Submarine Films as Narratives of Masculinity. By Alex MacDonald, BA, MA. Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, October 2000. Contents. Chapter. Page. One - Hot, Straight and Normal? An Introduction to Masculinity and 1 the Submarine Film Two - Submarine Fictions 57 Three - Nature 104 Four - The Submarine Body 134 Five - Camaraderie, Emotion and Power in Men's Friendships 166 Six - Rationality 205 Seven - Vision and Power 233 Eight - Ideology and Social Process 253 Nine - The Masculinity of Submarine Space 281 Ten - Conclusions 311 Filmography 317 Bibliography 321 Abstract. The research for this thesis is on representations of masculinity in Anglo-American submarine films since 1943. The discussion will draw on relevant work on the representation of masculinity and popular cinema in film and cultural studies. In particular, the thesis will account for the notion of hegemony in relation to masculinity in the submarine film. Further, the notion of hegemonic masculinity will be addressed in terms of four key claims. These are as follows: that relations between groups are characterised solely by domination and subordination, that a singular hegemonic masculinity prevails at anyone time, that this masculinity is coherent, and that hegemonic masculinity is consistently dominant in relations of power. Through the reading of the films, this thesis will critique the notion of hegemonic masculinity in the following terms: a] the recurrent concern with the group emphasises teamwork and cooperation rather than domination and subordination. Even where these relations operate at the level of fantasy, they can suggest utopian possibilities of mutuality. b] This preoccupation with teamwork shows that the struggle between competing masculinities endorses difference in masculinity, not just a hegemonic masculinity. c] Rather than privileging hegemonic masculinity as coherent, this struggle leads to alliances between masculinities, in which hegemonic masculinity has to negotiate contradictions in masculinity. d] This account of submarine films therefore shows that masculinity involves the complex negotiation of differences and not solely the consistent privileging of hegemonic masculinity. The analysis will be organised into chapters that derive specifically from the following thematic concerns within the case study: nature, the masculine body, men's friendships, rationality, vision and power, ideological processes, and the submarine as masculine space. Through the discussion of these themes and the developments in submarine films, the thesis will show the extent to which representations of masculinity in the case study conform to assumptions about hegemonic masculinity and popular film. 1] Hot, Straight and Normo.l? .. An Introduction to Masculinity and the Submarine Film. The cry 'Hot Straight and Normal is the confirmation that a torpedo is anned and successfully on its way to its intended target. This phrase recurs frequently in the submarine war films analysed in this thesis. For a number of reasons, this phrase is a useful way to interrogate submarine masculinity and also masculinity in film studies. The submarine film may be perceived as a masculine genre, 1 one that articulates a version of masculinity complicit with dominant ideology. As such, the characteristics of dominant masculinity are identified and contained within that phrase: hot as in active, straight as in heterosexual, normal as in rational. The course of this thesis will explore all of the above claims and assumptions in relation to masculinity in the submarine and undersea adventure film. 2 The significance of this phrase in theoretical terms should not be overlooked either. It at once signals that masculinity is seen as being defined through both its opposition to femininity (active vs. passive and rational vs. irrational), and its exclusion of homosexuality (straight not deviant). But, it also points to the way in which gender debates have addressed masculinity in terms of difference and inter- relation Here, it has been emphasised that masculinity cannot be addressed in isolation, but as part of gender relations within wider social relations, crosscut by, at the very least, difference in terms of race, sexuality and class. As Connell puts it, there has been a 'growing recognition of the interplay between gender, race and class.'3 1 For a discussion of the notion and function of the war film as masculine genre see, T. Modleski, 'A Rose Is a Rose?: Real Women and a Lost War', in J. Lewis, (Ed), The New American Cinema, Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1998, pp. 125-145. 2 Most of these are US in origin, but the limited number of British and European productions will feature where relevant. 3 R. Connell, Masculinities, Cambridge: Polity Press, 1995, p. 76. See also introduction to M. Berger, B. Wallis, S. Watson, (Eds) Constructing Masculinity, New York and London: Routledge, 1995. 2 This observation has been significant within the tenns in which film studies has addressed masculinity. For example, this assumption critically informs Neale's argument that 'Heterosexual masculinity has been identified as a structuring norm in relation both to images of women and gay men.'4 The consequence of this assumption is that straight white masculinity is addressed through relations of difference from its .others, and most importantly, its position of power inscribed within <lifferences of race, sexuality and gender. However~ submarhie'films have largely omitted black figures, gay men have been seen as occluded by the clouds of testosterone and diesel, and the function of femininity has been confined to the submariner's shore obsession, comic disruption or source of conflict to be overcome. Subsequent chapters will consider these omissions, occlusions and confinements in representations of masculinity. But the object of this study is, by and large, the straight white male. If these other arguments have insisted that masculinity must be addressed as difference from and relation to, this thesis will consider difference and relation within. It is this that establishes the trajectory of this thesis and sets it apart from the approaches to masculinity accounted for below. Clearly, then, the argument will be working within a hegemonic model of masculinities, and the introduction will introduce more fully the strategic use of hegemonyS, the object of the study, how it will be addressed, and the relationship of the thesis to debates about masculinity. 4 S. Neale, 'Masculinity as Spectacle: Reflections on Men and Mainstream Cinema', in S. Cohan & I. R. Hark, (Eds), Screening The Male: Exploring Masculinities in Hollywood Cinema, London: Routledge, 1993, p. 9. See also, for example, 1. Davies & C. R. Smith, Gender. Ethnicity and Sexuality in Contemporary American Film, Edinburgh: Keele University Press, 1997, or S. Willis, High Contrast: Race and Gender in Contemporary Hollywood Film, Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1997. 5 Hegemony is the process by which a dominant group maintains its position through the establishment of a consensus or common sense view of society by granting concessions in order to win consent for its position. The consensus relies above all else on establishing its position as both natural and legitimate. 3 Hegemony, Masculinity and Representation. The concept of hegemony will allow this thesis to see representations of masculinity in popular culture as an area up for contestation, resistance and negotiation. The argument will be that popular representations of masculinity do not necessarily conform to a notion of hegemonic masculinity. Furthermore, the argument will maintain that the masculinity said to be dominant is too fractured and changing to establish a position of hegemony. By retaining these important provisos in mind, the concept of hegemony will allow this thesis to discuss the representation of masculinity in the context of the themes and issues that the narratives within the submarine film frequently return to. The thesis is not one that sustains a critique of 'dominant masculinity' or one that attempts to prove the unvarying ideological complicity of popular film. Rather, the thesis will shed light on masculinity in popular film in respect of two significant areas. Firstly, the way in which representations of masculinity attempt to negotiate changes within specific periods covered in this thesis. In this way, hegemony enables the thesis to argue that masculinity should not be seen as something that has undergone a simple historical change from traditional to modem masculinity. Hegemonic processes should instead be seen as ongoing struggles within masculinity that are attempts to negotiate change. For example, the change from civilian to combat masculinity during The Second World War. Secondly, the concept permits an exploration of relations of power within masculinity. The thesis will therefore be able to show that these power relations are never simply ones of domination and subordination. The film narratives under discussion represent struggles between men as negotiations between different forms of See A. Gramsc~ Selections from The Prison Notebooks, edited and translated by Q. Hoare and G. Nowell-Smith, Lawrence & Wis~: London, 1971, p. 57 and p. 161. 4 masculinity, For example, in the conflict between martial and civilian masculinity in The Abyss (J. Cameron, US, 1989). Gramsci's application of Lenin's concept of hegemony continues to offer a valuable critical tool in cultural studies