Gender in Films Part 2- Men onscreen

If I had to say one word about men in movies it would be dominance. While there are plenty of exceptions out there (for every stereotype there is usually an exception out there somewhere), I'd say Hollywood and the film industry show men as leaders and main characters, unless it's a sitcom. In the case of some sitcoms, men are shown as incompetent (think Simpsons or Everybody Loves Raymond).

Just like Part One of my Gender in Films blog, I'm going to break down the stereotypes out there for you before I begin. After that I'm going to be showing you examples of both stereotype-supporting movies and the exceptions out there.

The Stereotypes 

1. All humor  - This character is a constant joke machine. An example of this would be Hawkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H. He used it to mask his emotions, as well as deal with the war. Other characters who do this may use it as a mask, too, but to deal with other things of a less serious nature. If the only lines in the whole movie or TV show are jokes for a male character, this is the stereotype portrayed. 

2. Jocks - You have seen this in every sports movie ever advertised or shown, including TV shows like Friday Night Lights. I don't think I have to explain this one quite as much. Bottom line, if it is a sports film or TV show, or even a high school drama, and there are tough, masculine, aggressive football players in it, you have an example of this in front of you. 

3. Silent and Strong - This one can be explained using Woodrow from the series Lonesome Dove.

He doesn't show his emotions, looks stoic the whole time (until his friend dies), and doesn't know how to deal with his emotions at all. He is also a strong main character. He is a man of few words and expresses himself with action. This kind of character is afraid to look weak by dealing with emotions, most times because of the concept of toxic masculinity (which boils down to emotion = weakness).

4. Mr. Success -  This one also explains itself. If a male character is a complete and perfect success, this is what you're looking at. He may be wearing a suit and watch that cost more than you want to think about, in some cases. This shows up in movies like Wolf of Wall Street or the musical Chicago (remember Billy Flynn?). 

5. Action and violence - You know these people as superheroes and most of the cast of Fast and Furious. Lots of violence, sweaty men not wearing shirts, and sex, and did I mention car chases and violence? You get the idea on this one, so I'm going to move on.

6. The hunk -  This one is close to the one above, but not quite there. Yes, there are shirtless men and sex in most cases, but this is actually the objectification of men. Think teen romances such as Twilight and rom-coms. This is men who are there to look at (mostly shirtless ones with abs to die). Magic Mike is one example of this, too.

7. the bumbling idiot -  This is a sitcom favorite. Raymond from Everybody Love Raymond, a man who messes up often in his family life, is an example of this. The father figure is often the target of this stereotype.  If the women have to fix things in the sitcom and the main man can't do anything right, you have this stereotype.

8. Geek/nerd - This one shows up in sitcoms and dramas, as well as superhero movies. Look up Scorpion, Big Bang Theory, and Marvel anything to find this. This is an emerging one that is becoming more popular since Marvel took over the movie universe. Usually the nerd/geek is smart, socially awkward, be gamers, may still live in their parents basement, and isn't popular. They may be easily bullied, in the case of high school dramas. Marvel makes them heros later on, in most cases. They may get the girl by being themselves. Think Scott Pilgrim vs The World. 

Onward to Current Films

After looking through that list, you may notice that violence is a theme, as well as not showing emotion and toxic masculinity. Toxic Masculinity is a term that means teaching men to not deal with their emotions, and that leads to PTSD (see my past blogs for more on PTSD). 

As always, there are exceptions. One of the exceptions in film is also one of the stereotypes, strangely enough. Lonesome Dove involves one main character who deals with and expresses emotion well (Gus) and one man who is the silent strong one (Woodrow). Both are tough. Gus loves the ladies and also treats them well. Woodrow is isolated and can't tell his son that he's his father out loud (he tried),  and instead he is saying it by his actions towards his son. He both does and doesn't show emotion. 

One example of stereotypes 3 and 5 is any John Wayne movie that you can find. He's tough, quiet, and speaks with actions, but doesn't break down like Woodrow did at the end of Lonesome Dove. 

Weirdly, most male-centered movies go into one or more stereotypes and not many exceptions exist. Female film representation has more exceptions out there. I'm going to wrap up with that thought. Toxic masculinity sunk its teeth into Hollywood early on and didn't change very much. 

Without further ado, comment any exceptions you can think of and topics you want to hear about. God bless!

sources:
http://mediasmarts.ca/gender-representation/men-and-masculinity/common-stereotypes-men-media 

Pictures
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0638274/
https://sharetv.com/shows/lonesome_dove/cast/woodrow_f_call
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/281475045439294179/?lp=true
https://www.inverse.com/article/44043-netfli-fast-and-furious-animated-series