1. Dustin Hoffman
How One Actor’s Career has set Redeeming Qualities for
Failed Masculinity
Trevor Pacelli
Made for Prof. Lehman’s FMS 460 at Arizona State University

2. Thesis
Dustin Hoffman’s life was filled with a low self-
esteem in appearance and appeal towards
women, and he has projected these feelings in
the roles that he has been chosen to play in his
acting career.
“It’s one thing to view the world with childlike wonder and enthusiasm; it’s another to remain childish into
adulthood.” –Lehman & Hunt, 40

3. TheActor’s
Childhood
BornAugust 8, 1937
Class clown throughout
Elementary School
Kicked out of school each year from 1st-4th grade
Seeking of attention continued on through Junior High
Very self conscious of his looks when he was in High School
Was never very secure of dealing with girls
“God bless us, everyone, godammit.”

4. His Rise into
Hollywood
Went to Santa
Monica City College
Took an acting class
for an easy 3 credits-
and to meet girls
Later dropped out and lived in NewYork, where he worked odd
jobs and played bongos on rooftops with his roommate, Robert
Duvall
This meant that he could relate more personally to Ratso Rizzo
in MidnightCowboy
“I lived below the official American poverty line until I was 31.”

5. TheGraduate
1967
The Graduate was his first
big break into Hollywood
He is casted as a recent college
graduate who puts a sexual
affair with his parent’s neighbor
as a higher priority over
responsibility
Dustin Hoffman has no body worth sexualizing, unlike his
costar, Anne Bancroft
He plays with the mental state of a body guy but the physique
of a mind guy
“Which one would you pick? Hoffman or yours truly?”

6. Hoffman plays virtually the same role as The Graduate, where he needs physically attractive
women to restore his masculinity. Note how his naked body is framed in this scene, (1:50-3:26)
given far less attention than the appealing face of Mrs. Pendrake (Dunaway).

7. Kramer vs.
Kramer 1979
Here, Hoffman plays a
man whose wife (Streep)
leaves him to take care of
their son singlehandedly
He again portrays a body
guy with the physicality of a mind guy
As he was filming this, Hoffman went through his own divorce
with his then wife, Anne Byrne
He was cast in this part because both he and his character
assumed a failure to the male standards of the late ‘70s
“I have never read anything close to what I am witnessing emotionally - I really want to tell this story.”

8. Tootsie 1982
Wanted to be as good looking
as possible for the role
After a year of makeup tests,
his artists told him, “That’s as
good as it will get”
It was not only his character who learned to think the way
women think, but he himself as well
Tootsie was actually the name that his mother called him when
he was a child, so he felt that Dorothy Michaels was in essence,
his mother
“In high school, girls passed me over for the same reasons. Dorothy was able to accept the way she
looked: I couldn't.”

9. Rain Man 1988
Very strong
polarization between
the mind guy and the
body guy
Tom Cruise was already
Known at the time for
his body guy image
Dustin Hoffman, on the other hand, was not
His character in the movie was publicly undesirable, but with
beyond exceptional mental skills
“82, 82, 82.”

10. Raymond (Hoffman) finds a curiosity in the strange sounds coming fromCharlie’s (Cruise)
bedroom, but notice how he is more interested in memorizing the phonebook and seeing
what’s on the television.

11. Meet the
Fockers 2004
Character is super childlike
His children had admitted
that he really looked like
himself in this role
This is the point of his
career where he’s casted in
only supporting roles to make room for the next generation
He is compared to his son, Gaylord (Ben Stiller), who is a
definite mind guy: skinny, undersexed, and ashamed of it
His character sends the message that it’s ridiculous for older
unattractive men to be hypersexual
“Would you believe I conceived him with one testicle?!”

12. Kung Fu Panda
2008
One of the few times in his
career he’s done voice
acting
Jokingly suggested to the
animators that Master Shifu should
have a small nose
Even when his face is not seen, and even when he’s limited to
making children’s entertainment, he’s still self conscious about
his looks
“They ask your permission if they can shoot you while you’re trying to act so that those nuances of facial expressions, body language – the animators put
it into the character. My kids, two of my kids saw it.They said, ‘Oh my God, dad, it’s just like you.’ [Laughing] I don’t know what they’re talking about.”

13. DustinToday
Currently 77 years old
Recently diagnosed with
cancer in 2013, the type of
cancer is still unknown
Continues to do occasional
supporting roles in lesser known films
Recently directed the movie, Quartet, which looks at the world
of a retirement home
He has gone through no apparent overcoming of his physical
image, and his “class clown” identity has never truly diminished

14. Conclusion
Hollywood casts actors based on their background and
experience, not just professionally but personally too
Dustin Hoffman’s appearance and childish nature has made
him a popular role model for how men should not be like
His iconic performances have set standards for shying away
from body guy mentality and mind guy physicality

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Travers.YouTube. 1 Feb. 2013.Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IWlTDMZBkU>.
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• Kramer vs. Kramer. Dir. Robert Benton. Perf. Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. Columbia Pictures, 1979.
• Kung Fu Panda. Dir. Mark Osborne and John Stevenson. Perf. Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman. DreamWorks, 2008.
• Lehman, Peter, and Susan Hunt. Lady Chatterley's Legacy in the Movies: Sex, Brains, and Body Guys. New Brunswick, New Jersey, and
London: Rutgers UP, 2010. Print.
• Little Big Man. Dir. Arthur Penn. Perf. Dustin Hoffman and Faye Dunaway. Cinema Center Films, 1970.
• Meet the Fockers. Dir. Jay Roach. Perf. Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro. Universal, 2004.
• Midnight Cowboy. Dir. John Schlesinger. Perf. JonVoight and Dustin Hoffman. MGM/United Artists Entertainment, 1969.
• Rain Man. Dir. Barry Levinson. Perf.Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. United Artists, 1988.
• Rainman Sex Scene (funny). Famouspidgeon. Dustin Hoffman andTom Cruise.YouTube. 1 Nov. 2013. Web.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c05rlDOXxvQ>.
• The Graduate. Dir. Mike Nichols. Perf. Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman. Embassy Pictures, 1967.
• Tootsie. Dir. Sydney Pollack. Perf. Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange. Columbia Pictures, 1982.

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• Hoffman inWAGTHE DOG (1997). Digital image. MovieActors., 2015. Web. <http://www.movieactors.com/superstars/dustin-hoffman-photos.htm>.
• Hook (1991). Digital image. Sunday Movies.WordPress, 2 Sept. 2012. Web. <http://sundaymovies.net/2012/09/02/hook-1991/>.
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• Dustin Hoffman: "Je SuisTrès Conscient Des Restrictions Imposées Par L'âge à Ma Carrière" Digital image. L'Express., 27 Mar. 2013. Web.
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