War and the Changing Nature of Masculinity

Rating: 8/10 (8 March 2009)

. Men are striped of any femininity and are exposed to inhumane acts. Jarhead portrays the "norm" for men in today's representation of the media, the norm being a patriotic, heterosexual male trying to kick some ass. In the movie Jarhead, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a young US marine who has followed the path of his past generations to the military.
In the movie Jarhead homo-eroticism is deflected by the act of war. The men's desire to kill destroys any sign of femininity within themselves. By hunting down the enemy the men take their inner sexual frustrations and push it outward, killing off their enemy. Inner conflicts with femininity are shot dead, by killing the enemy they are symbolically killing off their feminine attributes.. This image of US marines standing there, shooting their rifles shows their "masculinity" and makes them feel secure with their sexuality