Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 20:01:10 -0500
From: Yoshie Furuhashi <Furuhashi.1-AT-osu.edu>
Subject: Re: M-I: Film Iconography of the Clinton Era


Louis P wrote:
>And what about Great Britain? Can we say that there are movies for the Tony
>Blair era? What about "Full Monty" and "Brassed Off", which depicts the
>efforts of plucky unemployed workers to have a life of dignity and
>self-respect either by dancing nude or by competing successfully in a brass
>band contest. Neither film would suggest that the best thing to do was
>organize a bleeding general strike against the wankers in power.

Of course, they seldom ever make movies that suggest organizing. (But
during the Reagan 80s, John Sayles made films like "The Brother From
Another Planet" and "Matewan," which did encourage solidarity [if not a
general strike]. The latter, however, came with a heavy-handed moralizing
of violence expressed through the pacifist hero.)

I found "The Full Monty" interesting. I suppose working-class men are being
encouraged to adopt a position of sexualized object and spectacle
traditionally assigned to women, so they can be reconciled to the low-wage
service-sector jobs (that is, "women's jobs" in the past). Gender
ideologies, as always, change with economic relations. So will men learn to
adapt themselves to this new ideology of masculinity, as the Robert Carlyle
and other male characters have learned to enjoy going the full monty?
Promise Keepers suggest that even the die-hard wannabe patriarchs must
learn to get in touch with their "feelings."

Yoshie




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