Short Film "American Male" Explores Internalized Homophobia Through Hyper-Masculinity

This chilling short film, American Male, from director Michael Rohrbaugh explores the inner monologue of one hyper-masculine frat bro that becomes an unrelenting stream of consciousness afraid of any social perceptions that are less than masculine identifiers.

Steroids, working out, practicing beer pong, chugging beer and more become the daily routine in an effort to avoid any possible personality traits that could be perceived as gay or feminine.

The film's off-screen narration consists entirely of the rules of the masculine road:

“Order beer. Not wine. And beef, not chicken. Never light beer, though. And tofu. Can’t get more gay than tofu.”

"At a young age, I began to closely observe the people around me. The way they talked, the way they walked, what they said, where it got them. Now, I am no longer a person, but a set of social cues."

The film was a winner in MTV's Look Different Creator Competition, which invited emerging filmmakers to create groundbreaking videos on the topic of privilege.