Riding the Waves of Crisis: Point Break and Masculinity in 1990s American Action Cinema

Abstract

In 1990s America, the question of what made a ‘real’ man was at the forefront of debates about sex and gender. During this pivotal moment, hegemonic masculinity was experiencing numerous threats to its ontological security. For instance, masculinity was infamously pronounced in crisis, the advent of the ‘new man’ betrayed anxieties about an image-conscious and feminine performance of masculinity, and there was mounting pressure from civil rights, feminist and queer groups for straight, white, masculinity to be held accountable. In short, the issue for masculinity in the 90s was that of legitimacy. The response from Hollywood was hardly to be expected: during this time of ontological crisis for masculinities, cinema experienced an influx of crisis films which featured leading men in disguise or masquerade. Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break is one such film that represents the masculinities of its protagonists as masquerades to represent a crisis in the definition of manhood. Through Judith Butler's pioneering theory of gender as a performance, this chapter argues that Point Break's depiction of masculine masquerade both complicates and confirms masculinity's insistence on invoking the rhetoric of ‘the real’ in order to retain hegemonic dominance. Masculinity crisis cinema has been extensively studied, yet the action genre is frequently left out of this discussion (the exception being David Fincher's Fight Club) despite its unique questioning of how manhood is built. Thus, in this chapter there will be an exploration as to how Point Break demonstrates that masculinities both abhor and need crisis in order to secure their continuation in patriarchy.

Citation

Bowen, K. (2022), "Riding the Waves of Crisis: Point Break and Masculinity in 1990s American Action Cinema", Gerrard, S. and Middlemost, R. (Ed.) Gender and Action Films 1980-2000 (Emerald Studies in Popular Culture and Gender), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 63-73. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-506-720221005