Aleah Murji
At a young age young boys are trying to explore themselves, find their identity and discover what their passions are. If society pushes them to follow and act in a certain way, they will never be able to find who they truly are. If we give kids the freedom of not being judged or not having to act a certain way then maybe there wouldn’t be such separation and sexism between men and women. We are presented with these themes through the show Invincible and the short story Guys club, where freedom was taken away from them- whether it be freedom of expression or having freedom to follow their passions. Eventually though, both characters were able to overcome these barriers and break away society’s rules while being able to express their own values and character.
In the short film the main character, Marc was constantly trying to get his freedom from being trapped at the youth centre. This exemplifies what most men go through when it comes to the idea of masculinity. Men must follow the strict rules that society has placed on them. They are forced to act a certain way and follow specific norms. This was seen in the text Guys Club by Gomez where the protagonist’s dad made sure he would go to the gym to build muscled or when his aunt told him not to paint his nails. Carlos had to follow the rules that his peers imposed on him to be accepted or else he would be made fun of and called a faggot, which was also described in the text as someone with disabilities. Carlos says in the text: “It is a suffocating bar that can never be met… Manhood has been a riddle for my own destruction. I was willingly playing a game I was destined to lose”(page 80. Gomez). Meaning no matter how they acted they would never meet up to the standards, whether it was being man enough, in Carlos’s case or being good enough to be let out of the centre, in Marc’s case. In both cases, when the characters would try to rebel against societal rules, they would be looked down upon or simply rejected. These constraints impeded them from exploring their own personalities if they wanted to fit in.
Both characters were struggling with their internal emotions, which is something that most men in society are faced with. They want to be perceived as strong, brave and manly because that’s what has been drilled into their minds, but are prevented from expressing their emotions and feelings. This often results in the suppression of their emotions which in turn may result in inappropriate behaviour. The title of the short film ‘’Invincible’’ symbolizes this very well because throughout the whole film Marc repeatedly tells his sister he is invincible, conveying the message of strength and resilience, as he was waving the hot flame under his hands. In reality, he was deeply struggling with his inner vulnerabilities and ultimately led him to commit suicide. He was not able to access the right resources to be helped because he was stuck behind the norms of society of being ‘’invincible’’ as a man.We also saw this in the text by Gomez where the main character was continuously telling us that he was a vulnerable and sensitive person, but since he was a man, he was not able to show these emotions to others or else he was considered too feminine-like. As such, from a very young age he was never really able to explore and discover his true nature.
At the end of both pieces both characters realized that they would only be happy and free if they follow their own rules and standards. Marc’s way of doing so was when he finally got the courage to run through the fence that he was constantly looking at, but had never got the courage to run past it. The fence, surrounding the youth centre prevented the kids from running away, and in a way symbolized the impediments to men from freedom. In this case, Marc got the courage to get away from the confinement and rules that didn’t allow him to be himself. After crossing it he was able to go back to his place of freedom which was the ocean. When Carlos went to Zambia, he was exposed to a completely different world where he was able to show affection to his male peers. Thanks to this experience, he finally found himself and was able to be okay in his own skin. He also realized that he was able to break these standards and rules when he had gotten into a relationship with someone who was lesbian. This woman supposedly “broke” the rules but nothing bad had happened to her. He felt daunted and exhilarated when he was with her. Carlos realized that to be a man, you don’t need to follow such rules and that each person should be able to express themselves in any way or form. Whether it be in a more open, vulnerable way or simply just holding hands with another person without being insulted. Both these young men had finally got the courage to break from the confinement that society puts us in.
While Carlos and Marc struggled, with their “forced” male identities, they were able to break out from these imposed societal norms through their challenges. It is heartening to see that men are able to express their emotions and vulnerability without feeling ashamed. Through this understanding, I will make sure that I allow my children to express their emotions and feelings, while educating them that society shouldn’t force them to be someone they are not.
Bibliography
Gómez, Carlos Andrés “Guys Club: No Faggots, Bitches, or Pussies Allowed.” Man up: Cracking the Code of Modern Manhood, Gotham Books, 2012, pp. 65–83.
René-Lortie, Vincent, director. Invincible, TV5 Unis, 2022, https://www.tv5unis.ca/invincible.
Fight Clubs/Night Clubs 