10.31.2008

Forty Fuckless Years and Performative Gender

From the few scenes we saw of the 40-Year-Old Virgin, I rapidly got the impression that it doesn't fit the concept of the radical romance.

One could argue that the lead character was an odd one, and he's forty, and still a virgin because of his social inadequacies, and hey, isn't that radical? But it isn't, not really. It sticks to the precepts of the Neo-Traditional RomCom: we are introduced to the "correct" Girl, Guy is in contact with "wrong" girls, Guy gets the "correct" Girl, it ends with marriage... and it even refrains from sex until afterward. There's even kids involved, which bolsters the idea of his being such a great guy. The only thing it teaches us is that nerds are people too.

The roles played by his male friends seem typical, in bragging of sexual exploits. They provide the expected stereotypical male advice: pick up drunk girls, act mysterious and dicky, porn collections, et al. They pass an uncertain point where they are compelled to determine that he is heterosexual, after which the discovery of his mere virginity is a relief (the continuing bias and fear of homosexuality is part of what Butler addresses).

Yet they also are supportive instead of derisive. While engaging in the competitive nature of male vs. female society, they also tap into an older (traditional as nothing else is) "rite of passage," that of a manhood ritual of a fellow male. It falls into what Butler references as the imitative nature of sex: that heterosexuality must be constantly updated, and performed, in order to maintain itself.

In this sense the movie reiterates the fear of homosexuality: that to "win" the protagonist proves his sexuality. The goal has never changed.

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