In Masculine Interests Robert Lang considers how Hollywood articulates the eroticism that is intrinsic to identification between men. He considers masculini- ty in social and psychoanalytic terms, maintaining that a major function of the movies is to define different types of masculinity, and to either valorize or criti- cize these forms. Focusing on several films-primarily The Lion King, The Most Dangerous Game, The Outlaw, Kiss Me Deadly, Midnight Cowboy, Innerspace, My Own Private Idaho, the Batman series, and Jerry Maguire-Lang questions the way in which American culture distinguishes between homosexual and nonhomosexual forms of male bonding. In arguing for a much more complex recognition of the homosocial continuum, he contends that queer sexuality is far more present in American cinema than is usually acknowledged.

ISBN: 9780231113007