Introduction
Farrell’s masculinity is well depicted in Nicholas Ray’s film “ In a Lonely Place ”, 1951. Ray’s noir drama features a cop-tuned film writer, Dixon Steele, who has hair-trigger for real and perceived insults. Steel has been in a number of fights and at one incidence, she beats one of his girlfriends. In the film, Steele is the protagonist who plays the role of a ‘tough guy.’ However, her toughness is unyielding in the face of Laurel Gray, a girl he meets and falls in love with. Laurel is a tough woman with qualities of independence and self-possession. However, she is honest and this trait earns her a place a lover, a supporter, and a typist in Steele’s writing endeavors. From the film, it is evident that Steele’s masculinity is as a result of male socialization that places emphasis on leadership, outrageousness, and ego strength.
The film, In a Lonely Place , places Steele, the male protagonist in the position of a leader. Steele runs a business where she employs Laurel as her assistant and typist. Steele believes that as a woman, Laurel can only offer supportive services in his business. According to Farrell (1998, pg. no. 111), male socialization trains men to be leaders who lead thousands of businesses. These male-led businesses provide millions of women with opportunities to work and provide for their families. Terms such as ‘career’ and ‘self-sufficiency’ are deeply ingrained in masculinity and imply that while women have the option to choose between being at home and working, work is a “man’s right” and an inevitable engagement (Farrell, 1998, pg. no. 114). In the film, Steele expects Laurel to enact her role as a source of support to him and as an agent in their business, a designation that Laurel accepts without problems.
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Steele also stands out as an outrageous character. As Farrell notes, the society socializes men to seek women’s attention my standing out (1998, pg. no. 111). On the other hand, women are socialized to seek men’s attention by being “good girls” (Always #Like a Girl). Laurel, as a woman, does not want to offend Steele’s male ego and this is why she temporarily clears him of murder charges. Again, when Steele learns that he is being talked about by a wife to his police friend in connection to murder, he sees this as a threat to his love with Laurel. He gets angry, drives recklessly, and assaults a young football star almost to death. To get Laurel’s attention after this incidence, he recites to her one of his favorite lines of his writings “I was born when she kissed me” (Ray). To Steele, Laurel is her source of life and he would die if she leaves him. On the other hand, Laurel offers selfless love to Steele despite his violent tendencies in order to tame her and prevent his male ego from suffering a blow.
Conclusion
Like most noir films, Ray’s “ In a Lonely Place ” reinforces the notion that leadership, outrageousness, and male ego are masculinity traits that are instilled in men during socialization. The tough Steele believes that as a man and leader of his life and business, no one should challenge or fault him. His outrageousness is also a way of preserving his male ego and ‘standing out’ in order to gain Laurel’s attention.
References
Always #Like a Girl. (n.d.). A Film. Accessed via YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs
Farrell, W. (1998). Why We Should Embrace Traditional Masculinity. In Laughlin Karen, Multi-Cultural Film. An Anthology. Forbes. New York.
Ray, N. (1951). In a Lonely Place. A Film. Accessed via YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUfPrZJfMZk&list=PL1aLfOR-eUZWLY1kAjEvfxzYS7loQW6fE&index=5
