Synopses & Reviews
"He's All Man" is John M. Clum's insightful, biting and characteristically humorous analysis of the central myths of American manhood that have been propagated by Hollywood films and dramatized by our major playwrights. In the politically incorrect way he dared to ask "What happened to gay irony?" in
Something for the Boys, Clum now dares to ask the explosive question "What is the vision of the American Male that Hollywood has sold us?"
“He's All Man” examines the ways in which homoeroticism has been part of the myth of American manhood, wrapping itself around cowboy, soldier, and gangster legends as they fuse to create a picture of the quintessential American male. From Audie Murphy to
The Sands of Iwo Jima and
The Maltese Falcon, Clum takes us on a tour of the roughs, the toughs, and the fluffs that swagger, strut, and pirouette their way through the Hollywood Masculinity Machine and the ways in which gay filmmakers have bought into the Hollywood vision of manhood and romance. Just as
Something for the Boys raised hackles and caused controversy over Lorenz Hart's lyrics and Ethel Merman's lungs,
“He's All Man” will surely do the same for Edward G. Robinson's cigar and Marlon Brando's t-shirt.
Synopsis
""He's All Man" is John M. Clum's insightful, biting and characteristically humorous analysis of the central myths of American manhood that have been propagated by Hollywood films and dramatized by our major playwrights. In the politically incorrect way he dared to ask "What happened to gay irony?" in "Something for the Boys, Clum now dares to ask the explosive question "What is the vision of the American Male that Hollywood has sold us?" ""He's All Man" examines the ways in which homoeroticism has been part of the myth of American manhood, wrapping itself around cowboy, soldier, and gangster legends as they fuse to create a picture of the quintessential American male. From Audie Murphy to "The Sands of Iwo Jima and "The Maltese Falcon, Clum takes us on a tour of the roughs, the toughs, and the fluffs that swagger, strut, and pirouette their way through the Hollywood Masculinity Machine and the ways in which gay filmmakers have bought into the Hollywood vision of manhood and romance. Just as "Something for the Boys raised hackles and caused controversy over Lorenz Hart's lyrics and Ethel Merman's lungs, ""He's All Man" will surely do the same for Edward G. Robinson's cigar and Marlon Brando's t-shirt.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Audie Murphy and I. Walk the Proud Land, To Hell and Back * What is a Man? American Gender Definitions vs. British Androgyny. Gorgeous George and Fight Club vs. Virtual Sexuality. Different for Girls, Like It Is. Boys Don’t Cry * Part I: Men With Guns * Patriarchy and Cowboys: Teaching Manhood: Sands of Iwo Jima, The Searchers, Shane, Death of a Salesman, Red River, True West, Lonely are the Brave, Vera Cruz * Criminality: Killers, Homosexuals, and Homosexual Killers: Little Caesar, Paradise Lost, Golden Boy, Maltese Falcon, Gilda, Cruising * Criminality 2: Queer Revenge: Death Wish, Urbania, Relax, It’s Just Sex * Head of the Household: Life with Father, The Great Divide, Craig’s Wife, Strange Interlude, Meet John Doe, Orpheus Descending, All About Eve, American Beauty, The Opposite of Sex * Part II. Men in Love * Male Bonding and Love: Only Angels Have Wings, Deer Hunter, Deliverance, Broken Hearts Club, Relax, It’s Just Sex, All the Rage, Queer as Folk * Teenagers in Love: Edge of Seventeen, Defying Gravity, Delta * Finale: Gender Order Revised? Flawless, Love and Death on Long Island, Gods and Monsters, Angels in America, Trick, Broadway Damage