A Study Of Male Temperament In Hollywood Movies Since The Mid - 1990s

Media and gender study is one of the focuses in communication and cultural studies, but most of the current studies concern about media and femininities. With the Hollywood cinema (The Best Pictures of Oscar Awards) since mid-1990s as object, taking the characteristics, causes, its relation with American society of masculinities as problematic, based on the field theory of masculinities, combining with the text analysis of cultural study, this dissertation is to reveal the factors and power relations in the representation and production of masculinities, arguing that Hollywood cinema echoes the changes of American society and presents a new space for identification with the conspiracy of state ideology and consuming culture, and a myth of masculinities is constructed by means of reshaping its reason and subjectivity, embracing the conservative discourse at home and building new empire image abroad.In the field of masculinities inside, such factors as class, ethnicity and gender play important role. Different from the stress on the sex role of70s and the hyper-masculinity of80s, Hollywood cinemas since mid-1990s confront the reality of American society, and lay emphasis on the articulation between sex identity and cultural identity to reconstruct the ideal model of middle-class masculinity---the strong body, attraction to women, the accumulation of wealth, success in work, protection and support to family. The universal humanity and reason are also employed to build a harmonious ethnic relation within the sameness between masculinity and identity.Masculinity is the production of relations, especially in the relation with femininity it can be contextualized and questioned. The Feminist Movement, Male Power Movement and Lesbian Movement won those marginalized group corresponding rights. But historically in Hollywood cinemas since mid-1990s, the representation of femininity is still within the binary opposition between devil and angel, following the principle of difference and stereotype, by means of which the subjectivity of male is built and reproduces the social structure with white heterosexual as body.State, culture and society form the outer field of masculinities. Masculinity participates in the construction of new empire image through war films and gangster films. The war films in70s and80s inclined to represent charismatic and hyper masculinity, the sameness between masculinity and state originated from the threat of the communist world. Since mid-1990s, the war film has resorted to the universal values of democracy and freedom with adapting the historical romance, so masculinity is defined as the embodiment of justice, belief, human rights and so on. In essence, it is a narration for a modern nation state to legitimize itself.The second half of Clinton’s presidency started the recession of American economy which became worse after Bush’s times, along with the widened wealth gap, problem of class and ethnicity. Confronting the serious social reality, Hollywood cinema turns back to the traditional American values to embrace conservative ideological discourse. Selling the American dream, love fable and consuming culture which transcending class and ethnicity, it aims at suturing the gap between reality and predominant ideology, presenting an alternative identification and imagination. As a result of consuming culture, masculinity is taken as an object while the male body is represented as a visual spectacle. Consuming becomes a new fetishism. In this way, Hollywood cinema circumvents the social conflicts and unequal structure relation.After terrorist attack of11th Sep., Hollywood cinema is inspired by historical romances, ancient legends and mythical stories to represent heroic masculinity out of the need to fight against terrorists and strengthen a state image. It is a good opportunity to build American leadership. Therefore, the masculinity of knighthood and the image of Jesus Christ are utilized again to launch wars against terrorists, which meets the requirement of reshaping a new empire image for America. That the war led by America against terrorists is not only to defend the democracy and capitalism but also to salvage the world. Masculinity is an important tool for Hollywood to build a global empire which is an organic component of American cultural export and soft-power.Both masculinity and Hollywood cinema are the products of modernity. The historical changes of masculinity originates from the strive and contradiction of modernity. Hollywood cinema produces not only a cultural myth but also the subjectivity, identification and historical memory of masculinity. The relation between masculinity and cultural modernity is the process of negotiating place between the sameness and difference of gender. Under the discipline of state ideology and market ideology there is an inner marriage relation among Hollywood cinema, masculinity and nation state. With symbol and image as medium, cinema produces the space of cultural identification.