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Male Bodies On-Screen: Spectacle, Affect, and the Most Popular Action Adventure Films in the 1980s

Wagenheim, Christopher Paul, Ph.D.
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0317-4810
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1479480931551239

Abstract Details

2016, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, American Culture Studies.
While popular movies are often overlooked in film studies, the action-adventure genre in the 1980s has drawn considerable academic attention. The consensus among the literature is that a conservative backlash (spurred on by Ronald Reagan’s two terms in office) against a resurgent equality movement gave rise to hypermasculine movies like First Blood and Predator and hypermasculine stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. While this still holds true, a closer look at the movies and the era reveals a much more nuanced picture. A thorough examination of the culture, the movies, and the male bodies on-screen in the 1980s—through the lens of affect theory, cinematography, and spectacle, among others—uncovers a number of significant cultural phenomena that have the potential to shape future academic work. This study not only elucidates and reconstructs the conception of filmic spectacle to include the male body on-screen, it also identifies two types of male bodies on-screen in the 1980s—the muscle-bound, aesthetically spectacular body and the lithe, kinesthetically spectacular body. Additionally, this study argues that filmic spectacle (as experienced by viewers) is actually made up of two discrete dimensions, a physical dimension composed of massive scale and explosions and a physiological one composed of affect and emotion. Unpacking spectacle in this way ultimately produces a number of new tools for film scholars while reimagining, in a significant way, American culture in the 1980s, the action-adventure movies of the decade, and the greater cultural currents in the Reagan era.
Theodore F. Rippey, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Thomas A. Mascaro, Ph.D. (Other)
Andrew E. Hershberger, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Jeffrey A. Brown, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
291 p.
Aesthetics; American Studies; Cinematography; Comparative; Ethnic Studies; Film Studies; Gender; Gender Studies; Mass Media; Motion Pictures
Affect; bodies; action adventure; films; movies; 1980s; Arnold Schwarzenegger; Sylvester Stallone; Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford; Eddie Murphy; cinematography; film editing; spectacle; body spectacle; blockbuster; Hollywood; Star Wars; Rambo; Rocky; Commando

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Wagenheim, C. P. (2016). Male Bodies On-Screen: Spectacle, Affect, and the Most Popular Action Adventure Films in the 1980s [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1479480931551239

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Wagenheim, Christopher. Male Bodies On-Screen: Spectacle, Affect, and the Most Popular Action Adventure Films in the 1980s. 2016. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1479480931551239.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Wagenheim, Christopher. "Male Bodies On-Screen: Spectacle, Affect, and the Most Popular Action Adventure Films in the 1980s." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1479480931551239

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1479480931551239
496
© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.