Clint Eastwood and Issues of American Masculinity

Drucilla Cornell

Published by Fordham University Press 2009

Clint Eastwood and Issues of American Masculinity

Drucilla Cornell

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780823291205

Overview
Contents

About this book

In this risk-taking book, a major feminist philosopher engages the work of the actor and director who has progressed from being the stereotypical “man’s man” to pushing the boundaries of the very genres—the Western, the police thriller, the war or boxing movie—most associated with American masculinity. Cornell’s highly appreciative encounter with the films directed by Clint Eastwood revolve around the questions “What is it to be a good man?” and “What is it to be, not just an ethical person, but specifically an ethical man?” Focusing on Eastwood as a director rather than as an actor or cultural icon, she studies Eastwood in relation to major philosophical and ethical themes that have been articulated in her own life’s work. In her fresh and revealing readings of the films, Cornell takes up pressing issues of masculinity as it is caught up in the very definition of ideas of revenge, violence, moral repair, and justice. Eastwood grapples with this involvement of masculinity in and through many of the great symbols of American life, including cowboys, boxing, police dramas, and ultimately war—perhaps the single greatest symbol of what it means (or is supposed to mean) to be a man. Cornell discusses films from across Eastwood’s career, from his directorial debut with Play Misty for Me to Million Dollar Baby. Cornell’s book is not a traditional book of film criticism or a cinematographic biography. Rather, it is a work of social commentary and ethical philosophy. In a world in which we seem to be losing our grip on shared symbols, along with community itself, Eastwood’s films work with the fragmented symbols that remain to us in order to engage masculinity with the most profound moral and ethical issues facing us today.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vi
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	viii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xiv
Introduction: Shooting Eastwood Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 Writing the Showdown: What’s Left Behind When the Sun Goes Down Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	10
2 Dancing with the Double: Reaching Out from the Darkness Within Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	40
3 Ties That Bind: The Legacy of a Mother’s Love Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	80
4 Psychic Scars: Transformative Relationships and Moral Repair Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
5 Parables of Revenge and Masculinity in Mystic River Roger Berkowitz and Drucilla Cornell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	121
6 Militarized Manhood: Shattered Images and the Trauma of War Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
7 Shades of Recognition: Privilege, Dignity, and the Hubris of White Masculinity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
Conclusion: The Last Take Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
Filmography: Clint Eastwood as Director Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205

Language: English
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 232

eBook

Published: March 24, 2022
ISBN: 9780823291205