Every time the world faces a crisis, in the reel world that is, a man steps up. It’s a clichéd concept and yet it continues to grace our screens time and again. What makes the testosterone-filled macho movies our staple diet and what is it that ensures it never goes out of vogue? The latest record grosser Baahubali is yet another macho movie with an infallible hero blessed with bulging biceps. The posters have the hero carrying a giant sized linga, defying the laws of physics.
But it isn’t a problem peculiar to Indian moviedom. Recently, Mike Long made news after he struggled to find superhero costumes for his daughter and stitched a new design for his little one. One only needs look at the superheroes that have found success in Hollywood to understand the sure-fire formula. Superman, Batman, Spiderman all have a well established presence in the comic world and movie industry. Women superheroes are still struggling to find their space and funnily enough most women superheroes like Wonder Woman are dressed in revealing dresses while male superheroes are covered from top to bottom.
“In the world of films, women are seen as delicate and beautiful while men are muscle flexing machos and to some extent both women and men actors want to be seen that way. Even when women play strong physical characters on screen, their looks are never compromised. And when it comes to women playing superheroes, they are either part of an ensemble like Black Widow in Avengers or play second fiddle like Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises. Superheroes or women centric action films rarely hit the mark at the box office,” says Parvati, an IT professional from Mangalore.
Anne Hathaway, who enacted the role of Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises, recently said she would love to do a Catwoman spin-off movie but the chances of it becoming a reality are slim.
“Superhero and macho characters always look good on men. For example, Superman carrying a plane becomes more believable because of his strong figure and muscle flexing but the same picture doesn’t suit women. Women bulking up and flexing muscles don’t look good on them. Even if you take mythology, Hanuman carrying a mountain doesn’t look out of place because of his strong physique,” says Deepesh Sharma, a reality TV contestant.
Actor Hrishikesh Pandey says, “Men have always been the more physical and muscular gender, so naturally it continues to reflect on screen and women are always looked at as feminine but the perception is changing. Women have been portraying more action oriented roles of late but the same level of acceptance isn’t there yet.”
Over the centuries, there has been a need for men to be powerful and protective and hence it’s perhaps natural that macho movies appeal to both men and women. Maybe it is not time yet for women to take on the macho roles on screen, but you never know; a few years down the road, movies like Mad Max: Fury Road, which was criticised for its feminist dominance could take centre stage.
