#comedyanalysis

Rewatching this made me realize Ricky Bobby spends the whole movie trying very hard to prove himself. He brags constantly, obsesses over winning, and gets defensive about anything that might make him look “less manly.” Instead of looking strong, he ends up looking insecure.

Winning is his whole identity. He does not even race for the fun of it. He races because losing would mean he is nothing. That shows how masculinity often gets tied to domination and achievement instead of personality or values.

His rivalry with Jean Girard makes this even clearer. Ricky’s jokes about Jean’s sexuality are played for laughs, but as Heather Laine Talley and Monica J. Casper explain, it is “benign homophobia.” We laugh, but we also see Ricky’s anxiety about anything outside his idea of masculinity.

What Ricky teaches us is that toxic masculinity is learned. His behavior is a performance, not who he truly is. That is why he ends up looking so foolish.

Ricky Bobby sitting in front of a microphone during an interview, nervously holding his hands in front of him and saying “I'm not sure what to do with my hands.”