Masculinity In White Hunter, Black Heart

The film, White Hunter, Black Heart expresses ambivalence regarding masculinity in relation to the “Great White Hunter” as the main character John Wilson, a “brilliant, screw-you all type filmmaker” is both idealized and undermined for his masculinity (White Hunter, Black Heart, 1990). During the time of the film, the early 1990’s, America was changing into a more modernized living and masculinity decreased as “white hunters became an endangered species” and feminism start to rise (Mayer 2002, 77). Masculinity is described as any male who pursues the “act” of the “big game [of] hunting.” (Mayer 2002, 79, 89). The “horror scenario” occurred as men's social status was questioned and the struggle to “reaffirm [one’s] injured masculinity” was seen

He fights Harry, the hotel manager, and calls him a “yellow, rotten, sadistic son of a bitch” after Harry belittles an African worker for spilling a drink (White Hunter, Black Heart 1990). Even though John loses the fight, his “Great White Hunter” attitude can be seen as he confidentially tells Peter, John’s best friend and scriptwriter, that he could have easily have won it and a fight was worth promoting as it “attributes [to] masculinity, without losing the refined status of whiteness” (Mayer 2002, 77). The fact that John is willing to get hurt for an individual who is seen as an inferior servant shows his idealized personality as the “Great White Hunter.” Differently from other characters, John’s primary goal in Africa is to kill one of their most treasured animals, the elephant, undermining his role as the “Great White Hunter.” The killing of this animal serves as a juxtaposition as Peter describes the elephants as “majestic,” “indestructible,” and “the miracle of creation” while John tries to find the biggest elephant to kill (White Hunter, Black Heart 1990). Peter believes that killing elephants is a “crime,” but more importantly, unlike John, he is able to clearly define the line between reality and imaginary as