Masculine Jealousy and Contemporary Cinema provides new insights into the relationship between masculinity and jealousy through the study of representations of male jealousy in contemporary Hollywood cinema. It argues that male jealousy has played a key role in the psycho-cultural shaping of Western masculinities and male fantasy, and can be used to explore the losses and insecurities of contemporary masculinities. Candida Yates develops that discussion through the study of representations of male jealousy in contemporary Hollywood films, where the emotional and moral outcomes of jealous triangles are now often ambiguous. Such ambiguities resonate with cultural images of 'masculinity in crisis' and the alleged feminization of masculinity within popular culture more generally. These themes are explored in depth through five film case studies where the male stars and their cultural reception in the press are discussed alongside the potential of such images for more complex and less destructive formations of masculinity and jealousy.
This is an exciting and innovative study which adds a new dimension to psychoanalytic approaches to film and to masculinity, and which sheds new light on films such as Taxi Driver, The Piano and The End of The Affair. - Steve Neale, University of Exeter
Acknowledgements
Setting the Scene: Masculinity, Jealousy and Contemporary Culture
PART 1: THE PSYCHO-CULTURAL SHAPING OF MASCULINE JEALOUSY
Psychoanalytic Understandings of Masculinity and Jealousy
Theories of Masculinity, Cinema, Spectatorship and the Jealous Gaze
Analysing Jealousy Texts from a Psycho-Cultural Perspective
PART 2: MASCULINE JEALOUSY IN THE MOVIES
Taxi Driver, The Psychopathic Hero and the Rescue Romance: How Jealousy Drives the Narrative Along (M. Scorsese, USA, 1976)
Michael Douglas: Envy, Greed and Jealous Desire in A Perfect Murder (A. Davis, USA, 1998)
Englishness, Nation and Masculine Jealousy in The End of The Affair (N. Jordan, USA/UK, 1999)
The Piano: A Feminine Narrative of Masculine Jealousies (J. Campion, Australia/New Zealand, 1993)
Unfaithful: A Tale of Female Infidelity and the Jealousy of a Good Husband (A. Lyne, USA, 2002)
Conclusion: Towards an Understanding of Masculinity, Jealousy and Cinema
Appendix: Case Study Film Synopses
Notes
Filmography
Bibliography
Index
CANDIDA YATES is Senior Lecturer in Psychosocial Studies at the University of East London, UK. Her research interests include masculinity, affect, cinema and cultural change. She is co-editor of Culture and the Unconscious.
Description
Masculine Jealousy and Contemporary Cinema provides new insights into the relationship between masculinity and jealousy through the study of representations of male jealousy in contemporary Hollywood cinema. It argues that male jealousy has played a key role in the psycho-cultural shaping of Western masculinities and male fantasy, and can be used to explore the losses and insecurities of contemporary masculinities. Candida Yates develops that discussion through the study of representations of male jealousy in contemporary Hollywood films, where the emotional and moral outcomes of jealous triangles are now often ambiguous. Such ambiguities resonate with cultural images of 'masculinity in crisis' and the alleged feminization of masculinity within popular culture more generally. These themes are explored in depth through five film case studies where the male stars and their cultural reception in the press are discussed alongside the potential of such images for more complex and less destructive formations of masculinity and jealousy.
Reviews
This is an exciting and innovative study which adds a new dimension to psychoanalytic approaches to film and to masculinity, and which sheds new light on films such as Taxi Driver, The Piano and The End of The Affair. - Steve Neale, University of Exeter
Contents
Acknowledgements
Setting the Scene: Masculinity, Jealousy and Contemporary Culture
PART 1: THE PSYCHO-CULTURAL SHAPING OF MASCULINE JEALOUSY
Psychoanalytic Understandings of Masculinity and Jealousy
Theories of Masculinity, Cinema, Spectatorship and the Jealous Gaze
Analysing Jealousy Texts from a Psycho-Cultural Perspective
PART 2: MASCULINE JEALOUSY IN THE MOVIES
Taxi Driver, The Psychopathic Hero and the Rescue Romance: How Jealousy Drives the Narrative Along (M. Scorsese, USA, 1976)
Michael Douglas: Envy, Greed and Jealous Desire in A Perfect Murder (A. Davis, USA, 1998)
Englishness, Nation and Masculine Jealousy in The End of The Affair (N. Jordan, USA/UK, 1999)
The Piano: A Feminine Narrative of Masculine Jealousies (J. Campion, Australia/New Zealand, 1993)
Unfaithful: A Tale of Female Infidelity and the Jealousy of a Good Husband (A. Lyne, USA, 2002)
Conclusion: Towards an Understanding of Masculinity, Jealousy and Cinema
Appendix: Case Study Film Synopses
Notes
Filmography
Bibliography
Index
Authors
CANDIDA YATES is Senior Lecturer in Psychosocial Studies at the University of East London, UK. Her research interests include masculinity, affect, cinema and cultural change. She is co-editor of Culture and the Unconscious.
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