Every once in a while during a scroll on the internet, you’ll find something so ridiculous, you’ll immediately believe it has to be satire – as there’s just no way it could possibly serious. First, it was the editorial suggesting that Dunkirk was just a movie for men to celebrate maleness. Then, there was the one that suggested Zack Snyder’s 300 was to blame for the rise of the alt-right. Now – we have one about how war movies glorify outdated models of masculinity.
The post, courtesy of The Intercept, starts in about the MeToo movement, and then takes a shot at Chris Hemsworth‘s 12 Strong, currently playing in theaters now – saying it’s time to wage a war against movies like this:
For instance, you can see Rambo and John Wayne return to life in the latest war blockbuster, “12 Strong,” which was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, who also brought us “Black Hawk Down.” “12 Strong” is an extravaganza about a Special Forces team that fought the Taliban in Afghanistan in the weeks and months after 9/11. During the movie’s pivotal scene, the leader of the Green Berets, played by Chris Hemsworth (the grievously handsome star of the Thor franchise), decimates a hive of Taliban fighters with his rifle ablaze as he gallops ahead on his fearless horse (yes, he’s riding a horse). In the same way that Hemsworth’s assault weapon goes rat-tat-tat and the bad guys fall like bulleted dominoes, the scene itself checks off one born-in-Hollywood cliché after another: of the rugged gunslinger, the warrior in camo, good versus evil, the modern vanquishing the profane, a man at his fullest.
There’s a lot more to the piece, but author concludes, by saying:
Who is at fault for the lucrative war chum that Hollywood tosses into our Saturday nights – the movie studios or the movie-goers who love to consume this masculine nonsense? (emphasis added)
I’ll gladly answer that question: both. But first let’s examine the greater power of producers, directors, and actors, because their choices are so influential. It’s not a matter of deciding to zone out for 90 minutes in front of a screen, but of investing large amounts of time and resources into making distorted movies about men at war (such movies are almost never about women). I realize it might be absurd to think that somehow these filmmakers (surprise — they’re mostly men) can be persuaded to reconsider before doing it again. The only thing that might be more ridiculous to imagine is the movie industry turning away from films that objectify women – which, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is apparently happening.
So if you enjoy war movies – beware. You could possibly be enjoying outdated modules of masculinity. Personally, I feel like the rampant sexual misconduct in Hollywood is a bigger issue than someone being offended by masculinity in war movies – but to each their own.
What do you think of this assessment on war movies? Are you done watching them because they are said to promote this form of masculinity? Be sure to tell us all of your thoughts in the comments!