Masculinity In Superbad

Superbad, one of the most iconic bromance films of all time. When asked what this movie is about, many say two things; at first glance, on the surface it seems like this film is all about going through hell just to get laid and to get alcohol, but I’d argue that there is a deeper part of the story, it is about two bros dealing with some “relationship problems”. Those two bros are Seth and Evan. Seth and Evan have been life long friends and are now coming to the end of their senior year of high school and are preparing for college life. The only problem is that they are both going to different colleges, and are experiencing some separation anxiety as if they were in a romantic relationship. Throughout the film, the audience can trace the development of this “bromantic” relationship between Evan and Seth, through numerous examples of scenes from the film. …show more content…
These two do not fit at all into what is called the “Act-Like-a-man” box from the article “The ‘Act-Like-a-Man’ Box”. This box represents what a masculine men needs to be like. They are intimidating, tough, have sex with women, and much more. However, when watching Seth and Evan in Superbad, they seem to fit the descriptions on the outside of the box. Nerds, wimps, teased, isolated, rejected, etc. Although, in the end Seth and Evan achieve their goals of landing it with two girls from there high school, Jules and Becca. They move on from each other, still friends, but now both have their own romantic relationships. Seth is with Jules, and Evan is with Becca. After deeply analyzing the characters in Superbad, Becca and Jules are almost female versions of Seth and Evan. For example, despite Seth's desire to drunkenly hook up with Jules, it turns out that Jules isn't that type of girl. She doesn't drink and doesn't seem interested in hooking up. Similarly, despite Evan's desires to tell Becca how he feels, she