Tom Cruise: Performing Masculinity in Post Vietnam Hollywood

Tom Cruise is a Hollywood superstar like no other. World famous since his debut in the 1980s, he remains among the highest paid actors. Why has his persona resonated so powerfully with millions of viewers? Using psychoanalytic theory, "Tom Cruise: Performing Masculinity in Post Vietnam Hollywood" demonstrates how his star persona sublimates anxieties about masculinity. Amid Reagan-era military jingoism and concern over declining industrial labour, he represented a new model of American masc...