British Cinema

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Recommended: Masculinity in media

Cinematic Representation of the British society in the years 1990-2010
Parzival, a new lad or a boy in crisis – representations of masculinities in British films.

In 1990s, British cinema intensified attention to men showing their needs and pain. Different images of men were presented in British films. This essay will investigate various representations of masculinities in two film productions : Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell, 1994) and About a Boy (Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz, 2002).

The first representation of masculinity is the figure of the ‘new man’. Sean Nixon in his text Resignifying Masculinity: From ‘New Man’ to ‘New Lad’ mentions three ‘looks’. One is the ‘Buffalo’ look associated with the stylist Ray Petri, in other terms, young-looking men with glossy hair and dark shining skin. The next one is an Italian-influenced look. Characteristics of this look are the following : a dark skin tone and strong features. The last one this is a version of Edwardian Englishness. Slightly dressed man with greasy hair. This conservative look can be associated to Charles played by Hugh Grant from Four Weddings and a Funeral. The main character of the film ‘is an archetypal hero found in every storytelling culture.’ To win his princess, he must learn courage. This motif is well-known from various fairy tales. Four Weddings is a romantic comedy, a story of growing up of Charles.

Charles is presented as a good-looking and very amusing young Englishman. However, he is also clumsy, disorganized and accident-prone person. He can be regarded also as a man who has no manners. It is not told in the film what he does for a living. Charles is popular as a best man. He has to attend wedding ceremonies very often. He has many f...

... middle of paper ...

...n Masculinity’ (www.academia.edu)
Nixon S., Resignifying Masculinity : From ‘New Man’ to ‘New Lad’
Brayfield C., He makes us nice enough for export, New Statesman, 5 July 1999New Statesman, 5 July 1999
Ibidem.
Maslin J., Reviews/Film: Four Weddings and a Funeral, 9 March 1994, The New York Times
Penguin Readers, Teacher’s notes, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pearson Education Limited 2008
Nixon S., Resignifying Masculinity : From ‘New Man’ to ‘New Lad’
Ibidem.
Gill R., Henwood K., Mclean C., A Genealogical Approach to Idealized Male Body Imagery, The London School of Economics and the University of East Anglia
Weitz Ch., Weitz P., About a Boy, 2002
Flowers Brashwell M., Sir Perceval of Galles, Kalamazoo, Michigan : Medieval Institute Publications, 1995
Penguin Readers, Teacher’s notes, About a Boy, Pearson Education Limited 2008
www.goodreads.com

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