What do you think?
Rate this book
Of Muscles and Men: Essays on the Sword and Sandal Film
Few movie genres have highlighted the male body more effectively than the "sword-and-sandal" film, where the rippling torso and the bulging muscle are displayed for all to appreciate. Carrying his phallic sword and dressed in traditional garb calculated to bring attention to his magnificent physique, the sword-and-sandal hero is capable of toppling great nations, rescuing heroines, defeating monsters, and generally saving the day. Each of these essays examines the issues of masculinity and utility addressed in the sword-and-sandal genre. The contributors offer insights on a film form which showcases its male protagonists as heroic, violent, fleshy, and, in the end, extremely useful.
218 pages, Paperback
First published August 23, 2011
24 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 10, 2016
I am one of those people who enjoy, and am not easily scared off by, academic works; however, the Introduction to this collection nearly made me believe I had requested a book I would not be able to tackle despite my lifelong love for the topic. I admit I gave up reading the Intro about halfway through and moved on to the essays. Those I greatly enjoyed, in part because most were far less dense (but no less academic) than the Intro. Although they kept to the same general theme - the reinforcement of heteronormative values - each contributed something new.
Some of the older movies I had not seen, so I admit to losing a bit of attention and understanding when they were under discussion. When the movies I had seen, even if many years ago, were dissected and analyzed, I had a hard time putting the book down. I wanted to watch the movies again, not only to intentionally look for (or look again at) the points being made in one of the essays, but for the sheer enjoyment of this genre.
While I don't think a non-academic point-of-view would have been fitting for this collection, I do empathize with the first reviewer who wished for an essay by someone who simply grew up watching these kinds of films. I also heartily agree with the 2nd reviewer that the Xena and Hercules tv series should have been included due to their place in this genre and the great popularity they had. This is a genre that, for whatever reason, speaks deeply to many people, old and young alike, male or female. Love it or hate it, it's certainly a recognizable category and an important part of our popular culture.
This collection obviously would be perfect for any class on film, gender studies, pop culture studies, LGBT studies, and certainly complementary to any literature studies involving the warrior/hero archetype. I kept wishing I had had this book when taking my "Kings, Heroes & Monsters" class at college a few years ago. I will certainly recommend it to my old professors.
Some of the older movies I had not seen, so I admit to losing a bit of attention and understanding when they were under discussion. When the movies I had seen, even if many years ago, were dissected and analyzed, I had a hard time putting the book down. I wanted to watch the movies again, not only to intentionally look for (or look again at) the points being made in one of the essays, but for the sheer enjoyment of this genre.
While I don't think a non-academic point-of-view would have been fitting for this collection, I do empathize with the first reviewer who wished for an essay by someone who simply grew up watching these kinds of films. I also heartily agree with the 2nd reviewer that the Xena and Hercules tv series should have been included due to their place in this genre and the great popularity they had. This is a genre that, for whatever reason, speaks deeply to many people, old and young alike, male or female. Love it or hate it, it's certainly a recognizable category and an important part of our popular culture.
This collection obviously would be perfect for any class on film, gender studies, pop culture studies, LGBT studies, and certainly complementary to any literature studies involving the warrior/hero archetype. I kept wishing I had had this book when taking my "Kings, Heroes & Monsters" class at college a few years ago. I will certainly recommend it to my old professors.
October 14, 2013
By the Power of Grayskull!
(Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review through Library Thing's Early Reviewer program.)
Aside from the early ‘80s Conan the Barbarian films (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the eponymous, loinclothed hero) and a few odd campy television shows (namely He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra: Princess of Power , which I grew up on, as well as Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys , which I’ve enjoyed as an adult), I’m not what you’d call a big fan of the sword and sandal genre. But when I spotted Of Muscles and Men: Essays on the Sword & Sandal Film in Library Thing’s Early Reviewer program, I decided to request a copy anyhow, since I highly enjoy critical pop culture studies and thought it would make for an interesting read.
To say that Of Muscles and Men veers toward the academic would be an understatement. In terms of accessibility, it’s much more similar in difficulty to, say, The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series or Investigating Cult TV than the more mainstream Smart Pop Books by BenBella (of which I own nearly half the available titles!). That said, some essays are more suitable for lay people than others – it really just depends on the author and his or her approach and writing style.
While most of the essays focus on the intersection of violence, sex, and/or gender in the peplum or sword and sandal genre - loosely defined as those films featuring a reluctantly heroic strongman, clad in sandals and/or a kilt and carrying a sword or other phallic weapon, and set some time in humanity’s ancient past – the authors nevertheless manage to touch upon a breadth of topics. Among my favorites are:
* Larry Shillock’s piece on Helen of Troy (the 2003 USA miniseries), an arguably feminist retelling of the Trojan War featuring Helen of Argon as the protagonist (“An Enduring Logic: Homer, Helen of Troy, and Narrative Mobility”);
* “Beefy Guys and Brawny Dolls: He-Man, the Masters of the Universe, and Gay Clone Culture,” in which editor Michael Cornelius parallels the development of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe action figures and Filmation’s animated television show (the latter essentially being a marketing tool for the former) with the rise of gay clone culture in the 1980s; and
* the hilariously titled “’By Jupiter’s Cock!’ Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Video Games, and Camp Excess,” wherein David Simmons examines the influence of video games on the increasingly violent and stylized Fourth Wave peplum films of today (such as the STARZ original series Spartacus: Blood and Sand , from which the interjection “By Jupiter’s cock!” originates).
I must admit to only skimming several of the twelve essays in this collection, either because they failed to hold my interest or contained so much jargon that I couldn’t easily decipher it all. Also disappointing is the lack of attention paid to those sword and sandal films and television shows starring female heroes: for example, the previously mentioned She-Ra: Princess of Power and Xena: Warrior Princess (both are mentioned in passing). Granted, Of Muscles and Men is ostensibly a collection about masculinity – “male protagonists as heroic, violent, fleshy, and, in the end, extremely useful” – but the presence of the occasional woman in such roles is a topic worth exploring, inasmuch as it challenges the role of “hero” or “strongman” as the exclusive province of men.
http://www.easyvegan.info/2012/04/13/...
(Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review through Library Thing's Early Reviewer program.)
Aside from the early ‘80s Conan the Barbarian films (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the eponymous, loinclothed hero) and a few odd campy television shows (namely He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra: Princess of Power , which I grew up on, as well as Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys , which I’ve enjoyed as an adult), I’m not what you’d call a big fan of the sword and sandal genre. But when I spotted Of Muscles and Men: Essays on the Sword & Sandal Film in Library Thing’s Early Reviewer program, I decided to request a copy anyhow, since I highly enjoy critical pop culture studies and thought it would make for an interesting read.
To say that Of Muscles and Men veers toward the academic would be an understatement. In terms of accessibility, it’s much more similar in difficulty to, say, The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series or Investigating Cult TV than the more mainstream Smart Pop Books by BenBella (of which I own nearly half the available titles!). That said, some essays are more suitable for lay people than others – it really just depends on the author and his or her approach and writing style.
While most of the essays focus on the intersection of violence, sex, and/or gender in the peplum or sword and sandal genre - loosely defined as those films featuring a reluctantly heroic strongman, clad in sandals and/or a kilt and carrying a sword or other phallic weapon, and set some time in humanity’s ancient past – the authors nevertheless manage to touch upon a breadth of topics. Among my favorites are:
* Larry Shillock’s piece on Helen of Troy (the 2003 USA miniseries), an arguably feminist retelling of the Trojan War featuring Helen of Argon as the protagonist (“An Enduring Logic: Homer, Helen of Troy, and Narrative Mobility”);
* “Beefy Guys and Brawny Dolls: He-Man, the Masters of the Universe, and Gay Clone Culture,” in which editor Michael Cornelius parallels the development of Mattel’s Masters of the Universe action figures and Filmation’s animated television show (the latter essentially being a marketing tool for the former) with the rise of gay clone culture in the 1980s; and
* the hilariously titled “’By Jupiter’s Cock!’ Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Video Games, and Camp Excess,” wherein David Simmons examines the influence of video games on the increasingly violent and stylized Fourth Wave peplum films of today (such as the STARZ original series Spartacus: Blood and Sand , from which the interjection “By Jupiter’s cock!” originates).
I must admit to only skimming several of the twelve essays in this collection, either because they failed to hold my interest or contained so much jargon that I couldn’t easily decipher it all. Also disappointing is the lack of attention paid to those sword and sandal films and television shows starring female heroes: for example, the previously mentioned She-Ra: Princess of Power and Xena: Warrior Princess (both are mentioned in passing). Granted, Of Muscles and Men is ostensibly a collection about masculinity – “male protagonists as heroic, violent, fleshy, and, in the end, extremely useful” – but the presence of the occasional woman in such roles is a topic worth exploring, inasmuch as it challenges the role of “hero” or “strongman” as the exclusive province of men.
http://www.easyvegan.info/2012/04/13/...
Want to read
March 17, 2013I never got drawn into this book, despite several attempts. As much as I love academic literary criticism, it turns out I just haven't seen enough of these movies for the essays to hold my attention. Maybe I'll give it another go once I seen more of them. Having grown up in the late 80s and early 90s, I did love the article on He-Man and gay culture.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews