Toxic Masculinity In Point Break

Kathryn Bigelow’s 1991 crime film ‘Point Break’ is a film that cleverly addresses the issues with toxic masculinity, new age masculinity and the effects these values land men in, when they allow themselves to be oppressed by the societal expectations that are attached to being a man. Whilst similarly questioning the values of what it means to be a woman.

The opening sequence has a theme of running water which is frequently revisited within the film. When we first see Jonny, who is portrayed by a young Keanu Reeves, he is firing away at a target practise whilst it is pouring down with rain, thus accentuating his male physique which much like Bodhi’s who is played by Patrick Swayze, we see surfing in the sea amongst waves, which are a representation …show more content…
Toxic masculinity which I define as patriarchal ideals that end up causing harm to society or a person’s life is embodied at one point or another during the film by all three men. Angelo who is seen as “past his time” is mocked by his younger peers, suffers from toxic masculinity because he let’s his ego get the best of him in seeking to finally be a hero and prove himself to others, thus he ends up dying. Bodhi who controls every person and aspect of his life, who sticks to his values very strictly also suffers from toxic masculinity. When he abandons his values, goes into the vault and steals more money than he needs he becomes too greedy, his greed is ultimately what gets his tribe killed and ends’ up with his death in the denouement of the film, which I will speak about later in this essay. Jonny who is the main protagonist of the film and is a representation of a more self-driven man also suffers from toxic masculinity, he gets too caught up in being part of the tribe and catching Bodhi that he unveils himself as an undercover detective and is then forced to rob a bank to save Tyler’s