Extra-Ordinary Men: White Heterosexual Masculinity and Contemporary Popular Cinema

(Paperback)

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Extra-Ordinary Men analyzes popular cinematic representations of white heterosexual masculinity as the "ordinary" form of male identity, one that enjoys considerable economic, social, political, and representational strength. Nicola Rehling argues that while this normative position affords white heterosexual masculinity ideological and political dominance, such "ordinariness" also engenders the anxiety that it is a depthless, vacuous, and unstable identity. At a time when the neutrality of white heterosexual masculinity has been challenged by identity politics, this insightful volume offers lucid accounts of contemporary theoretical debates on masculinity in popular cinema, and explores the strategies deployed in popular films to reassert white heterosexual male hegemony through detailed readings of films as diverse as Fight Club, Boys Don't Cry, and The Matrix. Accessible to undergraduates, but also of interest to film scholars, the book makes a distinctive contribution to our understanding of the ways in which popular film helps construct and maintain many unexamined assumptions about masculinity, gender, race, and sexuality.

Reviews

This volume's major strength is the author's remarkable knowledge of the theory and debates of those working in cultural studies. Her discussion of Quentin Tarantino takes the overhyped director to task, and her take on his gangster films and their incorporation of black masculinity stands as some of the finest work on the filmmaker. Recommended.... * Choice Reviews *
This study is original while making an intelligent use of existing studies. Extremely well organized, this book moves gradually and rigorously from the general to the more specific and shows a remarkable ability to articulate plot summaries and textual analyzes, ongoing theoretical concerns, and personal statements thoroughly argued through to their conclusions. -- Reynold Humphries
This volume's major strength is the author's remarkable knowledge of the theory and debates of those working in cultural studies. Her discussion of Quentin Tarantino takes the overhyped director to task, and her take on his gangster films and their incorporation of black masculinity stands as some of the finest work on the filmmaker. Recommended. * Choice Reviews *

Author Bio

Nicola Rehling currently teaches film and literature courses at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece.