1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910778102003321

Autore

Eberwein Robert T. <1940->

Titolo

Armed forces [[electronic resource] ] : masculinity and sexuality in the American war film / / Robert Eberwein

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Brunswick, N.J., : Rutgers University Press, c2007

ISBN

1-281-15138-6

9786611151386

9780813540798

0-8135-4150-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (209 p.)

Disciplina

791.43/658

Soggetti

War films - United States - History and criticism

Male friendship in motion pictures

Masculinity in motion pictures

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-185) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Definitions -- 1. Paradigms in the Silent Era -- 2. Beyond Triangles -- 3. Disavowing Threats -- 4. Wounds -- 5. Drag -- 6. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” -- 7. Bodies, Weapons -- 8. Fathers and Sons -- Conclusion: Buddies, Then and Now -- Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Index -- ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sommario/riassunto

In war films, the portrayal of deep friendships between men is commonplace. Given the sexually anxious nature of the American imagination, such bonds are often interpreted as carrying a homoerotic subtext. In Armed Forces , Robert Eberwein argues that an expanded conception of masculinity and sexuality is necessary in order to understand more fully the intricacy of these intense and emotional human relationships. Drawing on a range of examples from silent films such as What Price Glory and Wings to sound era works like The Deer Hunter, Platoon, Three Kings, and Pearl Harbor , he shows how close readings of war films, particularly in relation to their cultural contexts, demonstrate that depictions of heterosexual love, including those in romantic triangles, actually help to define and clarify the nonsexual



nature of male love. The book also explores the problematic aspects of masculinity and sexuality when threatened by wounds, as in The Best Years of Our Lives, and considers the complex and persistent analogy between weapons and the male body, as in Full Metal Jacket and Saving Private Ryan .