The other night, I was watching "Footloose" with my boyfriend and a few of his male friends and, I've got to admit, I was watching them more than I was the TV. This film was more of their generation than mine -- I wasn't born yet when it came out, while they were old enough to love watching it as a kid -- and these boys were obsessed with the film. One of them, a traditionally "masculine" sort who played college football, knew entire dance sequences by heart, and frequently got up to dance along with the movie. The other boys would cheer him on as if hollering for a sports team, not their dancing friend. And, whenever Kevin Bacon would perform a particularly difficult move, they would yell, "that's so badass!"
The whole scenario struck me as very interesting, given our recent discussion of the masculinity we see in film, as well as the qualities of masculinity women look for in a real-life man. For example, when watching Bacon execute his dance and gymnastic moves in the film, I might have commented that they were graceful and delicate -- badass didn't necessarily come to mind. And in most situations, if a boy broke out in a choreographed, subtly homoerotic dance (such as the Kevin Bacon/Chris Penn dance montage), men would not toast with beers. And yet, these guys felt comfortable really appreciating the movie because they were countering any homoerotic (or homophobic) suggestions by acting really masculine: swigging beer, yelling words like "badass," cheering on their football player friend's moves... I wonder if the football player had been more like a ballet dancer in build, or if I'd daintily quipped "That Bacon's so graceful!," or if I'd poured Cosmos instead of tossing out beers, that they would have felt as comfortable enjoying the film in the same way. And would I, as a female observing men, have still laughed at their antics, or would I have quietly worried that I'd gotten myself into a relationship with a closeted Rock Hudson? Why did their overly "masculine" behavior have to be funny and over-the-top in order for it to seem okay that they love this film so much?
This incident caused me to think about the masculinity we expect to see in a male hero protagonist, and how his masculinity is exerted, even if his motivation in the film is to get people to dance, not a traditionally masculine quality. And furthermore, how do with expect that masculinity reflected in the male audience? What does it say about our society that men have to act overly "masculine" when watching something that isn't?
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