A Critical Appraisal of Contemporary Hollywood Masculinities through the Male Crisis Drama in the 1990s Films

[[abstract]]隨著 1980 年代雷根時代的結束，1990 年代開始電影螢幕不斷呈現男性主角承受精神危機而面臨崩潰邊緣。透過檢視電影中男性角色的內心創傷挫折與被剝奪感，一種新的男性論述於是誕生。相較於 1980 年代標榜男性外在的陽剛強悍與侵略特質，新的男性論述融入了類似女性氣質中情緒易感與脆弱，這些新的男性英雄面臨經濟大環境重新洗牌，已往的優勢不在，「經濟支柱」的形象瓦解，婚姻、家庭、夫妻、父子關係受到前所未有的挑戰，傳統以來對於男性父權的想像開始崩解。異性戀男性論述喪失霸權主導，男性論述也開始與女性主義論述相互援引，傳達出性別氣質是型塑建構的過程與展演，無關生物與生俱來的性別決定的訊息。本文主旨即在呈現男性氣質是一種交互調適與不斷自我更新的辯證歷程，拆解性別二元論述，聚焦在性別認同的流動性，新的男性氣質兼具傳統男性與女性氣質，誠如 Tom Cruise 在電影 「心靈角落」(Magnolia) 一片中飾演的角色一樣，在表面仇視貶抑女性、陽剛刻板教條下的男性心靈其實有其傷痛纖細的一面。透過探討 1990 年代好萊塢電影男性主角的經歷的掙扎危機，可以疏理出當代男性氣質的樣貌，進而與當代社會文化進行開創性的對話。[[abstract]]With the end of Reagan era ushers in the 1990s which witnessed the burgeoning cinematic representations of male protagonists who are always on the verge of mental crisis and collapse. It is during these moments of traumatic frustration that they undergo a transformation triggering the birth of a new idea of masculinity. This new mode of masculinity is less related to the 1980s muscular display of macho aggression and domination. Instead it incorporates traits once associated with traditional idea of femininity and emotional vulnerability and fragility. The new masculinity highlights the hero facing moral and ethical dilemma, emotional trauma and failing parenthood. As Caroline Bainbridge and Candida Yates argue: "the fantasy of a concrete, definable, finite fantasy of masculinity underpinning patriarchy has fallen away, suggesting that there is no longer a fixed point of reference by which traditional modes of heterosexual masculinity can maintain their privileged hegemonic position" (303). Inspired by Judith Butler’s gender theory which endorses that gender should be determined not by innate biology but by social construction and performance, I also intend to view masculinity as an identity-shaping process of endless reinvention and adaptation, thus the rigidity of gender boundary is demolished, raising interesting questions about the fluidity of gender identity and category. From the dissolution of the gender boundary begets the alternative masculine heroes who integrate both the masculine and the feminine attributes to form a more androgynous mode of masculinity, as Tom Cruise’s role in Magnolia has shown, a softer, gentle identity hidden beneath his wild and rampant facade. The crux of the essay will center on the exploration of the theme of masculinity in crisis in contemporary Hollywood films. Through a detailed content analysis of various types of masculinities in the filmic texts it is expected that an ongoing dialogue between cinematic representation of contemporary masculinity and contemporary society will be established and perpetuated, in hope of cultivating a cultural environment which can open up counter-hegemonic spaces that are able to facilitate more fluid, less defensive masculinity