The Post-man: Primitivism in Depiction

Alex Shapiro, First Draft

           As changing presumptions about patriarchal oppression drive feminism toward post-feminism and the schizophrenia of appropriation enacts modernism within post-modernism, so too do the gender roles and depictions of masculinity progress into a compartmentalized man, a post-man.  The feminist movement’s call for, as Mary Daly advocated, a “castration of language,” replaces the term ‘postman’ with ‘mail carrier.’ The ­post-man, I will show, is the product of the proliferating laws of media depiction. The man, as he must be, to be packaged by media, is a shifting concept. Requirements that must be met by media shape the depiction in specific, extreme ways. To whatever extent media, in fact, influences individuals, the ways masculinity is compartmentalized by popular media outlets, directs the man toward new behaviors, priorities and values. The ever-growing reach of media, or the less celebrated void waiting to be filled by its influence, drives male identity toward the post-man. Gleefully unconscious of this self, man as product of the consolidated media in the consumer-as-patriot plasma screen spectacle age of post-911, takes on this new identity. Old concepts of masculinity are appropriated by the post-man, as a new role emerges.

            The spectacle demands the usurping of the strong silent man Susan Douglas describes in ‘Listening In.’ For her, “the self-restrained, honorable, good provider of high moral character,” is the masculinity favored by 1940s and 50s imagery. (13) It is this restraint of Edward R. Murrow’s sleek delivery of a written monologue and John Wayne’s stoic dispensation of Native Americans that fail to meet the requisites of the spectacle. The “more uninhibited, physically tough, and pugnacious ladies’ man,” the masculine archetype Susan Douglas puts at odds with the first, triumphs (in media) over the restraint of “the overcivilized sissy.” (13)

            The totality of patriarchal control that feminism presumed is no longer a given. Masculinity is compartmentalized by the changing needs of depiction. The post-man is allowed to be an archetype within the spectacle of the media. Thus with a privileging of the “uninhibited and pugnacious,” and now essentially freed from male iconography, more than ever before, the depiction of the man is freed to appropriate any and all qualities attributable to him. More specifically, with no need to rely on masculinity for positive, protagonistic traits, its depiction can more than ever subvert archetypically male qualities. Having been freed of the invincibility bestowed upon him by patriarchal depiction, the post-man is more imperfect than ever.  Depicted for depiction’s sake, himself without purpose, the post-man self-consciously enacts narrow, primitive masculinity. He celebrates this manliness, even as simultaneously exalting its hollowness. The post-man is thus uninhibited in any given moment, packaged for the spectacle.

            The post man, embraces the national mandate to consume more, biggest is best. A sentiment the Dodge division of Diamler-Chrysler celebrates in its ad for the truckier than thou Dodge Ram 3500 Heavy Duty. The thirty second spot shows the gleaming black and chrome truck as it speeds along a dusty trail, toward confrontation. When it arrives at the front of what could be a loading dock or a small manufacturing plant, with workmen passing by, there is another truck parked in our protagonist’s privileged space. He sound his horn, to the man in the phone booth, in front of the white Ford pickup.   To this, the man in the phone booth, who we now see is wearing a white cowboy hat, raises his hand barely beyond the top of the frame, clearly disparaging the Dodge driver with a rude gesture. Jump cuts show the rear of the rude cowboy’s truck hooked up to the back of the Dodge and dragged away from the parking space. Our hero is able to assert himself through the bigger, stronger truck. The ad is a celebration of having the biggest. The post-man is encouraged to treat himself to this superiority with a forty-thousand dollar truck. By packaging the truck, as an example, primarily for men, the ad creates the post-man by depicting a compartmentalized, flat masculinity with a feat of strength through machinery.  The small text responsibility reminds the audience to not attempt pulling someone else’s truck by its tow hitch, without their permission, on a public street, presumably with the brake on and the transmission in park. However, the depiction of the driver of the Dodge Ram 3500 Heavy Duty, shows a man ready for the decisive and, realistically, illegal can and does make for spectacle. Far more “uninhibited” than Douglas’ boys-will-be-boys aggressive male, the post-man exists for the spectacle as much as in it.  The depiction is of the cowboy in black no longer for any purpose. He acts because he can, with six-hundred foot pounds of torque.

            The renewed interest in sheer mass had been evident in the automotive world as a revolt against eighties’ econo-boxes that resulted from seventies gas crises and insurance regulations. Since the end of the eighties,’ vehicles had been getting bigger.  And it barely matters until it is sheer size that becomes the product being sold. Masculinity compartmentalized within the message, shows the post-man looking to assert and intimidate.

           

            Michael Chiklis intimidates as LAPD detective Vic Mackey [video] in the FX network series, ‘The Shield.' Mackey justifies his criminal police tactics with the greater good that never becomes clear. The large, violent Mackey is more primitive, dealing with a gangs and drug dealers than Chiklis’ Tony Scali,  ‘The Commish’ from only ten years earlier. Tony Scali was a chubbier, more cerebral and certainly less ethically conflicted Chiklis. The Commish found novel, clever solutions to policing problems in a small New York State town. The important difference is in that Tony Scali was assumed to be in the right by the narrative, and thus the audience. The character was even allowed to carry on a functional family life, where the end of season one ends with Vic’s wife wanting a separation. Only ten years later, its hard to think of an infallible male protagonist. The post-man is more imperfect than ever. As in a flashback episode to his first days on the job, Vic Mackey tells his team “just as once,” to get fast results when their jobs are on the line. The episode ends with one of the strike team members remarking that the success was “too easy,” foreshadowing future transgressions. The spectacle favors the self-destructive, shaved-head Mackey to the impishly clever, balding Scali. Importantly the shift in depiction is also a shift from network television to basic cable. FX, which, importantly did not exists at the time of “The Commish,” is allowed, not only the use of the word “shit,” but also the creative freedom necessary for the spectacular violence and sex of the series. The shift is indeed from the almost-always-right patriarchal archetype man who can solve problems with intelligences and experience, to the post-man, who must do what it takes. In one episode his burns a notorious bad guy’s face on an electric stove, in spectacular fashion.

           

            The focus on violence without context, if for no other purpose than spectacle changes masculinity as ‘seen’ in music as well. Just like FX, there are endless new outlets for music to be ‘seen.’ The shift in music toward the post-man is the shift from the angst-filled, relative experimentation of Rock, to the boastful and competitive masculinity of rap. Fifty-cent’s own publicity touts his nine gun shot wounds as irrefutable proof of street credit. He wears a bullet proof vest in his publicity photos. In his song, “Wankster,”[mpg video] Fifty disparages in the second person, as he remarks, “You’ve been hustlin’ a long time and you ain’t got nothin,” clearly implying superiority to those who have less than he does. Mainstream rap continually repeats this message of consumerism though not even offering itself as source of income. While specific songs and groups offer variations on the theme, not only are legal activities not privileged as sources of income, they’re rarely mentioned. Ludacris advises anyone asking too many questions to “Stay the fuck on out my business,” in ‘Roll Out (my Business)’ [mp3] on his “Word of Mouf” Album. Dead Prez describe an attitude toward work in “Hell Yeah,” [mp3] features in the soundtrack to the sequel for the Fast and the Furious. Dead Prez describe taking full advantage of jobs, “getting tax free money out the register,” adding, “don’t put me on dishes, I’m breaking them bitches, takes me all day long to mop the kitchen.” The post-man takes no pride in doing things the slow way. Criminality is not reserved for the bad guys nor embraced, instead it is allowed to happen when it can quickly solve the problem. Whether planting cocaine to stop a killer, like Mackey or selling Cocaine to feed his daughter [mp3: Juicy] like Notorious B.I.G. , crime is alright, if it pays.

            “Ladies Love Outlaws,” announces the poster advertising Pyrat Rum. And the often transgressive, post-man, loves the ladies. But what of the vindicated woman suggested by, oh, for example, Mary Wollstonecraft [vindication of the rights of women]. Who, in 1792, argued for the education opportunities for English women, preparing for gender equality. She tried to appeal to patriarchal society, reasoning that with intelligent, rather than childlike, female companions, man might find friendship rather than “barren amusement” with them.  In fact, for the post-man, it is women’s multitude that is appealing. Vic Mackey has a short-lived affair with a female officer in the precinct. Tony Soprano [sopranos official site] enjoys multiple mistresses and the occasional comp’d professional. His protégé, Chris, also seeks out women beside his fiancé. "The man show," [official site] a showcase of post-man masculinity, features a dance troop called ‘The Juggies,’ echoing endless rap videos’ depiction of the man surrounded by, most importantly several, different, conventionally attractive, scantily clad women. “Ladies,” the Notorious B.I.G. beccons, “my Mercedes, hold four in the back, two if you fat.” (Nasty Boy, Life After Death) [ran out of space on school server] The post-man is shaped by few things if not variety and thus his relationship with the opposite sex must incorporate this constant need for novelty. The novelty must come from outside the post-man, because he does not change.

The fluidity of change, does little to convey the masculinity the post-man depiction is meant to imply. The archetypical maleness compartmentalized to show the post-man is compromised if change can be introduced. Tony Soprano will not quit being a gangster and neither will Fifty Cent. Vic Mackey will not take a short cut to justice “just as once.”

Hank Hill, on Fox’s grownup cartoon, “King of the Hill,” [official site] exemplifies a post-man, who contradicts the parameters I’ve established, only to lovingly mock the alternative. Hank live in Texas, has only had sex with his wife, and is gleefully content being an assistant manager at Stricklan Propane. He is a sentimental appropriation of an idealized stereotype. Go ahead, and prove he’s not. The monotony he celebrates is nostalgic for stability but still, ultimately exalts the opposite of what it depicts, as Hank and his friends continuously drink in the alley, the urban audience is relieved to not be living in Arlen.

Where the female protagonist, of ABC’s “Alias,”[official site] Sydney Bristow undergoes countless hair, wardrobe, and allegiance changes throughout only one episode, the ­post-man is often a depiction of mire. The audience watches the post-man, Nascar driver, waiting for an explosion rather than hoping that he will figure out how to stop going around in circles.