Of course, the celluloid images of masculinity offered by Hollywood have always been affected by wider social and cultural factors. It wasn’t surprising that the late Charlton Heston - righteous, upstanding, iron-jawed, steel-framed - became such an important screen icon during the early years of the cold war, or that the steroid-enhanced musculature of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone defined masculinity as the cold war was coming to a close. As Robert Griswold, author of The Flabby American, says: “Cold wars could not be fought with soft bodies.”
So, what do modern Hollywood’s images of masculinity tell us about maleness today? Some suggest it is a belated response to feminism. Ted Friedman, author of Electric Dreams: Computers in American Culture, suggests that the emergence of the schlub and geek as heroes “has to do with the rising influence of technology”, whereas, he says, “when I was in high school, to be a nerd or a geek was just shameful and not valued”.
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