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As we entered the nineties, a more complex vision of masculinity emerged, and it was one that increasingly concentrated less on the physical attributes of the hero, and more on the psyche itself. The growing developments in scientific research, particularly in the field of genetics, opened up new possibilities for the bodybuilder stars. Where before they had been presented as 'normal' men whose strength and combat skills were being put to the test, they were now being cast as men whose minds had been artificially manipulated or constructed.


However, our love for the super-body could not be so easily discarded. In the absence of Stallone and Schwarzenegger, Van Damme rose quickly from low budget kick-boxing star to fully fledged action hero, suggesting that the appetite for muscular performers was still strong.

As we entered the nineties, a more complex vision of masculinity emerged, and it was one that increasingly concentrated less on the physical attributes of the hero, and more on the psyche itself. The growing developments in scientific research, particularly in the field of genetics, opened up new possibilities for the bodybuilder stars. Where before they had been presented as 'normal' men whose strength and combat skills were being put to the test, they were now being cast as men whose minds had been artificially manipulated or constructed.

'Total Recall' and 'Universal Soldier' both explored the question of memory and identity, placing the hero in a situation where his battle lies in regaining his own reprogrammed mind.
Similarly, in 'Demolition Man', Stallone plays a man from the present day who wakes up to find himself forty years in the future, having been frozen and programmed with 'feminine' impulses, to curb his violent tendencies. The result is that he's still macho, but he can't stop knitting. Whilst this is not exactly the most progressive way of imagining such a scenario, it does at least represent an attempt to question the stability of those things that make men masculine. And if we are increasingly seeing masculinity in terms of psychological rather than physical make-up, then this is certainly a positive shift in awareness.


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