The Horror of Toxic Masculinity
By: Björn Jóhann
Tags: Film, Horror, Movies, Gender, Masculinity

Horror Villains With Toxic Masculine Traits

When toxic masculinity rears its ugly head in popular media, it’s rarely subtle. Movie monsters with toxic masculinity don’t hide behind scary prosthetic makeup or special effects, but rather, look like any other person.

There are two perfect examples of this villain trope from the last few years: Midsommar (2018) and The Invisible Man (2020).

In Ari Aster’s beautiful horror masterpiece Midsommar, four friends — Dani, her boyfriend Christian, and his two friends — travel to a Swedish commune named Harga for a rare ceremony that takes place in midsummer every 90 years. Little do they know, the commune has a cult-like ideology and the titular ceremony includes ritualized sacrifice of the innocent. First up to the sacrificial plate? Dani and co.

But before the sacrifices can commence, Midsommar spends a significant chunk of its runtime dissecting the failing relationship of Dani and Christian. They never kiss, not once in the entire film — they barely even touch. Dani is grief-stricken, see, recovering from the fallout of her entire family’s death several months prior. But when Christian tries to comfort her throughout the film, he barely registers any emotion. He cannot, or will not, be empathetic.

To a man with traits of toxic masculinity, a woman’s grief becomes his chore.

Dani and Christian argue | “Midsommar” 2019

Christian’s friends also represent unhealthy forms of masculinity. Mark suggests he break up with Dani so he can find “a chick who actually likes sex, and doesn’t drag you through a million hoops every day.” Mark also implies that Dani’s grief is a form of emotional abuse on Christian, who doesn’t deserve to be dragged into her baggage. The two men are incapable of understanding emotional vulnerability. Christian always believes he is above Dani’s problems.

By contrast, Dani’s new family, the commune members, are visibly emotive. Their emotional range is wide, varied, and empathetic. When one person suffers, they all suffer. In one of the film’s most memorable scenes, the villagers visibly express Dani’s pain and grief. As the film wears on, it becomes more and more clear to both the audience and Dani that this relationship is strained — and Dani isn’t the one doing the straining.

The Harga explore Dani’s grief with empathetic emotions | “Midsommar” 2019

The relationship drama appears in the background of traditional horror tropes: side characters disappearing, horrific violence, screams occurring off-screen. Dani feels trapped as her friends begin to die. But, in a subversion of similar cult films like Hereditary (2017) or The Wicker Man (1973), Dani is spared from a sacrificial fate.

In fact, she does more than survive. She is crowned May Queen, joining the commune. In a final twist, Dani gets to choose the ninth and final sacrifice. Wordlessly, she selects Christian, who is then sewn inside a bear carcass and burned alive. As the nine bodies burn, Dani begins to smile for the first time in the entire movie.

Christian, moments before his sacrifice | “Midsommar” 2019

The final obstacle in need of conquering was not the Harga, who are vulnerable with Dani and understand her pain. It was Christian, the man who would not allow himself to be emasculated by empathizing with Dani’s grief.

Then you realize [the villain] was Christian, all along. . . Dani’s dilemma is that she is alone in the world. And he’s the thing preventing that from being resolved, right? Because he is not allowing her in. — director Ari Aster

Christian’s aloofness is the source of his villainy. It’s also his hamartia, his fatal flaw, his undoing. He cannot be a supportive partner to Dani. He thus becomes the villain.

I’m sure we all know a Christian. I’m sure we all have met a man who is incapable of opening up emotionally to allow others in. And while this in of itself is not wrong, it does become wrong when it hurts his partner. Christian’s emotional failings fall squarely onto Dani’s shoulders.