Character Analysis Of The Movie 'Neighbors'

The movie Neighbors (2014) is about a family, Mac, Kelly and their new born daughter, who are settling into a quiet neighborhood until a fraternity moves into the house next door. The fraternity keeps the couple up at night because they are being to loud which ultimately leads to a ‘war’ between the couple and the fraternity. Each of the main characters are trying to prove that they have more power and establish their male dominance over one another. This paper will highlight the masculinities and place emphasis on the main male characters in this movie, the father, Mac, and the fraternity president, Teddy.

To begin, I will discuss some of Mac’s masculine qualities and traits he exhibits throughout the movie. Mac, played by Seth Rogen, is

There was no physical violence between the two, but there was acts of threats and violence to attempt to make the other one weak and give up by leaving and finding a new home. For example: Mac broke the fraternity house water pipe and flooded their basement, while Teddy, more aggressively, took Mac’s cars airbags and placed them on his seat at work and around his house. I viewed this level of dominance from Mac as trying to take down the entire house, rather than physically trying to take down one individual. I believe Mac realized his physical strength against Teddy, or all of them, would not gain him anything. He decided to sneak around and ruin their house or fraternity by taking them all down, and making him the dominant male out of them all. Teddy on the other hand is trying to take one man down, by making Mac feel inferior and that he is unable to touch him and Mac’s only option is to give up and

Mac, Seth Rogen, is portrayed as a male who feels emasculated and is trying to regain his masculinity by defeating Teddy and the rest of the fraternity to move on with his life and raise a happy family. Although I may not have touched on every single male character, as there are a lot since it was a fraternity, the movie excels by portraying different qualities and traits in the other actors. I enjoyed this movie because it was comical, and although there was a conflict between two male parties, it didn’t necessarily resolve in a physical fight which many films has resulted to. This leaving a comical impression and people enjoying each of the characters a little bit more and seeing them as who they are and not what they look