New Heroes for New Times in Master and Commander
2013; University of California Press; Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1933-9119
Autores Tópico(s)Military History and Strategy
ResumoIn Master and Commander, The Far Side of the World, a deep friendship between men is elevated to the level of heroes. And manliness is given a new strength to face an unknown future. The film reinvigorates the old mythology of what makes a man a real man, showing how consciousness and identity can be forged in intimate relationship as well as in battle. And then it goes one step further. Master and Commander puts forth a new kind of hero—a boy who finds insects as fascinating as dragons, pencils as necessary as guns and good male role models more compelling than bad. It seems like a good time to be a boy. A boy’s odyssey to manhood may still be held captive by Homer’s ancient tale of the man who bears its name—Odysseus— but the nature of the journey, once completely singular, has begun to change. Master and Commander projects an expanded vision of expectation meeting the boy who is growing to manhood in our society today. It holds friendship with other men and caring for children central to the task of becoming a “real man.” This heroic image of manhood calls for self-reflection and listening, as well as decisive action and conquest. And decisions, solo as they must remain, are not without context. Individual performance often emerges from intense interaction, be it warm and complementary or antagonistic. And, important to the challenge of today’s complicated conflicts, the expanded myth of manhood taking symbolic form in Master and Commander models an empathetic understanding of an enemy’s point of view that begins
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