VSA3007

Gender and genre: masculinity in film

Proposed to be offered next in 1999

Leonie Naughton

8 points
* 4 hours per week
* First semester
* Clayton
* Prerequisites: Either VSA1050, VSA2190 or VA103.06

Objectives By the end of this subject, students are expected to be able to demonstrate familiarity with recent debates and issues in gender studies; critical insight into popular film culture and an understanding of the conventions of genre; a critical awareness of the operations of patriarchal ideology, its impact upon popular film culture and the sexual and social identities it generates for mass consumption; a capacity to critically evaluate and apply theoretical proposals to relevant films; a thorough understanding of film form, film language and the operations of classical narrative. Students will be required to critically engage with written and filmic texts in a clear and confident manner in both written and oral presentation.

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%

Preliminary reading

Chapman R and Rutherford J (eds) Male order: Unwrapping masculinity Lawrence and Wishart, 1988
Segal L Slow motion: Changing masculinities, changing men Virago, 1990

Prescribed texts

Cohan S and Hark I (eds) Screening the male: Exploring masculinities in Hollywood cinema Routledge, 1993
Connell R W Masculinities Allen and Unwin, 1995
Tasker Y Spectacular bodies: Gender, genre and the action cinema Routledge, 1993

Recommended texts

Clover C J Men, women and chainsaws: Gender in the modern horror film Princeton U P, 1992
Collins J Uncommon cultures: Popular culture and postmodernism Routledge, 1989
Collins J, Radner H and Collins A P (eds) Film theory goes to the movies American Film Institute, 1993