Max Dosser, a PhD candidate in the department of Communication, has published his article “I’m gonna wreck it, again: the false dichotomy of ‘healthy’ and ‘toxic’ masculinity in Ralph Breaks the Internet” in Critical Studies in Media Communication’s 39th issue.
Max’s essay examines the representation of masculinity in the animated Disney film Ralph Breaks the Internet. Popular reviews of the film focused heavily on critiques of “toxic masculinity.” Often associated with homophobic and misogynistic speech, the concept of toxic masculinity ultimately serves to reinforce and rescue elements of hegemonic masculinity by painting “toxic” male behaviors as something that can be “cured” or “fixed.” To probe the troubled concept of toxic masculinity as seen in animated media, this article demonstrates how Ralph Breaks the Internet reifies a false dichotomy of healthy and toxic masculinity. Through examining the ways Ralph’s physical appearance, his behaviors, his manipulative relationships with women, and the film’s ultimate resolution reflect the current crisis of masculinity, Max argues that while many reviewers claim the film critiques toxic masculinity, the film itself actually reinscribes qualities of hegemonic masculinity. By invoking toxic masculinity in scholarship and reviews, critics obscure other critiques of masculinity films may put forward—positive and negative.
The full article can be found here.
Max also recently published an article in the Velvet Light Trap arguing that the “skip intro” function on streaming services preserves a space for the cultural technology of television title sequences and furthers audience agency in a time of changing viewing habits and increasing binge-watching. If interested, you can read that here.