Requiem for a “Tough Guy”: Representing Hockey Labor, Violence and Masculinity in Goon

• Autores: Ellexis Boyle
• Localización: Sociology of sport journal, ISSN 0741-1235, Vol. 31, Nº. 3, 2014, págs. 327-348
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This paper explores the ongoing construction of hockey in Canada through a textual analysis of the popular comedy, Goon (2012). Touted by its authors as “the Canadian sequel to Slap Shot” and “an homage to enforcers”, Goon is analyzed in relation to simmering debates about fighting in hockey as well as the broader crisis of employment and masculinity that characterize the sociopolitical milieu in which the film circulates. A crisis of masculinity narrative is found to emerge in and through a discourse about working-class labor that both celebrates and devalorizes violent labor and the capitalist relations in which it is embedded. The analysis provides insight into the interlocking relationships among texts and contexts as well as the role of sport films in perpetuating dominant ideologies about violent labor in hockey.