Masculinity and Vampires
In his chapter on "Modern Masculinities" Cooper Thompson defines masculinity by a number of traits, including independence, pride, resilience, self-control, physical strength, competitive, tough, aggressive, and powerful. Violence, as a method for resolving conflict, is also associated with masculinity in most extant cultures. This 'norm' of masculinity is often represented in popular films and the "Twilight" series of vampire films seems to represent an exception to the rule. The "Twilight" films are based on books written by Stephanie Meyer, which detail the social lives of contemporary vampires and werewolves living among us. Meyer takes pains to humanize the central non-human characters by expanding their personality tapestry to include emotional vulnerabilities, but does this really differentiate these characters from the purely masculine portrayals that have defined this genre of films historically? This essay examines how masculinity is defined in the movie "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."
Meyer's Portrayal of Masculinity
Edward Cullen is a member of a loosely knit 'family' of vampires that have chosen not to feed on human blood and are therefore able to remain integrated in society. Their need for nourishment and the act of hunting is satisfied at the expense of the big game that roams the forest...
196)." This is what we see during the 1980s to throughout the 1990s cinema with films like Fatal Attraction (Lyne, motion picture film), Predator (McTiernan, John (dir), 1987, motion picture film), the Terminator film and sequels (Cameron, James (dir), 1984, 1991, and 2003, motion picture film), the Mad Max (Miller, George (dir),1979, 1981, and 1985, motion picture) series, and the Lethal Weapon (Donner, Richard (dir), 1987, 1989, 1992, and
Masculinity He sulked in the department store courtesy chair, two shopping bags in his keep. Other men walking by glanced at Adam with admiration, respect, and a hint of envy. "He got the chair," they thought. "That's the man's chair, the chair that we sit in while our wives and girlfriends and daughters do the shopping. I wish I was sitting in that chair right now." Similarly entrusted with shopping bags,
Austere diets are also common, and after winning his final title and announcing his retirement from bodybuilding, Schwarzenegger celebrates with a meal of 'real food' for the first time in many months. The ascetic as well as aesthetic nature of the sport is also underlined in the way that Butler's subjects, Schwarzenegger in particular, also embody femininity, however unconsciously in their physical obsessions and movements. Schwarzenegger even takes ballet
Masculinity in Things Fall Apart In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, the character Okonkwo struggles with differing notions of masculinity just as his country is struggling to adapt to colonial influence. At first glance, Okonkwo appears something like a tragic hero, striving towards an ideal but failing due to his inability to overcome his insecurity about his masculinity, and ultimately dying in a symbolic fight against colonial invaders. However, to treat
A sound point to be made is the fact that Dr. Jekyll could not have been purely innocent, because he chose to create a drug that would intentionally pull out his evil side. Furthermore, we may all have a darker side, but we don't all go on killing sprees. It is safe to conclude that Dr. Jekyll wanted to have a murderous personality all along, but he was too shameful
More precisely, Wilhelm can also be interpreted as being an invention that in fact represents the reader to whom Werther confesses. The connection is thus more personal and direct and enables the reader to be in contact with the main character. The other relationship Werther establishes is with Albert, who is his direct adversary in the fight for Lotte's love. Although they come to develop a certain type of friendship,
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