Analysis of Sam Spade Essay -- sexual maturity, masculinity, film

There a many definitions of masculinity and those definitions are heavily influenced by culture, environment, media, and the child’s parents. When young men start to reach their sexual maturity, they have to create their own definition of what it is to be a man. The idea of masculinity creates a lot of questions, because there is no resource that will give a young male the answer. Due to this, young males learn what it is to be a man from a grab bag of possibilities. Eventually, the young male will have accumulated traits, appearances, behavior, and so on that defines what it is to be a man. With a new sense of self, the young male transforms into his idea of masculinity. In the Maltase Flacon, masculinity is defined through the actions of Sam Spade whom demonstrates the masculine principals of making his achievement of alpha male status a top priority, aggressive behavior, avoiding being feminine, homophobic, and restriction of his emotions (Meek) through his interaction with several characters throughout the film. Through out the film, Sam Spade has a constant need to prove to himself and other people around him that he is an alpha male. This need is triggered when Sam Spade feels intimidated or challenge by another male. Sam Spade’s alpha male status is challenged when he is taken at gunpoint by Wilmer Cook to see Kasper Gutman. Sam quickly rises to the challenge and manages to take Wilmer’s guns away from him (Falcon). Considering that the gun is a phallic symbol, one could interpret that when Sam took away Wilmer’s guns he symbolically took away Wilmer’s masculinity as punishment for challenging his alpha male status. Sam’s action of emasculating Wilmer inflates his ego and reinforces his masculinity though his achievem... ...ith several characters throughout the film. This particular definition of what it is to be a man is presented to the public in the form of media. It is possible that this film could serve as a guide for how young men of the past, present, or even future should behave in order to be considered a man. In this film, the femme fatale sexuality is censored, but the ideals that acting violently towards people who are homosexual, constantly fulfilling a need to achieve dominance through aggressive and violence behavior is the cultural norm of what it is to be a man. This film demonstrates people acceptance of this behavior and acts as propaganda. Works Cited Meek, Dr. Will. Psychology of Men. Ed. Dr. Will Meek. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. . The Maltese Falcon. Dir. John Huston. 1941. Warner Bros., 2000. DVD-ROM.