Core Post #4

Dyer describes Rock Hudson as “physically the largest male star of his day.” He explains how publicity shots were framed and angled to accentuate the size of his physique and make him look “pumped up.” The way that Dyer describes Hudson’s image and the way that the public perceived him seems very similar to Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1980’s. Both were larger-than-life representations of American masculinity, the paragon of the American male.

However, compared with the physique and the images of Arnold Schwarzenegger from the period around the making of the Terminator, Rock Hudson seems tame.

The difference between these two stars is striking. Of course, their personas were very different. Dyer says the Hudson represented a “wholesome” and “sanitized” 1950’s vision of masculinity. Schwarzenegger, in his defining role in the Terminator movies, represented a cyberpunk, militaristic, and more violent vision of masculinity.

Still, the difference in their physiques and in the way they were perceived in their eras is incredible. It seems strange that two men with such different appearances could both embody the physical ideal of masculinity. Body building existed in the 1950’s, yet that sort of exaggerated body style did not become part of the Hollywood mainstream. Perhaps it was due in part to the better athletic training methods that existed in the 1980’s. In the late 80’s, the public became familiar with images of Jose Canseco and Mark McGuire, two extremely large and muscular baseball players. These two men, and many others, were eventually found to have been using steroids to artificially increase their size and strength. Both of these men dwarf Rock Hudson.

So, real-life men like these, using performance-enhancing drugs, were filling the eyes and minds of the public.

So, if Hollywood wanted to create characters that are larger than life, that outdo reality, it had to embrace someone like Arnold – someone who is so huge and muscular he appears to be, and can portray, a character that is not human.

1. How do the changes in the standards of male beauty compare or contrast with the changes in the standards of female beauty between the 1950's and now?

2. What role has the use of steroids, plastic surgery, and other artificial enhancements had on our perception of the human body?

3. Does Arnold Schwarzenegger represent a modern masculine ideal? If so, what kind of ideal?