This sounds like a very interesting discussion, but I'm not exactly sure
what you specifically mean by "crisis in masculinity"? Does that term mean
the masculine values or masculine mythologies are being challenged, or that
men are portrayed as weak? Does not every film in which a man confronts his
own gender issues reflect such a crisis? Is Double Indemnity, for example,
also about a crisis in masculinity--as would be every war film ever made?
The term is very broadly used to define any film in which a man has a
problem being a man. It would seem that if a film has a man in it and that
man has conflicts and problems that it qualifies as a "crisis in
masculinity," From "The Sopranos" to "Everyone Loves Raymond." Perhaps
definitions are required to define the issues in Tarantino to further
discussions. Thanks.Ron
----- Original Message -----
From: "elaine pigeon" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2004 9:58 AM
Subject: Tarantino & the Crisis of Masculinity
> A short while back someone posted a query about films related to the
crisis
> in masculinity and Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs was mentioned. After
recently
> seeing Kill Bill: Vol 2 and an interesting conversation with a friend, I
> began to wonder if this too is not a kind of parable about the crisis in
> masculinity. More specifically, the film seems to address the issue of
> strong women and the threat they pose to traditional roles of
masculinity --
> Bill is an "older man" and corresponds to a more traditional version of
> masculinity. He is not only a father figure, but a teacher or mentor -- a
> role men often fulfil in relation to women --so this further complicates
the
> relationship. According to the Hegelian dialectic, doesn't the student
have
> to slay the teacher in order to be free? Or is this more of a
psychological
> dilemma, and hence Freudian, or even Lacanian? I don't know if anyone out
> there is interesting in pursuing this, but it strikes me as worth
> investigating. Even in Pulp Fiction the female character is bound by a
> powerful male, a black man in this case. Then looking back at Reservoir
> Dogs, one can perhaps see the stage being set for the upcoming crisis. I
> don't agree with the critic, about writing Kill Bill off. It seems that
> there is a progression or line of development here, one that is
> intrinsically linked to gender issues. Does anyone know of any insightful
> feminist readings of Tarantino's films?
>
> Regards,
> Elaine Pigeon,
> Concordia University
>
> *
> *
> Film-Philosophy Email Discussion Salon.
> After hitting 'reply' please always delete the text of the message you are
replying to.
> To leave, send the message: leave film-philosophy to:
[log in to unmask]
> For help email: [log in to unmask], not the salon.
> **
*
*
Film-Philosophy Email Discussion Salon.
After hitting 'reply' please always delete the text of the message you are replying to.
To leave, send the message: leave film-philosophy to: [log in to unmask]
For help email: [log in to unmask], not the salon.
**
|