The Subversive Masculinity of Aquaman
The film presents more nuance than one might expect
In an early scene of the film Aquaman, after an awesome fight on a submarine that establishes the main character as a burly, buff ass-kicker with the usual tough-guy wit, he is approached by three large guys who demand to know if he’s the hero they’ve heard so much about. The audience is led to expect another fight, this time on land, perhaps, to show he’s equally tough in a bar as under the ocean. Or, if the audience is aware enough of certain tropes, an anticlimactic bit of comedy because we’ve just gotten a fight scene and need something to ease tension.
What we get is definitely the latter, but in an unexpected way: One of the three would-be fighters takes out a phone with a hot-pink case and asks if they can have a picture. Giddy as a schoolchild after Aquaman agrees, a montage follows in which they all become friends over alcohol. While this is played for laughs, the phone case and the man’s joy are never the object of the humor; rather, Aquaman’s discomfort at being famous is what’s funny. The subversion of the tough guy as some large teenage fangirl is not the butt of the joke, and this is not the final reversal of traditional masculinity that the film offers.
“Traditional masculinity” is often defined by stoicism and aggression, delineating strict behavioral guidelines that can become impossible to uphold while maintaining one’s sanity: men don’t show their feelings, men don’t “back down,” men provide for their families. They eschew anything that can even remotely be interpreted as feminine. The need to prove oneself according to such an outmoded way of thinking can easily get out of control and lead to “toxic masculinity,” acting out with offensiveness and abuse.
Aquaman was created in 1941 by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, and debuted in More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941). He really came into his own, though, during the Silver Age, when he was depicted as a founding member of the Justice League. As the King of Atlantis, he was seen as powerful enough to fight alongside Superman, but was also in the shadow of Marvel’s Sub-Mariner, another King of Atlantis created for Timely Comics (later Marvel) two years earlier.
Over time, though, the character became a punchline; the wide exposure he got with the Saturday morning cartoon Super Friends didn’t help. Pop songs were written about how lame he is. The Adult Swim animated show Robot Chicken portrayed him as an effete, worthless member of the Justice League often overpowered by his colleagues.
There were attempts to rehabilitate Aquaman’s image, most notably the 90’s comic reboot that saw the character gain a beard and lose a hand, which was replaced by a bad-ass retractable hook at one point and a less bad-ass “magic water hand” at another. The vaunted Justice League animated series kept the beard and long hair, but failed to give him more than a few episodes.
The film succeeds where these shows and comics failed, starting with the casting. Jason Momoa is a hunk who looks like he could beat you up or drink you under the table no matter how many jokes you make about talking to fish. He is introduced lifting a submarine with his bare hands and taking on an entire cadre of pirates by himself.
Throughout the film, though, he’s shown to be more than a lunkhead. He may not know Pinocchio was a book instead of just a movie and joke about peeing on things, but that’s not all the character has to offer. For one thing, he gets saved by the princess. When the chief antagonist, King Orm (Patrick Wilson), threatens to kill our hero, fellow sea-person royalty Mera (Amber Heard) comes to the rescue. No time is wasted on complaining about how he needed a woman to save him. In fact, he’s grateful to be alive. Later, he shows off an acumen for Classical history. Knowing that Romulus is the lone king in a circle of statues is what helps him (and the story) move forward. He’s a nerd as well as a jock.
The overall narrative arc of Aquaman is one of learning mercy, a trait too often seen as weak. At the end of his introductory fight scene, he leaves a villain to drown. His responsibility in the death of that villain comes back to haunt him, and plays a key role in the climax of the film. Aquaman hopes to reshape the world into a kinder, gentler place. Whereas he earlier told a man to “ask the sea for mercy,” he has come to learn mercy is a virtue.
All of this is especially important when one considers the persistent toxic elements of comics culture. Women and minority creators are routinely harassed online, and alt-right trolls organizing smear campaigns have attempted to get people fired and sometimes succeeded. The Comicsgate movement continues, despite being a hate movement encouraged by known harassers like Ethan Van Sciver, and Diversity and Comics, the YouTube channel of Richard C. Meyer, presents homophobia and misogyny masquerading as criticism.
The people perpetuating this negativity have a regressive, restricted view of masculinity that limits their ability to interact with others and harms people who need protection. They think of themselves as the last bastions of true manliness, but it is a hurtful way of life that fails to capture the nuance of human experience. Aquaman is a superhero film that understands this better than most.
