Masculinity in British Cinema, 1990-2010

Explores British cinematic representations of masculinity

From the new man to the metrosexual, British society from the 1990s to the 2000s was pre-occupied with questions about masculinity, and more specifically with the idea that it was somehow ‘in crisis.’ The first book-length study of British cinematic representations of masculinity in this period, this fascinating study offers a feminist analysis of key tropes in this era, including the New Lad, fatherhood and masculine violence. Positioning these representations within the specific context of British manifestations of postfeminism and neoliberalism, the book explores the shifting representations of masculinity in popular British cinema and offers a detailed analysis of important recent developments in gender culture. With case studies of films like Brassed Off (1996), The Full Monty (1997), Trainspotting (1996) and About a Boy (2002), this book is a fascinating insight into an understudied period of British cinema and culture.

Case studies include

:Brassed Off

The Full Monty

All or Nothing

Archipelago

Trainspotting

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

The Football Factory

TwentyFourSeven

My Name is Joe

Bullet Boy

When Saturday Comes

About A Boy

My Son the Fanatic

East is East

Nil by Mouth

Naked

Enduring Love

Bronson

Reviews of Masculinity in British Cinema, 1990-2010

"With this analysis of masculinity in British cinema at the turn of the century, Godfrey is both wide ranging and sharply focused, considering the representations of British men from lad culture to the margins, and in relation to fatherhood, class, race and violence. Godfrey goes deep into meaningful filmic examples, setting them at the intersections of neoliberalism and postfeminism, and within the industrial context of British cinema in a particularly fruitful period when it challenged and reinvented masculine archetypes.? This feminist intervention is a compelling analysis of British men in postfeminist movies, and a significant contribution to the understanding of contemporary discourses of intersectional masculinity." -Lucy Bolton, Queen Mary University of London