Tarzan

Tarzan is a film character in many movies, exemplifying what Dyer calls the "champion/built body and a colonial setting" (146). Tarzan is a white man who was raised in a jungle, so though he is of the 'natives' he is not truly one of them: his body is superior in every way and his skin tone also sets him apart. Thus, Tarzan represents a hybrid between the concept of white colonialism/ control over native lands and the concept of racial tension. He demonstrates that exposure of the white male body in film can carry a message beyond simply demonstrating muscularity: it can also represent authority, skill, and biological markers which set white people apart, supposedly, from non-white natives.

Christ

Christ is, according to Richard Dyer, the most important figure to inform concepts of whiteness. Christianity itself, through its iconography and teachings, has helped put the characteristics which...