Masculine Interests: Homoerotics in Hollywood Film

Film and Culture Series

by Robert Lang

Until "Masculine Interests" not much had been written about men "as men" in the cinema. Now Robert Lang considers how Hollywood articulates the eroticism that is intrinsic to identification between men. He considers masculinity in social and psychoanalytic terms, maintaining that a major function of the movies is to define different types of masculinity, and to either valorize or criticize these forms. Focusing on several films -- primarily "The Lion King," "The Most Dangerous Game," "The Outlaw," "Kiss Me Deadly," "Midnight Cowboy," "Innerspace," "My Own Private Idaho," the "Batman" series, and "Jerry Maguire" -- Lang questions the way in which American culture distinguishes between homosexual and nonhomosexual forms of male bonding. In arguing for a much more complex recognition of the homosocial continuum, he contends that queer sexuality is far more present in American cinema than is usually acknowledged.

Genres: Film

384 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 2002

Reviews

[John Ortega · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a series of case studies that offer a critical analysis of many popular films from the last 80 years that have a subtext/overt relationship with masculine themes. Many of the films that are analyzed (and to a wonderfully deep length) are Midnight Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, Jerry Maguire, Innerspace, and the Lion King.

Now, as a psychology and film student and someone that believes that films have a much broader influence in shaping habits/attitudes of the people that watch the films, I have nothing but absolute appreciation for the level of psychoanalysis that Robert Lang dives into when describing relationships, dialog, and mise-en-scene between the characters and the overall message that each film has to offer. Now, I don't want to make it seem as though "masculinity" is the only thing put on trail in this book; there are also many examples of queer identity, relations that on-screen women have between men, a clear appreciation for some of the metaphors that modern films decide to make when portraying homosexuality (or even marriage), and there are far too many more to name. There are an extreme amount of references to the Oedipus complex, and there are so many references that are made in this book that you cannot help but feel impressed at how much research and time was put into developing such an thorough critique.

If you have a need to look more in-depth, whether it be your relationships with other people or you want to be a more educated film critic, please look to this book.