Armed forces : masculinity and sexuality in the American war film / Robert Eberwein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Eberwein, Robert T., 1940-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War films--United States--History and criticism.

War films.

Male friendship in motion pictures.

Masculinity in motion pictures.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (209 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

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

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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 .

Contents:

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

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

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

ISBN:

9786611151386

9780813540798

9781281151384

1281151386

9780813541501

0813541506

OCLC:

476126561