Hitman

In the spirit of "family time," I, my husband, and four of my cousins went to sit quietly in a movie theatre, together yet solitary, and plug our brains into the entertainment feed. Ranging between the ages of 16 and 30, we managed to settle on Hitman, a movie based on a video game none of us had ever played. Of course, that doesn't matter as these movies are made to stand alone.

Timothy Olyphant plays Agent 47, a man trained from birth as an assassin. The movie incorporates the typical emotion-inciting images of young boys being indoctrinated into an emotionless violent culture with the ever-present DISCIPLINE screen shot on an overhead projector with the boys sitting identically in school-type desks looking at it. Some new features that distinguish this from the typical assassin/undercover agent type flicks include the amazingly identifiable bald head and barcode ensuring he can't fade into a crowd (which plagued me the whole movie) and the strange subplot regarding his sexual innocence.

Agent 47 is attracted to the woman he is trying to protect but seems unclear about how to act for the situation. It can be inferred that he is a virgin - a definite twist in the world of James Bond type flicks. The woman in question is the unwilling whore of 47's target: the new age damsel in distress, the sexual goddess who came by her talents against her wishes. She must be saved from her life, and in return she will treat her rescuer to all the tricks she learned from her rapist (makes sense, eh?). But Agent 47 doesn't bite. He is a dedicated assassin who has learned the true nature of discipline and self-deprivation. Aw, isn't that admirable?

Really though, I'm fascinated by this desexualization of (what is supposed to be) a strong masculine character. What is the motivation? What does it mean?