Detecting men
Subtitle: masculinity and the Hollywood detective film
By: Philippa Gates.
Series: SUNY series, cultural studies in cinema/video
Publisher: State University of New York Press; State Univ of New York Pr
Published: 2006
Place of publication: Albany
Language: eng
Number of pages: 346
Subjects: Detective and mystery films -- United States -- History and criticism.; Masculinity in motion pictures.
Description: "Detecting Men examines the history of the Hollywood detective genre and the ways that detective films have negotiated changing social attitudes toward masculinity, heroism, law enforcement, and justice. In this volume, Philippa Gates examines classical films of the thirties and forties as well as recent examples of the genre, including Die Hard, the Lethal Weapon films, The Usual Suspects, Seven, Devil in a Blue Dress, and Murder by Numbers, in order to explore social anxieties about masculinity and crime and Hollywood's conceptions of gender. Up until the early 1990s, Gates argues, the primary focus of the detective genre was the masculinity of the hero.

However, from the mid-1990s onward, the genre has shifted to more technical portrayals of crime scene investigation, forensic science, and criminal profiling, offering a reassuring image of law enforcement in the face of violent crime. By investigating the evolution of the detective film, Gates suggests, perhaps we can detect the male"--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: the case; title: The myths of masculinity; title: Investigating national heroes: British sleuths and American dicks; title: Investigating crisis: neo-noir heroes and femmes fatales; title: Investigating crisis: the spectacle of "musculinity"; title: Investigating the hero: the criminalist; title: Investigating the "other": race and the detective; title: Investigating the "other": women and youth; title: Investigating the "other": the cult of villainy; title: End of the investigation: case closed.