MARGINALIZED MASCULINITY ON SCREEN: INDIAN MALE PORTRAYALS IN HOLLYWOOD FILMS

This paper explores the representation of Indian male characters in Hollywood films and how such portrayals influence broader perceptions of Indian masculinity using R.W. Connells theory of hegemonic and marginalized masculinity. Indian male characters in Hollywood films are often given character traits which place them outside Hollywoods dominant heteronormative ideals. These portrayals come from the intersection of race, class, sexuality and ethnicity. Hollywood pushes certain groups of men, particularly racial minorities, outside the accepted ideal of masculinity. The roles given to Indian male characters often lack physical or sexual confidence and keep them on the margins of Hollywoods dominant and heteronormative masculinity. The paper uses textual analysis of select Hollywood films from the 1930s to the present, spanning the earliest portrayals of Indian men to those in recent years.