Types of masculinity

Males:

Arnie's version of masculinity:

This focuses on males being large and 'pumped'. This ' pumped up masculinity' surrounds the fact that the stronger a male is, the more masculine they are. As well as that, a muscular body also is associated with strength and power so is also seen as more masculine. This type of masculinity is also referred to as 'Hyper masculinity' due to the fact that it is beyond anything that is realistic and is mostly achieved by steroid users or very dedicated bodybuilders. It shows a very extreme version of the male physique.  This ignores the social changes surrounding male image and the need for strength and power. I think this character type couldn't be achieved within our film due to their being very few people with this sense of hyper masculinity. This large amount of muscle could be achieved through a muscle suit to replicate power within the villain and show his strength. We see this type of masculinity in the film "Predator" (1987) as we see the main character who is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger being extremely muscular to show his strength as the hero.

Denzel's version of masculinity:

This type of masculinity shows of the traditional masculine traits. It is also seen as more attainable and something that can be aspired to. This version represents masculinity through the working class male and looks back at times when men's roles were clear as the dominant and bread winners for their families. This can be seen in the film "The Equalizer" as we see Denzel Washington working in a department store and this represents shows him off to be traditionally masculine due to him earning money for himself and being self reliant on income. This could be easily incorporated into our film, due to the fact that our main villain works for the police showing that he has traditional masculine traits and also at the same time including this version of masculinity into our final piece of work.

Childlike masculinity:

This representation shows us that the modern males are immature and also irresponsible. This has been brought about due to comedy films portraying males as stupid and not mature. This is seen in "The scouts guide to the zombie apocalypse" due to the main character, played by Tye Sheridan, is only a young adult and is still childlike in the way that he acts, so comes off as immature. We can use this effectively in our film, due to the fact that our main hero is a young adult/ teenager so we can show his naivety and immaturity within our film due to his reckless behaviour throughout our opening sequence.

Traumatised masculinity:

This suggests that a male finds it hard to find a clear identity for themselves within society. This can lead to a split personality within a character. This is used effectively in psychological horror films to evoke a certain tone throughout the film. It is seen in "Donnie Darko" due to the fact that Donnie has a split personality and has Frank to keep him anchored. He feels like a social outcast and this leads him to do the things that he does. This could be used in our films to represent the murderer as a social outcast with a split personality. This could be used to further character development



Immoral masculinity:

This representation shows the ideal man as being a womanizer who: wears designer clothes, works in show business. Within the film, the character will be punished for his actions. This could be used effectively due to the fact that it would lead nicely into further character development but unfortunately it wouldn't fit with our storyline due to the fact that our characters are only teenagers so wouldn't work in show business.