The masculinity crisis in cinema: Research on the movies An Officer and A Gentleman-Top Gun

This study, the reflection of patriarchy, which occurs because of gender roles, and masculinity studies, which are examined in gender studies, on the screen is investigated. Gender studies began to be carried out intensively with women's studies, and after a while, men's studies increased to make sense of their position, status, and power in society. Thus, in addition to the concepts of masculine power and hegemonic masculinity, identities where men can be oppressed and oppressed can exist, and the situation in which men are in the oppressor role subject has been revealed. The power that comes about because of the loss of connection with the body and emotions, experiencing a change in perspective and attitude with concepts such as equality and freedom, especially in developing societies; The state of being a subject, which confirms its dominance with all its attitudes and behaviors by determining the meaning of social relations, has made possible the transformation of the hegemonic masculinity phenomenon. Gender roles, which have moved away after the 1970s, forgive inadequacy and uncertainty in explaining power relations. This situation symbolizes the change in the social structure and is presented to the audience to be read from the perspective of cinema. This change, in which the negative characteristics of male characters, which can be described as passive rather than their domination or hegemonic powers, are reflected in movies, is explained by the phenomenon of masculinity crisis, and begins to create new research areas. In this context, the concept of masculinity crisis observed in Hollywood cinema in the 1980s is examined. In the films, which are thought to contain hegemonic masculinity with the representations they contain, the transformation into a masculine crisis is shown. For this reason, the films An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) and Top Gun (1986) are analyzed. The change of male identities is revealed because of the analysis carried out with the thematic analysis method by using sociological and historical criticism methods.