Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Synopsis The subject invites critical engagement with the sexual politics and ideological operations of popular film genres, in particular with representations of masculinity in mainstream, commercial film. Emphasis will be placed upon shifting definitions of masculinity, mostly in recent American cinema. Consideration will be given to the heroic, the mythic and the psychotic identities male protagonists assume in much commercial cinema. The increasing popularity of generic hybrids and the conventions of traditionally masculinised genres such as the buddy film, the road movie, action cinema, and police and detective drama will be examined throughout the course. Expressions of homophobia, homoeroticism and the commodification of the male body will be discussed in relation to recent suspense/thrillers and action films. Issues of race and class in the gangster film will also be addressed. Critiques of the destructive machismo of the 1980s muscle movie will be discussed along with the tendency of more recent commercial film to stage and parody masculinity as excess. The subject will provide students with the opportunity to engage with feminist film theory and psychoanalytic theories which address the construction of sexual difference and male subjectivity through film. Conventions and characteristics of specific genres and their function as commodity within an industrial framework will be discussed: students will be encouraged to consider the psychic, social and industrial structures that have supported screen heroes and the proliferation of the genres they populate.
Assessment Two essays (2500 words each): 40% each + Test (1 hour): 20%