Blog Assignment #12 - Tough Guise

9. This film is now pretty dated, with many cultural references that need renewal. Can you make some suggestions about more current films/TV shows/ media figures that Katz should include in a possible re-make of his documentary? How have things changed? How have things stayed the same?

Masculinity can be invisible even though it is there. When it states for example: "woman assaulted" in the newspaper ---> it points towards a man or boy that is the perpetrator. We cannot deal with the issues of masculinity if we cannot see it. So to make masculinity visible is the first step towards working with this problem in today´s society.

To re-make the movie with maybe new examples of men and different movies is my suggestion. I feel that the movie and topic then would be more appropriate in time and that we as students maybe can relate more to "characters" and/or "stereotypes" that we are more familiar with. Entourage is an example of a TV-series that display masculinity and could be one new series to add. The men in the series are well known, both among girls and boys and especially among teenagers which often are the ones who get affected the most. The one non-Caucasian character is also the only homosexual character and he is shown as quite ridiculous and the women in the series are there to create difficulty or distraction. The other men and main characters try to reinforce masculinity as the cultural norm.

If one thinks about the younger audience, the movies about Tarzan and Superman also include a lot of masculinity and some aspects that according to me is not something to strive for to show young boys and girls. What I mean is the parts where for example Tarzan “possess” his perfect woman, in this case Jane. This is displayed as Jane is part of the man´s (Tarzan´s) wealth, belongings and even part of him being masculine.

I feel that Katz should use a diversity of movies and TV-series if making an updated version. Different age groups should be targeted because masculinity and toughness is shown everywhere in today´s society. It is so vital to learn how this topic is exposed to be able to learn about it. I had not thought about for example Tarzan in this way until today and now my opinion and feeling for the movie got slightly changed. Katz movie was striking and truly affected me and my thoughts.