How America Got It's Name (1979) is so so sogood
If you’ve ever taken a media class, you probably know about the Hero’s journey. It’s this monomyth that strangely maps a massive amount of human literature; from Moby Dick to, I dunno, the fuckin’ bible. But if you’ve ever taken a gender studies class you might also be familiar with the heroic male project - which is this cycle of departure and return that men in mythology seem destined to, drawn by some nature deep in their soul, indicative of their raw masculinity. They explore and conquer the land, creating empires, civilising the rough landscape with their superior male heroism. The conquering of space itself has become synonymous with masculinity, because that’s what our history and our culture tells us. That’s why, when I think of the most perfectly hegemonic man I can, I think of Christopher Columbus. Or at least, what history has taught us to think of Christopher Columbus as. A glorified, idolised murderous coloniser has all of the makings of what our mythology teaches us a man should be. Unemotional, dominant, powerful, in control, commanding an empire. “The legend that is America [continues] to be infused with masculine mythology” ((Whitehead, S. (2002). Men and Masculinities: Key Themes and New Directions. Polity Press.)).
It’s highly indicative of Marvin’s character that he has chosen to posit himself as Columbus. Of course a self-obsessed and insecure man would Lin-Manuel Miranda himself to be the lead character of an epic narrative. And of course a queer man living in 70s America would want to approach the topic of his own self-discovery by glorifying the heroic male project; as a way of tempering the blatant, shameful homosexuality of it all. Not to mention to gloss over the harm he has caused to the others in his life, and to distance himself from the guilt of his own actions. Essentially, by telling his story in the most mythologically, culturally masculine way possible, Marvin is able to avoid just how ashamed he is of - well, who he is.
Ahh. To quote the piece itself, "the thing about explorers is: they discover things that are already there."
...I need to go outside maybe
