Post by l***@yahoo.comPost by RichAPost by l***@yahoo.comI seem to remember a critic's writing that the movie was a metaphor
for the shrinking role of the American male in an increasingly
mechanised world. Or something like that.
Does anyone know who said that?
Lenona.
It was about a guy who gets irradiated and starts to shrink down. He
gets to fight with a spider, etc. Metaphors are for critics who need
to fill column space.
Well, it seems I should have read Richard Matheson's book ("The
Shrinking Man") instead. (BTW, I think I first heard of the ideas I
mentioned above some years ago.)
https://www.worldswithoutend.com/novel_review.asp?ID 26
"......Carey is not always particularly sympathetic, although you have
to admit he is facing extraordinary challenges. But when he is difficult
to his wife, family, media, and the doctors eager to study his
condition, he is fighting for his dignity as a human being -- and more
specifically as an American male of the 1950's. That last angle must
stand out more strongly now that when the book was written, but the
scenes where he confronts a drunken pedophile who mistakes him for a
young teen, or mindlessly vicious, 1950's-style juvenile delinquents are
painful reading. Even more excruciating is Matheson's chronicle of
Carey's deteriorating relationship with his wife....."
http://www.metafilter.com/99211/Writemare-at-20000-feet
"I don't remember why I watched Omega Man a few years ago, but it
inspired me to read I Am Legend. Which made me realize Matheson existed,
so I also read The Incredible Shrinking Man. Wow, what a misogynistic
novel that is. It seems to pretty clearly be about the shrinking
role/power of men in a world where women are getting the rights they
were missing for so long. The protagonist really hates women. (There's
also a pretty creepy chapter involving a lost little boy, IIRC, which
brings a whole new level into it.)"
posted by DU at 7:07 PM on January 4, 2011
And Susan Faludi hinted at a metaphor for the "middle-class white
American male" in her 1999 tome, "Stiffed."
Also see pages 134-135 in the 2005 book "Manhood and American Political
Culture in the Cold War."
http://books.google.com/books?id=IREMhOPMEtoC&pg=PA135&lpg=PA135&dq=%22incredible+shrinking+man%22+%22american+male%22&source=bl&ots=VBgU51uOjN&sig=5IxBwLwrVkcgIFOB5KrUfWDoY0s&hl=en#v=onepage&q=%22incredible%20shrinking%20man%22%20%22american%20male%22&fúlse
And from 2010, here's a review of the play "The Return of the Incredible
Shrinking Man." (I take it that it premiered near Carmel, CA, but I'm not sure.)
http://www.pcnr.com/news/2010-02-17/The_Arts/Incredible_Shrinking_Man_Premieres_at_Depot_Theatr.html
BTW, I also stumbled on the article below, from March. (I haven't read
it yet, so while the general ideas look familiar, I don't know if it's
more sympathetic to men or women.) There are more than 100 comments.
http://www.phillymag.com/articles/the-sorry-lives-and-confusing-times-of-today-s-young-men/
"....Gender identity, sociologists say, is developed oppositionally. If
boys see girls behaving in a certain wayworking hard and excelling in
schoolthey define masculinity in opposite terms: A real man doesnt
work hard at school or get good grades. The more that women try to set
an example of responsible adult behavior, the more the guys shout along
with the band Deer Tick: 'Were full-grown men but we act like kids!'...."
I.e., boys supposedly can't stand to compete with girls who actually
compete to win in school instead of playing dumb to attract boys, the
way they used to. So the boys drop out, more or less.
Lenona.
liked praised me for being so smart. Of course, it would take a few
years for me to learn that good grades didn't get girls.