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- Title
BROS BEFORE SUPERHEROES: THE MALE AND HOMOEROTIC GAZE IN THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE.
- Authors
Meluso, Maria
- Abstract
Blockbuster films have become as much a staple in contemporary popular culture as classic cinema once was, but that popularity has left it open to the same issues as classic cinema. Filmmakers still tend to be overwhelmingly male, and though the moviegoing public is as diverse as the world itself, representation of women and LGBTQ+ individuals continues to lag in Hollywood. Despite attempts to evolve with the current political climate, films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe perpetuate both the male and homoerotic gazes, reinforcing the status quo of established Victorian-era gender roles and sexual expectations under the guise of progressive subversion. I studied several of the films in the Marvel franchise for their representations of women, both in story and in cinematography, and their representations of male-to-male relationships. Though Marvel has prided itself on telling compelling and universally relatable stories, they have failed to master representing women as more than objects and accessories to motivate their male heroes and representing male relationships with more nuance and realism and less implicit homophobia. Interrogating gender and sexuality representations in the stories our country and culture popularize can help us better understand how Victorianera gender roles and sexual expectations continue to be reinforced today.
- Subjects
MARVEL Universe; SEXUAL minority women; SUPERHEROES; MOTIVATION (Psychology); MALES
- Publication
LOGOS: A Journal of Undergraduate Research, 2020, Vol 13, p22
- ISSN
2153-1560
- Publication type
Article