The Nineties: A Book

by Chuck Klosterman

Another movie from this period, Neil LaBute’s In the Company of Men, was more nuanced and (perhaps) even more traumatizing. Two nondescript businessmen are temporarily assigned to a branch office in a nameless city (here again, the unspoken message is that these men could be any men, and that this story could happen in any place). One man, Chad, is good-looking, misanthropic, and dominant. He represents the worst possible version of masculinity. The second man, Howard, is submissive and weak. Both are angry at women. Chad convinces Howard that they should play a game on this business trip: They will select a vulnerable woman at random, pretend to romantically pursue her, and then obliterate her heart for sport. This is exactly what they proceed to do (and the woman they select is deaf, amplifying the psychological brutality). The final twist is that the trick is not just on the woman, but also on Howard. The insinuation is that the way men talk when women aren’t around is the only time men are actually honest.