An investigation into how the work of David Fincher, with particular reference to Se7en (1995), Fight Club (1999) and The Social Network (2010), provides insight into the proclaimed ‘crisis of masculinity’ within contemporary society.
The last 30 years of the century saw men’s domestic responsibilities and roles put under intense scrutiny, resulting in the proclaimed ‘masculinity crisis’ of the 80’s and ‘90s. Men struggled to keep up with this rapidly updating,more fluid ideal of male self, which is something Fincher has clearly picked up on in his films Se7en (1995) Fight Club (1999) and more recently The Social Network (2010). These films all explicitly depict how men reacted to these changes in society, of which they often saw as threats, and how they consequently decided to deal with these perceived threats. This investigation will zone in on how Fincher has chosen to depict men in the midst of this crisis, as well as to evaluate whether Fincher sympathised with the strife of men or whether his main goal was to scrutinise the victim status that the male gender adopted.
The evolution of men in society is blatantly obvious when the protagonists from these films are put side by side for scrutiny. Seven and Fight Club both revolve around characters purposely sculptured to embody the classical social conception of masculinity. Detective Mills from Seven comes across as the typically “ignorant, sulky and impulsive” anti-hero archetype which harks back to the days of film noir, a link which is even evident in his rugged, classically handsome appearance. He is “willing to swallow the most obvious answer, and ready to kick some criminal ass.” His wife’s responsibilities within the story rarely stray from the domestic sphere, which is something that Janet Maslin of The New York Times vehemently takes issue with - “The new guy has a loving, patient wife,and so the film treats her in ways you wouldn’t treat a dog”. Mills’ partner Somerset stands as his polar opposite in that he is “old before his time,highly educated, well read, sensitive and easily hurt”, and is used as a counterpoint to Mills. This technique is used to a similar extent in Fight Club with the sheer contrast in ideals and nature between the nameless narrator and his alter-ego Tyler Durden, the latter of which revives the narrator and brings him back to his primal roots as a strong and free man by encouraging the disposal of commodities and stripping back the evils of Capitalist society - “All the ways you wish you could be... I am smart, capable, and most importantly, I am free in all the ways that you are not”. Before he gave his name to these particularly daring roles, Brad Pitt was widely seen as an actor under the ‘pretty boy label’ due to his early work emerging on the Hollywood scene, starring in minor roles in films such as Thelma and Louise (1991). He was partial to the new wave of ‘feminine’ men emerging through the 90s, therefore Fincher’s decision to cast him in overtly masculine roles seems fairly peculiar. From the outset of Seven, Pitt’s portrayal of Mills, as previously mentioned, is one of a traditionally masculine nature. Pitt’s transference from pretty boy to hard-boiled detective can be seen as an allegory encompassing the way in which men in society were desperately reverting back to their primal and ultimately ‘manly’ roots - the main thematic focus of Fight Club. Fincher purposely undermines the classical ideal of masculinity in his decision to cast Pitt, perhaps as a way of challenging the social norm in regards to stereotypical masculine behaviour. In this sense he is dismantling classic social conceptions to promote less restrictive gender boundaries.
It seems that Fincher is setting up opposites within these films in order to hold masculinity up to the light to encourage scrutiny, something of which he continues almost a decade later in The Social Network with Mark Zuckerberg and Sean Parker - played by Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake respectively. Both Eisenberg and Timberlake stand as perfect examples of the more contemporary face of masculinity, in the sense that they are defined by wealth and fame. Eisenberg was more well known for his pursuits within the indie scene, often playing the nerdy, timid and arguably ‘feminine’ teenage archetype, which made him a suitable choice to play Zuckerberg during his days as a tech-wiz at Harvard University. However, the oddities begin to emerge as the film tracks Zuckerberg’s rise towards becoming one of the 21st centuries’ most powerful and influential people. Timberlake has made his name mainly in the music industry, and is comparable to Pitt in the sense that he was first known for his exploits as a teen ‘hearthrob’ in boy band NSYNC. Timberland’s character Sean Parker is the founder of Napster, and comes across as a mentor and idol for Zuckerberg - “the guy who’s got it wired...he is virtually and socially connected, the embodiment of the small wave of technological entrepreneurs rising and ruling millennial society.” In terms of masculine identity, the portrayals of Parker and Zuckerberg are drastically different from Mills and Tyler Durden. Fincher is clearly highlighting the change in how men are regaining their sense of power in the modern day as opposed to a decade ago. Brad Pitt found himself attempting to dismantle Capitalist society with acts of anarchy as Tyler Durden, whereas Eisenberg’s and Timberlake’s roles sees men climbing the Capitalist ladder all the way to the top. Fincher is highlighting the fact that the success of these two modern men is not down to the size of their muscles or how well they can fight, but how they have conquered society with everything but - brains over brawn. The fact that Eisenberg has been cast as Superman’s arch nemesis Lex Luthor perfectly demonstrates the way in which male stereotypes are becoming increasingly irrelevant in contemporary society.
Fincher covertly displays a reversal in the dynamics of masculinity with his cinematic choices within Seven’s concluding scene. The use of open framing singles out Mills against the vast expanse of the desert setting, the binary opposite of his usual city setting, therefore making him seem vulnerable and out of place. This technique symbolises the complete behavioural emasculation of Mills - a killer, who he could not track down himself, has raped and beheaded his pregnant wife and has now gained control of the situation by dealing a crippling ultimatum Mills’ way. On numerous occasions, Detective Mills can be located on the right hand side of a shot, whereas the killer John Doe is often displayed on the left, which is often referred to as the ‘heroic side’ in traditional terms. This has particular significance for the ending, where Mills submits to the sin of wrath and kills John Doe, and therefore assumes the role of the villain, but it also bears relevance on the state of affairs within the masculinity crisis. As previously mentioned, the 90s gave way to a radical transformation in terms of expectations of men - “Masculinity as a concept has changed from a hegemonic traditional binary opposite of the feminine, to something more fluid”. The act of Mills shooting John Doe in the head is analogous to male society rejecting societies expectations of men in an attempt to reclaim the natural sense of being they once had. The portrayal of Mills as the villain in this final scene could be Fincher’s way of reinforcing the idea that men should embrace and accept the new conception of man. However, the fact that John Doe, the films’ overarching feminine force, is murdered could suggest that Fincher believes otherwise.
The decade of the 90s also saw the emergence of a new diverse wave of feminism, which to some proportions of the male community was seen as a threat - women became the enemy. All three of the aforementioned films have been criticised for their misogynistic representations, however it could be argued that Fincher purposely portrayed women and femininity in such a way as to convey how men wanted to distance themselves as much as possible away from anything remotely feminine. Just like Eisenberg, Spacey is not necessarily considered as particularly masculine and neither is his portrayal of John Doe in Seven. His reserved mannerisms and intellectual diction comes across as almost feminine in comparison to Detective Mills, which Fincher exploits to set up an analogy of the clash between the masculinity crisis and the new wave of feminism. This can be seen vividly in the lead up to the final scene, where the killer leads Mills and Somerset to the last two bodies. Throughout the sequence, Mills ridicules the killer whilst John Doe remains calm and unphased by Mills’ overt displays of power. John Doe clearly frightens Mills who is acting out as a result, in the same sense that some men did and still do regard women as a serious threat to their gender identity - hence the irrational notion of women as the enemy. The only shots of John Doe are veiled by a metal cage separating the back seat from the front seats, which perfectly embodies the male notion that femininity is something to be distanced from. The metal wall represents classical gender boundaries between men and women, of which are becoming ever more irrelevant in contemporary society, yet perpetuated by those who see this fluidity as a threat.This is also more closely depicted in the dynamics between Fight Club’s narrator and Marla Singer, the female love interest. Both characters attend an array of support groups for their own cathartic purposes, yet the narrator hypocritically expresses a deep dislike for Marla and seems to suggest that he has more of a right to be there than she does, further asking the question as to whether the narrator’s views towards Marla are fundamentally misogynistic. Tyler Durden aptly sums up up this attitude later in the film - “I wonder if another woman is really what we need”.
Upon it’s release, The Social Network was vehemently criticised for it’s misogynistic take on the rise of the digital age. However, writer Aaron Sorkin defends the films representation by pointing out that he “was writing about a very angry and deeply misogynistic group of people” and that “Facebook was born during a night of incredible misogyny”. The night in question involved Mark Zuckerberg being dumped by his girlfriend, which consequently fueled him to create an early Facebook prototype known as Facemash where people on campus could rate girls on their attractiveness. Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw zones in on this section of the film by pointing out that “Slightly leniently, the movie explains it away a little by emphasising that Zuckerberg has had a couple of beers”. This could be a suggestion that despite Aaron Sorkin’s defence concerning the “deeply misogynistic group of people” he wrote about, the film is still inherently inclined to provide an excuse for men to act in such a way - such misogyny becomes strangely justified just because men felt victimised. The fact that the film opens to Erica leaving Mark “establishes the immediate context for Mark’s anger” which consequently evolved into the male quest to “reclaim lost male superiority”. It could be argued that the birth of the digital age opened up another route for men to get ‘revenge’ on women for threatening their social status as the apparently dominant sex. These men had realised by this time, unlike in Seven and Fight Club, that “the images of adult manhood given by the popular culture are worn out”. Men in contemporary society may have cut the majority of ties to the traditional male archetype, demonstrated in Fincher’s choice to use Eisenberg to depict one of the most influential individuals of modern society, yet they have still not managed to address the irrational notion that women in society are a threat. However, it would seem slightly contradictory of Fincher to promote fluidity in terms of gender boundaries to then purposely misrepresent women. It seems more likely that the neglect of female characters within the three films is used as a tool to highlight the faults of the male gender.
As well as having to apparently fend off the advances of successful women in society, some men also appear to have struggled with ambiguity in terms of sexuality. Fincher closes in on this on numerous occasions in Fight Club, in particular where the narrator’s baggage is withheld at the airport due to a vibration coming from his case. The airport worker comments on the fact that in situations like this it’s usually an electric razor, but that every once in a while it turns out to be a dildo. The worker touches on company policy where they must refrain from implying ownership - they must use “a dildo” not “your dildo” - yet he intentionally places emphasis on the latter, much to the narrators embarrassed objection. There is also the interesting dichotomy between the commonality of a razor and the rarity of a man owning a dildo, yet both objects seem to interfere to an equal extent with the classical, natural male ideal ; the razor removes facial hair which is distinct to men and the dildo scrutinises ‘traditional’ sexual preference. This particular instance unveils hints of homophobia amongst men in society, possibly suggesting that any sexual ambiguity was seen as a threat, even an an insult, to the classic idea of masculinity. This idea is further embodied by the character of Bob, of whom the narrator meets at the appropriately named ‘Remaining Men Together’ support group for men who have had their testicles removed due to cancer. Bob developed breasts, derogatorily referred to as ‘bitch tits’ by the narrator, when his body started producing estrogen when his testicles were removed due to cancer caused by steroid use in his bodybuilding days. Fincher uses Palahniuk’s character from the novel to caricature the sexually ambiguous from a male perspective, accompanying Bob’s appearance with the offensive term ‘bitch tits’ to reference to how men often insult other men by assigning female characteristics - men appear to fear anything void of classical masculinity. The particularly ‘Freudian’ fear of losing male body parts is a theme throughout the film. The narrator attempts to foil Project Mayhem's anarchic pursuits, of which he unconsciously masterminded, and is threatened by his peers with the prospect of being castrated, as if to suggest that a man’s reproductive organs are his only ties to the male community, just as the uniting commonality within ‘Remaining Men Together’ is the lack of reproductive organs. The overarching consensus from Fincher here appears to be that men should stick together in order to overcome this crisis of male identity. However, the excessive caricaturing appears to be done so with more comical aims in mind, therefore it could be argued that Fincher is instead ridiculing the traditionally male assumption that genitals warrant respect or merit.
In essence, it seems appropriate to claim that Fincher was intending to scrutinise the notion of male identity in crisis. Although many may still argue the opposite with Fincher’s representations of women in mind, these misogynistic accusations can be easily explained in regards to the fact that Fincher, especially in Fight Club and The Social Network, was depicting very particular time-periods. Fincher’s overall aim was to denounce men who refused to evolve along with society out of fear of losing touch with their traditional masculine ideals.
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