Feminizing Masculinity Katie Wilks
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Kino: The Western Undergraduate Journal of Film Studies Volume 4 | Issue 1 Article 3 2013 Feminizing Masculinity Katie Wilks Keywords Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later, zombie film, femininity, masculinity Recommended Citation Wilks, Katie (2013) "Feminizing Masculinity," Kino: Th e Western Undergraduate Journal of Film Studies: Vol. 4 : Iss. 1 , Article 3. Wilks: Feminizing Masculinity Feminizing Masculinity by Katie Wilks Throughout its history, the zombie has been represented in film through various imaginings. 28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002) and Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004) demonstrate the manner in which the zombie can alter from film to film but still unite through a common critique on the anxieties of a society. In both films, the behaviour of the protagonist mirrors that of the zombie in order to criticize modern conceptions of masculinity. Jim in 28 Days Later portrays the traditional hero whose masculinity is determined through violence and rage. In Shaun of the Dead, Shaun’s failure to demonstrate the same masculinity seen in Jim causes him to become the film’s anti-hero and thus stresses a shift away from the hyper-masculine identity. Under a common post-apocalyptic plot, 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead both depict a group of survivors searching for refuge in a world overrun by zombies. As Jim and Shaun move away from the domestic sphere the threats against them increase, alluding to the importance of the home. In 28 Days Later and Shaun of the Dead, the fact that the zombies mirror the protagonists emphasizes the idea that modern conceptions of masculinity are deeply flawed and thus contribute to the dysfunction of western society. Both films suggest that excessive masculinity must be neutralized and thereby made workable through a return to the domestic sphere. In essence, then, masculinity is only workable when it is properly balanced by the feminine. As it is expressed in each film, technology aids in the representation of hegemonic conceptions of masculinity and under this influence technology acts as a threat to domestic life as it takes the man further away from the feminine. In 28 Days Later, technology’s control over the masculine identity can be summed up in the film’s opening scene with the abuse of the chimpanzees. The film begins with a montage of violent clips taken from the media. As the camera pulls out, viewers get a glimpse of an imprisoned chimpanzee that is its audience. The chimpanzees have been infected with Rage and with this scene the film is implicating media as having a role in this infection. The next scene finds Jim naked and alone in a hospital room hooked up to various monitors implying a rebirth in which he is already infected through his literal attachment to technology. Although it is only at the end of the film that Jim presents the same rage inherent in the zombie: “Jim’s rage becomes completely primal and indistinguishable from the infected zombies” (Ni Fhlainn 141). Shaun of the Dead similarly expresses technology’s influence on the protagonist’s portrayal of masculinity through the opening sequence. As Shaun goes about his daily routine, the majority of the people around him are attached to some form of technology and through their attachment they appear similar to the stereotypical zombie. Even when Shaun’s neighbors have become real zombies, he cannot distinguish them from how they were as humans. The later imitation of such action stars as Rambo and Charlton Heston also offer a critique on the influence of technology in perpetuating modern conceptions of masculinity. Shaun’s identity as the anti-hero causes him to also become “the anti-Rambo” in his failed attempt to imitate the violence demonstrated through Rambo’s masculinity (Pifer 165). In this Rambo persona, Shaun aims a gun at the hoard of zombies trying to get in the pub and says: “Sorry, we’re closed.” This classic action film line is said just as Shaun pulls the trigger. When the gun fails to shoot, the film is suggesting that the concept of masculinity portrayed by Rambo is outdated. Another example of technology’s influence occurs later in the film when David is compared to Charlton Heston when Produced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2013 1 Kino: The Western Undergraduate Journal of Film Studies, Vol. 4 [2013], Iss. 1, Art. 3 he points the gun at Shaun’s mother. In comparing him to Heston, David’s threat of violence imitates that of the action star. David later turns the gun onto Shaun, threatening his domestic partnership with Liz. David fails to kill Shaun, but as a consequence of his intended violence he is punished through his own violent death. That David’s imitation leads to his death once again suggests that the film is denouncing this hegemonic conception of masculinity as it is influenced through technology. In their mission for survival, Jim and Shaun must first face a corrupt environment in order to give them the final push toward the domestic sphere. Once Jim and Selena find Frank and Hannah, they move on in search of the army compound where the radio broadcast has informed them of refuge. However, the soldiers in the compound are just as corrupt as the zombies that threaten them, shifting the enemy of the film to include more than the undead: “Moments of true horror primarily concern the living survivors rather than the infected ‘undead’” (Ni Fhlainn 141). The compound is completely void of women, causing the men to take on the traditional feminine roles such as the cook. That the cook fails to properly prepare eggs for dinner stresses the need for the feminine to balance the masculine. There is no sense of family between these soldiers and their lack of the feminine has made them corrupt. The soldiers represent a heightened masculinity in which even their motivation to restart civilization is tainted with violence through their intention of raping Selena and Hannah. These men become an added enemy in the film and, similar to David in Shaun of the Dead, their hyper-masculine identity is punished: “humans ultimately destroy themselves in the process of attempting to destroy that which threatens them” (Muntean 96). The corruption of the compound pushes Jim to take refuge in the domestic sphere with Selena and Hannah. Similar to Jim, Shaun also first takes refuge in a threatening environment when he leads the group to the Winchester pub, the very place that helped end his relationship with Liz. At the height of the zombie epidemic, Shaun takes each character away from the home and thus away from safety. Similar to the compound, the pub is a very masculine environment and its role in ending Liz and Shaun’s relationship suggests a threat to domestic life. In both films the protagonist must enter this space of corruption in order to come to realization that the answer to the epidemic is a return to the domestic sphere where the feminine identity can neutralize this excessive masculinity. In the final half of each film, Jim and Shaun become the same monster that they fight to destroy. Jim’s rage in the second half of the film is so severe that he becomes indistinguishable from the zombies that surround him: “In the moments of his rage Jim is [a] zombie…He sides with the zombies to kill his human tormentors, and even the zombies can’t tell he’s not one of them” (Webb and Byrnand 86). In his rage, Jim is so similar to the zombie that even Selena is uncertain whether or not he is human: “the horror genre regularly explores the notion that to know, understand and thus defeat one’s enemy one must become the enemy” (Edwards 99). Jim must exert the same violent masculinity as the soldiers and zombies in order to escape the compound. Under Selena’s care and within the domestic space, Jim’s rage subsides, suggesting the positive influence of the feminine. When Jim wakes up in a house far away from the compound he appears to be safe from the threat of the zombies and his own violence – even Selena has taken up a domestic role and is shown sewing. This scene depicting the safety in the family environment is reminiscent of an earlier shot of a group of horses in nature. Hannah asks her father if the horses have been infected and he replies that they have not. The horses, like Jim, Selena and Hannah, are 2 Wilks: Feminizing Masculinity safe in this domestic environment. Thus, when they flag down a fighter jet to ‘save’ them, the film creates an unsettling ending. As the fighter jet is associated with the corruption in the compound, it acts as a threat in taking them away from the domestic setting once again. In this way the ending acts as a warning, for if they are to be led away from this environment they will be doomed to repeat the same events. Shaun of the Dead creates a similar warning through the resilience of Ed. After Yvonne rescues Liz and Shaun from the pub, their relationship is repaired and they can return to a domestic setting where all appears to be well again. Yvonne being the real hero in the film alludes once again to the power of the feminine in neutralizing excessive masculinity. At the end of the film Ed is presumed dead and this allows for Shaun to grow up and accept a life with Liz. The feminine influence as demonstrated through Liz has provided a balance to Shaun’s masculinity.