Exploring Masculinity in “Mid 90’s”
By Vasia Nagarajah
In the context of popular culture, the portrayal of masculinity has undergone significant evolution which reflects on the change of the traditional norms and stereotypes that conserved the harmful ideals. The piece of work that is a great example of the exploration of masculinity is Jonah Hill’s directorial debut, “Mid 90’s”. The movie takes place in 1996 in Los Angeles. The film resonates about the complexities of masculinity through the perspective of young boys.
The protagonist of Mid 90’s is a thirteen-year-old boy names Stevie, portrayed by Sunny Suljic, who lives with his single mum and his abusive older brother Ian. Stevie finds friendship with the neighborhood’s skateboarding community. Through his interaction with the older boys in the community, the protagonist starts his journey to find his own identity, belonging and explore masculinity.
The aspect that stands out the most in the movie is the short portrayal of vulnerability. Unlike the traditional stereotypical thoughts about manhood, which usually associates with being tough, aggressive, dominant and suppress their emotions, in Mid 90’s, there are moments where we can observe each male character’s own insecurities and we also get to understand their emotional depth. For instance, Stevie keeps on trying to seek validation from the older boys in the friend group, which makes him act out and behave thoughtlessly but that leads him to understand that he should be more careful and makes him rethink on his own destructive behavior. There are also scenes that shows that Stevie deals with his emotions by hurting himself like when he felt guilty for stealing money, he decided to hurt himself and there was another scene where he chokes himself with the cords when he was overwhelmed with emotions. Through those moment of vulnerability, Stevie and the group of boys get to connect on a deeper level.
However, the film does acknowledge and include the portrayal of some stereotypes of masculinity. In “Mid 90’s”, we often see how the characters, named “Fuckshit”, Ian and other male characters, refer to physical violence to show that they are in control of the situations, and they often try to engage or provoke others into fights. All these confrontations can help them believe that violence is a form of masculinity. Furthermore, the film portrays the toxicity of “manhood” by showing us the way the young adolescents objectify women. Whenever there was any interaction between the protagonist’s friend group and women, they always talked about them as objects of desire. By analyzing the toxic masculinity that is shown in “Mid 90’s”, we can clearly understand how harmful stereotypes that the society forces on young men can have a negative impact on their perception.
To conclude, “Mid 90’s” is a movie that explores masculinity by challenging stereotypes and portraying the vulnerability of young men. This work shows us the complexity of the friendship between the group of adolescent boys and doesn’t hesitate to confront toxic behavior of masculinity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSrzctFgg7s
Fight Clubs/Night Clubs 