La Mission has a diverse cast of characters, including men with different masculinities. Stereotypical Latinos, Bay people and other men are shown. The film’s masculinity can be characterized in four different ways. There are heterosexual cis men who oppose homosexuals. Men who fight homosexuals with anger. More dominant homosexuals. And finally, straughn, cis-males who do not care what you look like as long you have good intentions. They are (in prior order) Alex, Che, Jesse and the Uncle.
In the article, What Does it Mean to be a man? M. Cristina Alcalde discusses violence and homophobia within Latino Masculinities, both on and off screen. She also talks about how macho men can be family-oriented but abusive to those people or their families who do not fit their standard. In my own mind, violence is a sign of hypermasculinity, not masculinity. This makes Che less masculine.
We also had a film that dealt with race, sexuality as well as class. Latinxs, gays, and people from low-to-middle class were the main themes. All of them played a major role in the film, as these were its main themes. These ideas and themes are often stereotypes but also validate them. The protagonists have to deal with problems when they rely on the social norms of his society to make decisions about what’s best for their son.
The film deals with hypermasculinity in relation to social norms as well ideas of culturally based maleities. In a reading called ‘Dude, You’re a……………, Adolescent Masculinity… and the…………………….. ‘ In ‘Dude You’re A Fag’, we see how the story is set in Northern California and La Mission. We also learn that people make jokes until they are serious. They either become defensive or try to make the joke real. This is what Alex does in the movie. Retrofitting Frontier Masculinity demonstrates how gender stereotypes are based on cultural and locational factors.
We don’t get to see the full range of masculinities in this movie. In culture, the father is expected to be the leader of the family, strong, and to maintain order. But in La Mission we see that Che plays the mother and father roles. He stays at home and works to be near Jesse. He takes care of his neighbors and son. He does a stereotypically masculine job with his buddies, but it is a hobby. He is masculine when he talks to his family and friends, but feminine when he gets down to the soft stuff.
