Blokes and Cars: the Construction Of
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t2 03 BLOKES AND CARS: TIM CONSTRUCTION OF MASCT]LINITMS IN AUSTRALIAN FILM Rebecca Jane Johinke Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy in the Department of English University of Adelaide April2002 Amendments p.tI Replace'holy trinity' with'triad' p.16 Replace 'missing in action' with 'invisible' p.tg Replace 'the car as a rite of passage'with'driving and car ownership as a rite of passage' p.35 Replace'Thornbill' with'Thornhill' p.3s Replace 'flaunt' with 'flout' 'tinge' P.66 Replace 'palpable anra' with p.I20 After'B-grade product' insert'(O'Regan 1999) p.I24 Replace'likened with' with'likened to' TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE I TABLE OF CONTENTS ll ABSTRACT lll DECLARATION iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v INTRODUCTION I CHAPTER ONE l8 CHAPTER TWO 52 CHAPTER THRE 87 CHAPTER FOUR 118 CHAPTERFIVE - 149 CONCLUSION 181 BIBLIOGRAPHY 193 1l Abstract This thesis examines the construction of masculinities in the genre of Australian film known as 'car crash' films. My gaze is directed at how representations of masculinity are created on the screen, and I employ a fictocritical approach to make my argument. I use a number of film texts to discuss how representations of v9\3þ{ut9i^p *" validate{ and mastery of a motor vehicle. Given that gender is relation constructs culture. The in rites of and manife stations of mascul inity, 1n , because other means to perform adulthood *j_ g:"dgl_ aT-"_.lgqye$ly qse1t4@þ.=.Y"-b.tthip th" "f hegemony can appear within reach when behind the wheel of a 'hot' that escape, and 99!froL Moreover,. resistance is in motor vehicles and is manifested in behaviours such as speeding, or playrng chicken. These automotive exhibitions are ofa form of masculinity- or male cha¡acters in car crash films look to the streets and to the _lrypcuoeS*C=qlig= .:.]h. screen to enact blatant constructions of an overt mechanical masculinity, and I map their performative j ourney. 111 This work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. I gtve consent to this copy of my thesis, when deposited in the University Library, being available for loan and photocopylng. SIGNED DATE: t6/ o */a z lv Acknowledgments My supervisor, Philip Butterss, for his wisdom, patience and humanity. Mandy Treagus and Sue Hosking for supervising my early (erratic and ever-changrng) thesis proposals. Rosemary Moore for her kindness and support as postgraduate co-ordinator Georgine ClarserL visiting Resea¡ch Fellow, for her encouragement and guidance during the early months of my car proposal. The English deparEnent at Adelaide University (academic and general stafl fellow postgraduates), and to the English and Australian Studies departrnents at Flinders University for their support during my undergraduate studies. Rikki Wilde and Farley Wright. The brilliant, inspirational, and gorgeous men who have been my partriers in crime from our earþ days in Room 512. Paula York, for her meticulous proof-reading. My employers ùring the last four and a half years: Adelaide University, The University of South Australia, and the Adelaide University Postgraduate Students' Association. Generous benefactors: the Commonwealth Govenrment (APA award), AFUrW SA Inc @oreen McCarthy/Barbara Crase/Cathy Candler award), Adelaide University (Bundey awa¡d and various travel grants). All who have read, made supportive and intelligent suggestions, and subsequently published my academic and creative work. v My family, who have been unstintingly supportive of my bookish masochism. I am blessed to have such selÊsacrificing and wonderful parents, an indefatigable grandmother, a terrific brother, and a mad dog (Sit! Roy! Sit!). All of my friends, who are too numerous to mention individually, but nonetheless all deserve gold medals, halos, pats on the bacþ and a good lie down for putting up with me in recent years. To everyone who has endured my moodiness, self-obsession, and antisocial habits during this delusional, cerebral road tripthank you, thank you. vl INTRODTICTION 'As if a Wheel had been in the Midst of a Wheel' In the constitution of identity through complex, shifting, identifications, the popular cinema forms one space in which identities can be affirmed, dissolved and redefined within a fantasy space. This space afürms a range of identities at the same time as it mobilises identifications and desires which undermine the stability of such categories. It would be a negation of the operation of power either to argue that all audiences are free to make any identifications they wish, or to ignore the significance of political affriiations constituted out of such identifications as 'sex', 'object choice', or 'race' (Tasker 1993, 165-166). I First things firs|, cars are phallic symbols. Now, with that cliche out of the wøy, shall we begin? Let's get this show on the road. Kick it in the guts, Barryll Ausfralian cinema has always told stories about mythical .manhood-about bushrangers, and battlers, larrikins and soldiers-blokes dominate the cinematic landscape. These representations of Australian masculinity cast a shadow over those in the audience; and, somewhere in between the screen and the class men era._pp-þ$4thw_lplilpç4qs jo,-_Þçe_'lqd.rtrAt¡s"&ba From the confi,rsed assortment of ockers, bushmen, and unlikely sex symbols in the earþ revival films in the 1970s, two 'average' blokes take a detour to a town called Paris, and change the course of Ausfralian cinema. They discover that there is something distubing brewing in the countryside-it is the struggle to manifest masculinity from behind the wheel of a car. This thesis will follow their journey, and map their celluloid performances of vehicular hypermasculinity in the car crash genre in Australian cinema. The images that appeared on Australian screens in the 1970s are now being examined in light of the relation and ca¡ culture more general þ-the_cultural landscape and streetscape are As will be discussed in the next chaptef, the _ discourses surrounding science, technology, and gender are now ¿ts indicative th¿t lsa Whether the focus is gender, culture to fascinate and is the ect of diverse analysis. Museum launched a lavish exhibition celebrating the motorcycle (and published a volume to commemorate the exhibition). In March ZO02 the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney opened an exhibition entitled 'Harleys: Two Wheeled. Warriors' which the history and culture of Harley-Davidsons in Australia (Albert with exhibitions such as the 'Cars and Powerhouse Museum in 1998, and the 'On the Road' exhibition at the Heide Museum of Modern Art in in 199912000. The National Motor Museum (in Birdwood, South Ausfialia) 2 has also helped to raise the cultural profile of the automobile. Its recent 'Living in the 70s' exhibition was extremely successful, and, given the 2002 re-launch of the iconic Monaro, the new 'Monaro Mania' exhibition promises to be equally popular. Moreover, as part of the 2002 Adelaide Festival of Arts an event called'shishka-car' was held at Murray Bridge, which claimed to be a ritr¡al slaughter of a ca¡ as sacred object to signi$ the fetishised violence and dominance of Ausfialian ca¡ culture (Love 2002). However, life is stanger than art, and the real slaughter of cars that takes place at the Night Wars at Bathurst every year (and is documented in the Go Hard or Go Home (2000, 2001) ) demonstates cars can evoke from Austalian men. to motor vehicles regularly infiltraæ our airways with songs such as ump m my Caf', 'DHve', 'On the Prowl', 'In a Silver Top', 'Fast Ca¡ Driving', and 'What Rhymes with Cars and Grls'. Such rituals, performances, and exhibitions illustrate that car culture is an accepted part of Austalia's artistic, theatrical and musical heritage. A renaissance in the academic study of car culture is occurring as critical material emerges that does more than merely historicise the automobile, or confine itself to discussions of road narratives. Substantial studies are now emerglng in America, France, and Australia, as we come to grips with a machine that has inevocably changed the cultural and physical landscape of the western world. Unsurprisingly, French theorists such as Roland Barthes (1972, 1979), Jean Baudrillard (1983, 1996), and Mchel De Certeau (1993) are providing inspiration for many schola¡s. Following their example, Kristen Ross (1995) provides an excellent insight into French automotive culture, and the effect of American automobility on film and the a¡ts in France. In America, several publications have provided a platform for innovative approaches to the field (see Bayley 1986, Marsh and Collett 1986, Primeat 1996, Casey 1997,Lackey 1997, or Lewis and Goldstein 1983). Increasingly, studies are branching out from 'traditional' literary criticism of road narratives, histories, and biographies, and are examining car cultr¡re in film, media, art, advertising, and music. J In Australia, the renaissance is being led by women, as schola¡s such as Katherine Biber, Delia Falconer, Georgine Cla¡sen, and Meaghan Morris are publishing work based on road and vehicula¡ texts. Unlike American literature, Ausfralian literature is not teeming with ca¡-centred tomes. However, texts such as Holden's Performonce,My Love had a Black Speed Stripe, Illywhacker, The Tax Collector, Hiam, Return to Coolami, and 'Crabs' are exceptions, and they use automobiles in an imaginative fashion. The stage play White With Wire lV'heels, and the radio play/short story What's Rangoon toyou is Grafion to Me a¡e also innovative additions to the car canon. Several recent documentary series (such as Auto Stories, Bush Mechanics and Car Crash)have grappled with vehicula¡ culture and have helped contextualise the automobile in contemporary Australian life.