Film Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Film Analysis - Essay Example Because the lives of the men in the town are entertwined with the town itself, in that if the town is bustling and healthy, then the men in town are engaged, working and supporting their families, and when the jobs were shipped overseas, the men in the town suffered. The fates were one and same – as the town died, so did men have more problems finding a job, and these men were less masculine and less well-off then they would have been had the steel factories stayed in business. The men in this film, therefore, all live pretty hopeless lives. They are only trained, for the most part, for the steel mills. The exception to this is Gerald, who is the only white collar man in the group. Nonetheless, Gerald’s fate is also tied in with the fate of the town and of the steel industry, in that Gerald was a plant manager. Masculinity, Class and the Town of Sheffield The masculinity of the men in this movie is threatened, simply because they do not have a way of making a living for their families. The lead character, Gaz, is threatened because he has a young son, and he cannot afford to pay child support, therefore his ex refuses visitation between himself and his son. Dave, who is Gaz’ best friend, is threatened because he, too, has problems supporting himself and his wife, because he is out of a job as well. Lomper is threatened because he apparently cannot afford to leave home, and he apparently had no mates before he met Dave and Gaz. Because of this, he attempts suicide, but Dave saves him. Gerald perhaps has the most to lose, outside of Gaz, because he lives an upper class life in a tony suburb, complete with gnomes. His house is so luxurious that he has his own tanning bed, and his lifestyle is such that his wife talks about the two of them going skiing. However, because he has been out of work for the past six months, while lying to his wife (he told his wife that he was going to work everyday, when, in actuality, he was going to job club every day, looking for work). This impacts the men’s masculinity, because they cannot support themselves and their family. According to Djundjung and Irawan (2003), the fact that the men are not working impacts their masculinity and their identity, simply because so much of a man’s masculinity and identity is centered around what they do for a living. In essence, society does not have a role for these men. Thus, the men have issues with their own sense of self-worth. Dave feels that it is inevitable that his wife would cheat on him, as he has nothing to offer her, in his view. Gerald actually does lose his wife, not because he is out of work and everything they own is repossessed, but because he was so ashamed of his situation that he could not come clean with her. Gaz, despite having an outwardly cheerful, even cocky, persona, really is insecure and afraid that he is a failure as a dad. While these men are stripped of their masculinity, because they are stripped of their jo bs and their roles in society, the film also portrays a relationship that is more literal with the stripping of masculinity. This relationship is between Guy, the handsome, well-endowed man who auditions for the troupe, and Lomper. They have an attraction, and, the film intimates, a relationship with one another. The irony of this is that neither of these characters are explicitly shown to have their masculinity threatened. Not much is known about