North by Northwest and Masculinity Core Post 2

I’ve seen North by Northwest six times now but every time I see it, I notice a new layer that Alfred Hitchcock included. After reading the assigned essay, I viewed the film in another way. The film isn’t really a thriller about government secrets; it’s a portrait on masculinity. Specifically, Cary Grant’s masculinity. Back in the day, Cary Grant had the persona of being charismatic, nonchalant in his actions, suave and the epitome of manhood. However in North by Northwest, Alfred Hitchcock brilliantly subverts Grant's persona by casting him as Roger Thornhill. Thornhill is the opposite of manhood and embodies the traits more akin to a little boy. He’s a spoiled momma’s boy, he lies, he’s immature, naïve, helpless and is very dependent and entranced by women. He cannot fend for himself successfully and is reliant on on the help of others. In Steven Cohan’s piece “Masked Men”, he discusses Grant’s masculinity as it appears on the movie poster. He writes, “as depicted by the poster, Cary Grant’s ‘fall’ is a rather haunting image of masculinity in crisis, and the film itself cannot completely exorcise this anxiety even though its closure on Mount Rushmore gives every appearance of doing just that.” Page 4. He also makes an interesting point later in the piece explaining that Roger’s masculinity, the collapse and rise of it, represents America and the Cold War. This film came out during the Cold War therefore the idea of subverting his masculinity and then prevailing was very metaphorical to the times.

What grabs my curiosity the most is when people discuss manhood, I wonder what the certain qualities a man must have in order to be considered masculine. What is the checklist? Cohan points out some of the more obvious traits however I believe that the idea of masculinity is subjective. One actor cannot physically represent a whole nation. That’s the president’s job. However Cohan talks about Cary Grant’s wardrobe, which I thought was interesting because people usually associate fashion with women. The title of his section is ‘Clothes Make the Man’ where he really puts emphasis on clothing and how it affects a man’s image. He explains that what determines a man’s identity is his “presentation of self in everyday life” Page 16. Roger is seen wearing nice tailored suits throughout the film. Eve even makes a comment to Roger about pressing his suit when they are in the hotel room.

This idea of image and masculinity trumped all in films pertaining to war and nationhood, just like they do now. Look at American Sniper for example. Although Chris Kyle was a soldier and not an advertising executive, this film has become a symbolic gesture of what it means to be American. Bradley Cooper is the ultimate alpha male and many Americans take pride in the film. His masculinity offers security that we have a strong face to our nation and we will prevail.