masculinity in film

[OddManOut85]

ok.interesting topic eh? well i have been thinking alot about this one in particular.in how men are portrayed onscreen.it seems back then,they were portrayed in a mostly positive manner.unless of course it was a villain,or some sort of dark and troubled anti-hero.nowadays,there drunken idiots or bumbling fools,or just generally confused.I think you can see where this is going.now,im a movie freak.its become my main interest,and what i hope too,if things turn out right,my career.

now the two directors im going to use to illustrate my point,are two of my favorites,John Ford,and Sergio Leone.Both considered masters of the western genre.First off the Ford films.For the most part,in his films,the men are portrayed as masculine,brave,strong,selfless,and caring.some films of his you could say,case in point the searchers and fort apache,some of the characters do have an edge to them.

For instance the Ethan Edwards character in the searchers,and the Owen Thursday character in fort apache.Now,Sergio Leone.It could be said the masculinity portrayed in this movie is of the uber kind.The over the top macho kind.Now,the characters in his movies,this isnt clear cut,black and white,heroes and villains.No.His movies sort of more or less take on an everyman for themselves vibe.Survival of the fittest.A sort of dark masculinity if you would.So my question is,what happened? Why did this portrayal stop? Changing of social norms? The feminist movement? Political correctness?

 

[diceman]

Yeah, if you watch some 'classic' movies from way back.. Like Cassablanca, Gone with the wind, The apartment, etc..

These films have characters that do show a natural masculinity without patronising the audience with letting the female lead have everything go her way.

When was the last time a film came out that had the female protagonist fail with her scheming & the male prosper?

In my opinion this is a direct consequence of feminism, which in turn has made the world go crazy with political correctness. There are much deeper problems than that of entertainment but thats not for this topic. The world is now designed to catter for women.

 

[Teflon_Mcgee]

When was the last time a film came out that had the female protagonist fail with her scheming & the male prosper?
QUOTE]

Check out "Closer."
You'll notice how the masculine man (the DR.) fcks both chick, ruins the wuss, and ends up with the woman he wants.

It's actually a very realistic portrayl of modern social/relationship dynamics.