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to part 4
The phenomenally successful,
low budget, hyper-frenetic, 'Speed', was a film that was set very much
in the here and now, but it gave us a refreshingly different take on the
action hero. Here was a young, cute, cuddly kind of guy, who says things
like "Yep, we're all gonna die" rather than, "I'll be back".
With the muscle men recently appearing in films like 'Judge Dredd', and
'Streetfighter', tends to suggest that the only characters they are really
suited to play can only exist in the fantasy worlds that spring out of
comics and computer games. Whilst we love watching these super-bodies
in action, we can no longer identify with the body-builder as a realistic
depiction of modern masculinity, in the way that we desperately wanted
to during the eighties. So for the time being at least, they will remain
within the realms of fantasy.
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For
'real world' scenarios, it would seem we are more able to identify with
a distinctly softer image of masculinity, in heroes like Keanu Reeves. I
only hope that in the midst of all these positive cultural shifts, straight
men do not forget the thrill of watching two sweaty, pumped up hunks pounding
the hell out of each other. It's a sight us gays would sorely miss.
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