Masculinity In Popular Films

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Films are very culturally significant, and because of this, they impact how masculinity is portrayed, showing it was apathetic, power driven, and violent in nature. Julia T. Wood, a humanities professor and a director of the Department of Communications at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, brings up the point that “the ways [media] misrepresents genders may distort how we see ourselves and what we perceive as normal” (1). Wood states that media--specifically films--influences how humans see themselves. Thus, they also influence how masculinity is perceived by society. To expand upon this, Wood notes, “Highly popular films such as Lethal Weapon, Predator, Days of Thunder, Total Recall, Robocop Die Hard, and Die Harder star men who embody the stereotype of extreme masculinity Media, then reinforce long-standing cultural …show more content…

Take Indiana Jones for example. The franchise may seem innocent on the surface, but if his relationships with various women in the series are assessed, one can see that under his romantic cover lies a very forceful and sexually aggressive man. For example, in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Jones forces himself upon Willie Scott, his romantic interest. He forced her to kiss him even though she had displace discontentment with the situation and had physically stopped him from touching her by pushing him off, showing clear signs that she did not want his romantic attention. This did not stop Jones, as he forced her to kiss him, which Willie Scott reacted positively to. Not only does this reinforce the fact that movies display masculinity as focused upon power, it also normalises men forcing themselves upon women (Spielberg). It is important to note that this film is rated PG. Furthermore, As the hero in this movie, Indiana Jones is a role model, which is worrisome due to his horrible behaviour towards women and his unhealthy obsession with

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