Chapter I Introduction
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
a. Research Background
On April 14, 2015, six stars of The Avengers: Age of Ultron
franchise paid a visit at Jimmy Kimmel Live Show. While the casts were
on duty promoting their new film, there was one more agenda that drew
more attention. It was when Kimmel pulled out the “Science Bros” fan art,
an erotic artworks made by fan referring to the characters of Robert
Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo in the movie. This “Science Bros” is just
one of the examples on how fans have always found a bromance in every
movie they have watched. Last year, the casts of the X-Men: Days of
Future Past got the same treatment at The Graham Norton Show when
Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy were shown some of erotic fan
arts of them.
The bromance is going stronger than ever. Even in
archiveofourown.org, a famous website for fiction works of characters in
tv series/films, there are 6893 entries found in bromance category (Archive
of Our Own, 2016). The number is also getting higher day by day. The
same goes on fanfiction.net with 2498 entries found for the same category
(Fanfiction.net, 2016). While instances above are works in fiction, the real
life situation is as obsessed with this term as well. It can be seen from the commit to user
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viral Obama-Biden memes that has caught massive attention from public.
This phenomenon leads the media to call this friendship between the
president and vice president as a ‘bromance’ too, showing how people’s
affection towards this term is undeniable. Long before the Obama-Biden
phenomenon, mainstream media have perpetually used such terms for
several male-male celebrity close friendships like CNN which made a list
of Hollywood’s famous bromances (Hanks, 2013).
The word ‘bromance’ itself is one of the new words to be added to
the dictionary on August 26, 2011. According to Merriam Webster Online
Dictionary, the portmanteau of the words ‘brother’ and ‘romance’ means a
close nonsexual friendship between men. It is like a male-bonding, only a
bit more intimate. This word is actually not fresh syllables that gain
popularity in social media era like the other added words. Skateboard
magazine editor David Carnie is often credited with having originated the
term in the 1990s, but “bromance” did not begin to appear regularly in
America media until 2005, around the time of the release of Judd
Apatow’s The-40-year-Old-Virgin (DeAngelis, 2014, p. 1). Apatow here is
also claimed to be the pioneer of the genre, creating the new formula. As
the teen flicks of the late John Hughes gave way to the rom-coms of Julia
Roberts and Meg Ryan in the 1980s, so "gross-out" – the pre-eminent
comedy subgenre of the 1990s – has bowed to Apatow and his imitators'
"bromances": male-centric romantic comedies that frequently favour the
bawdy bonds between men over those of heterosexual romance (The commit to user
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Independent, 2009). Apatow does not only make this term popular but also
introduce the audience to the new genre as a bromantic comedy.
Apatow may be a prominent figure in popularizing the term,
especially in media. However, the popularity of the bromance and its
depiction on a film is influence by the socio-cultural background in
America itself. There is a changing behavior on society around the time
Apatow released his first bromantic feature which is still going on until
now. Jennifer Lee (2005) explained two social conditions aroused in the
millennial America as:
Before women were considered men's equals, some gender historians say, men routinely confided in and sought advice from one another in ways they did not do with women, even their wives. Then, these scholars say, two things changed during the last century: an increased public awareness of homosexuality created a stigma around male intimacy, and at the same time women began encroaching on traditionally male spheres, causing men to become more defensive about notions of masculinity. (Lee, 2005) There is absolutely minority groups rising at this period, where
homosexuals are slowly accepted and women start to make their place in
society. These two things consequently affect how men see themselves in
society. They are aware that the rising of minority groups slowly tackle
their power in society which results in their more defensive attitude.
Men should really have worried about this situation. Ever since the
big recession, everything is only going downhill for them. Ray Williams
recorded trends in that particular time as follow:
Today, double the number of unmarried women are purchasing homes in America than there are unmarried men. Forty percent family's primary breadwinner are now women, a sharp increase from past decades.commit The New to user Hampshire State Legislature is now
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made up of a majority of women, a first for a legislative body in the U.S., and the number of women in government continues to
edge up nationwide. In the upcoming Congressional elections, an unprecedented number of women are candidates, a field traditionally dominated by men. (Williams, 2010)
Women have truly outplayed men in every field, leaving men’s position in
society unease. While it sounds progressive in feminist point of view, this
is seen as drawback from patriarchal value as men cannot prove
themselves as role models.
The fact that modern men are left behind in economic, educational,
and governmental sectors is simply bad news for them. These things are
like resources for them to become the most powerful group in society.
Thus, men are no longer the one in charge as their resources are now cut-
off. This far from ideal situation positions men into a state of masculinity
in crisis where they fail to live up to the ideal standard. This crisis makes
their position in society threatened as they are no longer believed to be the
one with power.
The more men feel threatened about their position in society, the
stronger the bromance is. Their main agenda appears to be regaining the
hegemonic masculinity. To put it concisely, bromance films are about
“men growing up and men helping men grow up and men being just shy of
gay as they tease one another about being gay as they help one another
grow up” (Morton, 2009 cited on (Sargeant, 2013). There are many things
going on within the bromance like the possibility of homoeroticism.
However, the notion often remains as a mere flirtation or even worse,
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turning out to be a homophobic joke that will only strengthen their main
agenda, regaining the hegemonic masculinity.
The case of regaining hegemonic masculinity can be found in
related research such as the one conducted by Sargeant where she takes on
bromantic comedy movies and TV Series such as I Love You, Man, The
Room, and How I Met Your Mother. She concerns more on the genre in the
recent era. Sargeant here mentions on how the development of the genre in
this era is mainly influenced by the events called masculinity in crisis.
Besides, she also used such theories as social constructions on masculinity,
masculinity in film, cult film and homosocial theory. This research also
reveals the new formula of bromance which now focuses on the injection
of humor. She argues that comedy here plays a great part in reinforce the
purpose of regaining masculinity in a more subtle way:
Comedy, then, mediates between representations of non-normative sexuality and anxietiesfelt about threats toward heteronormativity. Humor may ease tensions felt about male/malephysicality when it
is not legitimized by other hypermasculine portrayals (as in war, action, orsports movies) and serves to expand what is acceptable
behavior. Because the male on malephysical actions are amusing (and, at certain points ironic) in addition to being sincere manifestationsof affection, the directors, actors, and scripts are able
to further push the limits of what isstandard acceptable behavior between two men. (ibid., 15)
Besides, comedy also suits with the representation of men in this
era where they are portrayed more as a beta-male, the opposite of the alpha
type. These new male representations depict masculinity as unsure with a
severe lack of confidence, especially concerning women, with a desperate
need to compensate for what they are lacking in supposed“normal” and commit to user
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desirable masculinity (ibid., 10). These are the kind of guys that
perpetually appear in Judd Apatow’s movies like Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill,
Paul Rudd, and Jason Segel. Moreover, the lack of confidence makes these
men here exclude women and thus create a male-centric area. Thus,
Sargeant concluded on how bromantic comedy here promotes the
hegemonic masculinity which results from those male-centric arena they
created.
Another research regarding bromance was conducted by David B.
Hartwell. Hartwell finds out the exact same formula on this genre, just like
Sargeant. Moreover, Hartwell here also emphasizes on how this kind of
genre still carefully maintains the heteronormativity. The bromantic
comedy, despite an apparent attempt to queer the normative image of
homosocial bonding and gender performance, fails to challenge the
hegemonic motives of heteronormative domination and fails to critique the
central drives of the Hollywood romantic comedy (Hartwell, 2015, p. 5).
Both Sargeant and Hartwell mentioned that films like I Love You, Man,
Superbad, Knocked-Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Dude, Where’s My
Car? have already provided the closeness of two heterosexual men.
However, it never really reaches the attempt to challenge this condition
and those movies fall on the same ‘we are close but not that close’ notion.
Even worse, bromance can be the area of men to freely get close to their
male colleagues without being afraid of being called a homosexual. These
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movies are just another misogynistic representation in the homosocial
world.
This typical formula of bromantic comedy somehow meets a
challenge when Sundance, one of the famous film festivals in America,
premiered a movie called Humpday in 2009. Humpday somehow differs
from its bromantic predecessors or as some critics say, it puts bromance to
another level. The movie itself receives plenty of positive reviews with
79% fresh in Rotten Tomatoes (Rotten Tomatoes, 2009). New York Times
also writes a very positive review on how this movie gets deeper on the
male’s character for this genre. With X-ray vision, this serious indie
comedy, written and directed by Lynn Shelton, sees through its male
characters’ macho pretensions to contemplate the underlying forces hard-
wired into men’s psyches in a homophobic culture (Holden, 2009). Robert
Ebert also gives some positive reviews regarding the film, calling not only
funny but also observant and thought-provoking (Ebert, 2009). Several
awards received by this movie such as the Top Independent Films in
National Board of Review, The Sundance Jury Prize, John Casavetes Prize
in Independent Spirit Awards, Best Actor and Best Director in Gijon
International Film Festival also proves the quality of this little indie movie.
(IMDb)
Humpday (2009) itself follows the story of Andrew (Joshua
Leonard) and Ben (Mark Duplass) who tried to take their bromance to
another level by joining the Humpfest. Ben actually lived an ideal wife commit to user
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with a beautiful wife, Anna (Alycia Delmore). Things gradually changed
when Andrew, his long lost college best friend suddenly showed up in the
middle of the night to ask for a place to stay in. Andrew then perpetually
invited Ben to a party hosted by his lesbian friends. Everything seemed
normal and it was just another bromance story until Andrew proposed the
idea to submit a video to the Humpfest, a festival where they called the
porn films should go back to the so-called art. Two heterosexual men will
shoot gay porn together. What follow next was an intense character and
gender study.
By its status as an independent film, Humpday already offers an
alternative ideology that potentially breaks the old boundary. It is unlike
the commercial films used as the primary data for research conducted by
both Sargeant and Hardwell above. Even though the plot still follows the
typical bromance formula, they modify the set of goals to be closer to
homosexuality. This element have already been found in other bromance
films. However, they merely use any homosexual identities as jokes that
help them regain the hegemonic masculinity. This time, it is treated as a
part of heterosexual identity too.
This interesting premise challenges me to conduct a further
research on the portrayal of masculinity and how the notion of
heteronormativity is being played in this film. Both of the issues have also
been taken by Sargeant and Hartwell as their focus of analysis. However,
their take on masculinity and heteronormativity remains in the area of film commit to user
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genre only. My research looks further beyond the genre and observes the
socio-cultural context of American society as well. Thus, masculinity and
heteronormativity are treated as an undergoing phenomenon in society
instead of a mere image in films.
b. Scope of Study
This research is conducted under the American Studies framework
which focuses on the gender study, especially the homosocial behavior which
is presented in the Humpday movie. Homosocial and sexuality cannot be
separated to masculinity as those three always intersect and influence each
other. Thus, masculinity is also used to see the development that influence
men’s sexuality and homosocial behavior. The social-cultural background is
used as well to understand how the society behavior towards homosexuality
and heteronormativity is constructed in such phenomenon as shown in the
film.
c. Research Question
The aim of this research is to find out the answer of:
1. How does Humpday portray their men as masculinity in crisis?
2. How does Humpday continue to maintain the American
heteronormative myth in bromance film genre?
d. Objectives of the Study
The objective of this thesis is:
1. To explain how Humpday here portrays their men, who works as a
bromance, as having a masculinity in crisis commit to user
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2. To explain how despite all the attempts to break it, Humpday still
continues to maintain the myth of American heteronormativity in
bromance genre.
e. Benefits of the Study
Although gender awareness has been rising for these past few
years, discussion on masculinity is not as vast as that of feminism. It is as
if women are the only one having a problem while in reality, men are just
as problematic. This is why I choose this particular topic as my object of
analysis. This research hopefully gives an insight on masculinity and the
undergoing crisis in it. Specifically, this research will give several benefits
for:
a. English Department Students: to give a further
understanding on the gender issues as part of American
Cultural Studies, especially on how gender itself is a
social construction that can be challenged and
negotiated. This research is also meant to encourage a
critical thinking about how masculinity, in spite of
being considered as a privileged group, is also
undergoing a crisis.
b. Other researchers: to give more inputs and information
to those researchers who have the same interest in
gender studies. commit to user
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f. Methods of Research
1. Type of Research
This research is included in descriptive qualitative research. This type
of method allows more elaborated analysis as the data are not in the
form of fixed number. As my research focuses on the explanation of
how such phenomenon happens, it takes a method that can give a
broader understanding for it. With qualitative data, one can preserve
chronological flow, see precisely which events lead to which
consequences, and derive fruitful explanations (Miles and Huberman,
1994:1)
2. Source of Data
The sources of data in this thesis is the film entitled Humpday
which is directed by Lynn Shelton and released by Magnolia Pictures
in 2009.
3. Data
There are two kinds of data used for this research. The primary
data are all of the material from the film such as words, images,
phrases, dialogues, gestures, and other mise-en-scenes that can be
useful to reveal the message that the movie tries to deliver.
The secondary data are needed to understand the context that the
primary data refers to. They are all the information related to
masculinity and heteronormative issue that refers to the socio-cultural commit to user
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background in American society. It is acquired through reading online
articles.
4. Technique of Collecting Data
The data are collected by watching the film Humpday repeatedly to
get the better understanding of the message that the film wants to
deliver. After that, the purposive sampling technique is applied to
collect the data related to the topic of the research. In this case, the
samples are those images and dialogues related to masculinity in crisis
and heteronormativity issue. Those data are screen captured and
collected into a certain folder. They are still randomly ordered, though.
Thus, the collected data are divided into two categories: masculinity in
crisis and heteronormativity. Each of the category is placed in another
subfolder for further analysis.
5. Technique of Analyzing Data
The data are analyzed by using qualitative data analysis and applying
the approaches I take for this research. The procedure of analyzing
data is as follows:
- Reading the data as a denotative text. At this point, all the
images, dialogues, and mis-en-scenes are taken as it is, without
employing any semiotic theory or socio-cultural context yet.
- Identifying the signs that may refer to the issues of masculinity
in crisis and the maintenance of heteronormativity.
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- Signifying the signs to find out what the film tries to deliver. At
this point, semiotic approach is already employed. It is to find
out how the issue of masculinity in crisis and heteronormativity
is represented in the film.
- Analyzing the meaning of the signs with the secondary data
using the theoretical and socio-cultural approach. The
theoretical approach is needed to reveal how masculinity in
crisis and heteronormativity work under the frames of
masculinity, film genre, and heteronormativity theory.
Meanwhile, socio-cultural approach is needed to understand the
situation of American society which underlies the presentation
of masculinity in crisis and heteronormativity in the film.
- Drawing the conclusion after all research questions are
completed.
g. Theoretical Approach
This research focuses on gender issues represented in American
cultural products. Although it analyzes the culture, it also encompasses
multiple theories like masculinity in crisis, heteronormativity as well as
semiotic theory by C.S. Pierce and Roland Barthes. Due to this
complexity, this research is best conducted under American Studies
framework. American Studies, as practiced both in the United States and
abroad, has long advocated movement beyond traditional disciplinary commit to user
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boundaries and encouraged efforts to establish more open and cooperative
projects between academic area (Campbell & Kean, 1997, p. 4). American
Studies’ multidisciplinary perspective is needed to understand the text
through its attached context.
Before American Studies is well-known by its interdisciplinary
subject, there is a long debate regarding the most suitable form for this
framework. The very first theories proposed for American Studies
framework is related to the combination of history and literature. The
interpretation of literature is conducted through reexperiencing the way
people think in the past and not just what happen in the past. By
reexperiencing the literary text, the researcher gains a sense of how to
articulate historical data into a meaningful pattern or structure (Attebery,
1996, p. 339). This theory contributes to the understanding of text through
context and how the two are bound with time and place. The thing is,
literary text often under represents several groups. Thus, it often results in
the gap of representation between one group and another.
After that, American Studies moves to myth and symbol studies.
With the influence of semiotic theorist like Barthes, this theory contradicts
to the first proposal above. This new theory believes that cultural
production appears to be more mythic instead of historical (Hoskins, 1999,
p. 106). Myth and symbols allow people to see the icon of America as a
cultural production to read how the society is organized in the past. This
new theory eases the complexity of American culture as the purpose of the commit to user
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myth is to make the world explicable, to magically resolve its problems
and contradictions (Campbell & Kean, 1997, p. 9). In short, American
Studies is seen through its grandest, most well-known archetype using this
Myth and Symbol theory.
The two theories proposed above still focus on the glorification of
America, reading the nation through their magnificent history and
resulting in monolithic identity. Meanwhile, American itself consists of
several different groups of class, race, and ethnic. They cannot be reduced
into one single category. Thus, both usable past as well as myth and
symbol are not enough to address the complexity of American identity
itself. There is a need for another search of a more suitable framework for
American Studies that enables to read the complexity of American itself.
At this period, the search for a more suitable framework takes place at the
same time of cultural studies development in Europe. American Studies is
then influence by this framework which also puts culture as the center of
the studies.
Following the adaptation of cultural studies, American conception
on cultural gradually changes as well. It no longer defines culture as
something high and sacred. Cultural studies also acknowledge popular
products as a culture itself. It influences American Studies to contribute in
redefining the culture as well. The definition of culture has changed from
one stressing ecleticism but unity to one emphasizing division and
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opposition (Berkhofer Jr, 1989, p. 586) .Thus, the culture here does not
refer to a grand theory of American history.
Culture in American Studies is now defined as any identities
attached to a person. Thus, gender, race, and social class are now seen as a
more cultural rather than biological. Much of what previous generations of
scholars ascribed to the effects of biology in the understanding of racial
and ethnic differences among peoples, and the sexual differences between
men and women, recent scholars attribute to social and cultural
arrangements (ibid., 592). By taking those aspects as culture, it is easier to
understand the social behavior among the society. The essentialism is far
left behind and the study now focuses more on the context of social reality.
As this research focuses mainly on the gender issue, American
cultural studies is best used as the framework of the study. This framework
acknowledges gender issue as a part of American culture. The on-going
situation on gender issues reflects the current situation of American
society. Specifically, the gender issue discussed in this research is
masculinity and heteronormativity. American masculinity itself is well-
known for its strict ideal standard of men. However, the objects of analysis
in this research do not appear to fulfill this standard. Thus, masculinity in
crisis theory is employed in this research to understand how these men
depart from the ideal standard of masculinity. For the heteronormativity
discourse, I employ the heteronormativity in bromance film theory to find
out whether the conventions are still perpetuated or already put to test. commit to user
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The evolving of American Studies to American cultural studies
also allows analyzing American situation through its popular culture.
Popular culture is considered to be the most effective medium for studying
American culture. In the era where the blend of culture is more favorable
than the boundary of place, popular culture serves to be the closest thing to
take a look at current American culture. For years, understanding the
American culture has been in a form of space rather place. The
connections between place and culture that have undergirded the cultural
and political practices of the industrial era are becoming obsolete, and the
current crisis demands a different imagination about culture, place, and
power (Lipsitz, 1999, p. 58).
As this research used a film as the source of data, the film theory
will also be added to get more understanding. Film as one product of
popular culture is already frequently used in American Studies field.
Jonathan Auerbach (2006) explained how films can actually be a product
to look at a model of society.
What all these various perspectives share, whether we consider the debates between Macdonald and Seldes about the value of mass
culture, war-inspired research on propaganda, social science focused on institutional practice, or Kracauer’s masterful analysis
of totalitarianism, is an understanding that film primarily functioned as a kind of shared, mass-produced dream or myth (to quote Powdermaker, Sheldes, and countless others. (Auerbach,
2006:39).
From the explanation above, it is clear that films can reflect the culture in
the society. The images of the films contain a certain narrative that can be commit to user
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an evidence to see what happens in the real world. It can be used to read
the conditions of the society.
As film becomes the main source of data for this research, semiotic
film theory as messages in film are coined into specific codes. Thus,
semiotic theory is needed to decipher those signs and reveal the real
messages that the film tries to deliver. In semiotic analysis, an arbitrary
and temporary separation is made between content and form, and attention
is focused on the system of signs that makes up a text (Berger, 1995, p.
74). Signs, as proposed by C.S. Peirce are divided into three categories:
icon, index, and symbol. These categories are not hierarchical and more
defined by each relation to the object. While Peirce’s theory is essential in
understanding the context, Barthes’ semiotic theory is also needed to
reveals the myth behind the signs. This is due to the fact that this research
deals with the events took place in a certain place during a period of time.
Finally, film is a moving pictures which message is represented through
continuation of signs. Villarejo’s language of films approach is needed to
get to the specific analysis of the film as well as support the semiotic
theory for a more profound discussion. Language of films which consists
of mis-en-scene, setting, lighting, costume and hair, figure, behavior, and
cinematography helps in deciding the purposive sampling of the research
and also understanding the meaning behind each of those devices.
After applying semiotic and language of film theory, Eve Kosofsky
Sedgwick’s theory on gender and sexuality is also used in the process of commit to user
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analysis. She argues that heterosesexual and homosexual has greater
deconstructive potential as a dichotomy than male/female, in that sexual
orientation has a greater potential for rearrangement, ambiguity, and
representational doubleness (Sedgwick, 1990, p. 34). This is helpful in
understanding the framework in which bromance operates as the issue
often falls in between. Moreover, Sedgwick’s understanding on gender is
also used in analyzing the notion of masculinity itself. Although Sedgwick
argues that the study of sexuality is not coextensive with the study of
gender, her theory is important in understanding why masculinity can be
considered as in crisis but heteronormativity is hard to challenge. It deals
with the fact that gender is more elaborated, more fully and rigidly
dichotomized social production and reproduction (ibid., 27). Gender is
stricter while sexuality is more fluid.
h. Thesis Organization
This thesis will be divided into four chapters:
Chapter 1 consists of research background, scope of study, research
question, objecives of the study, benefits of the study, methods of
research, theoretical approach, and thesis organization.
Chapter 2: literature review consists of discussion about reviews of
related theories used for discussion such as masculinity in crisis,
bromance film genre, heteronormativity discourse in bromance, and
semiotic film theory
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Chapter 3: analysis consists of discussion on the object being
research. This thesis is divided into three discussions: contextualizing
bromance as genre, masculinity in crisis, and the continuation of
heteronormativity.
Chapter 4: conclusion and recommendation provides the conclusion
of this research discussion and also recommendation for further
research.
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