinema / Yvonne Tasker -- Can Masculinity Be Terminated? / Susan Jeffords. Edited By Steven Cohan And Ina Rae Hark. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. Screening the male re-examines the problematic status of masculinity both in Hollywood cinema and feminist film theory.Classical Hollywood cinema has been theoretically established as a vast pleasure machine, manufacturing an idealized viewer through its phallocentric ideological apparatus. Feminist criticism has shown how difficult it is for the female viewer to resist becoming implicated in this representational system. But the theroies have overlooked the significance of the problem itself - of the masuline motivation at the core of the system. The essays here explore those male characters, spectators, and performers who occupy positions conventionally encoded as'feminine'in Hollywood narrative and questions just how secure that orthodox male position is.Screening the Male brings together an impressive group of both established and emerging scholars from Britain, the United States and Australia unified by a concern with issues that film theorists have exclusively inked to the femninie and not the masculne: spectacle, masochism, passivity, masquerade and, most of all, the body as it signifies gendered, racial, class and generatonal differences. Screening the male re-examines the problematic status of masculinity both in Hollywood cinema and feminist film theory. Classical Hollywood cinema has been theoretically established as a vast pleasure machine, manufacturing an idealized viewer through its phallocentric ideological apparatus. Feminist criticism has shown how difficult it is for the female viewer to resist becoming implicated in this representational system. But the theroies have overlooked the significance of the problem itself - of the masuline motivation at the core of the system. The essays here explore those male characters, spectators, and performers who occupy positions conventionally encoded as "feminine" in Hollywood narrative and questions just how secure that orthodox male position is. Screening the Male brings together an impressive group of both established and emerging scholars from Britain, the United States and Australia unified by a concern with issues that film theorists have exclusively inked to the femninie and not the spectacle, masochism, passivity, masquerade and, most of all, the body as it signifies gendered, racial, class and generatonal differences. Re-examines the problematic status of masculinity both in Hollywood cinema and feminist film theory. The text argues that these theories have overlooked the significance of the problems arising from the easily recognized masculine "norm" equated with activity, voyeurism and sadism. Dance critic Sigmund Spaeth once noted that 'the decade between 1910 and 1920 can be identified primarily as the period in which America went dance mad' (quoted in Stearns 1968: n.p.).