Sierra Dague Core Response 1: Valentino, The Sheik, and Masculinity

 Core Response 1: Valentino, The Sheik, and Masculinity


My response to this week’s reading is based on the following quote from Miriam Hansen: 


“If the Valentino films had no other critical function, they did present, by way of negation, a powerful challenge to myths of masculinity in American culture between the wars. The heroes of the American screen were men of action, like Douglas Fairbanks or William S.Hart, whose energy and determination was only enhanced by a certain lack of social graces, especially toward women.”


I think this analysis of Valentino as contradicting his age’s ideal conceptions of masculinity truly depicts The Shein’s historical nature. Watching the film, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the martyr-esque depiction of Diana paired with the entitled nature of Ahmed. I felt mentally exhausted watching the film expect the audience to swoon for Ahmed as he develops sympathy over a situation he quite literally created by kidnapping a woman; Not to mention the blatant racism in explaining away his ‘savage’ nature due to his upbringing in Arabic culture. 


Yet, Hansen argues that Valentino’s roles subverted the current time’s standards for masculinity in film. That is, the actions that I view as doing less than the bare minimum– displaying intimate emotions towards women he desired, occasionally being viewed as an erotic image, and developing sympathy for the woman he kidnapped– were challenging male viewers and characters to treat the women better. I feel conflicted in my emotions regarding my understanding of this statement. I’m disgusted to think that Valentino’s characters were fantasized about as a dream man. But I’m also happy (if that’s the right word choice?) to see how far we have come as a society. 


As an aside, I also think it would be interesting to compare Valentino to Harry Styles. If we are to accept Hansen’s assertion that he challenged masculinity in his time, then I wonder if there are parallels to how society has swooned/uproared over Harry Styles’ critique of modern day masculinity. 

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