Many people feel that the Hulk is Bruce Banner's id, that he is all of the repressed anger and rage that Banner doesn't allow himself to voice. This interpretation gained more momentum with the introduction of the Ultimate line's reimagining of the Hulk character, who indeed is all about his desires. This interpretation, however, sells the character short and is the reason that the Ultimate's Hulk is far more lacking in depth than the "regular" Marvel's Hulk.
The Hulk is actually a social construction given physical form. It is the idealization of manhood, not Banner's idealization but instead one created by society that he is expected to live up to. Whether it is his own father or his father-in-law, General 'Thunderbolt' Ross, calling him a pansy and trying to toughen him up, they are attempting to make him fit into a pre-exisiting mold. Banner is seen as weak, he is seen as useless by these men. The Hulk however is seen as strong, the military sees him as a potential weapon. To masculine society, the Hulk is useful, albeit dangerous.
Is society better served by the Hulk or by Banner? Obviously the Hulk is a loose cannon who has destroyed entire cities while Banner's intellect could be far more helpful to curing diseases and creating inventions. Yet when you look at our society, who is praised more? The smart or the strong? So Banner assumes the guise of the Hulk, much in the same way that many men put on a tougher exterior in an attempt to be taken seriously, to make it in the world and just as it is with those men, Banner is hurting himself and the world more than he is helping.
Banner is portrayed as a victim with no control over his transformation so the point could be made that he is nothing like the young men who assume a tougher guise. Upon closer inspection, do those men really have much of a choice? To not be labeled a pansy (or worse) and suffer the social (and sometimes physical) consequences don't they have to act in that manner?
The Hulk is not alone in this gender construction, however. He is joined by his cousin, Jennifer Walters also known as the She-Hulk. Jennifer Walters is a very intelligent, slightly frumpy lawyer who recieved some of her cousin's blood after a near-fatal accident. She too can transform into a gamma-powered super being. However, her transformation renders her into a slightly-bobbley brained (but by no means stupid), sexpot. While society says that a man is "meant" to be strong, silent and stupid so the Hulk is that, meanwhile a woman is supposed to be ditzy, pretty and built so the She-Hulk fulfills that. Again, we see that the gamma exposure doesn't merely turn people into super-powered machines of destruction but instead makes them into a social construct.
Tagged with: The Hulk
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