Patriarchy, a Curse: The Iron Claw's Depiction of the Consequences of Fragile Masculinity
By Christina Davis
“Boys don’t cry.”
“Be a man.”
“Grow a pair.”
The 2023 film The Iron Claw follows strongman father Fritz Von Erich and his four sons as he pushes them to follow in his footsteps in hopes of becoming the most domineering wrestling clan of the 1970s-80s.
Fritz Von Erich held a practically religious belief in what he deemed “The Von Erich Curse,” that the family was destined to ill fate — a major driving force of the film. This insecurity not only propelled Fritz into an authoritarian style of parenting, but was passed down to his boys, resulting in an aim to please their father at all costs.
The boys were raised to overtrain, taking on the likeness of Fritz: large and intimidating. He focused on fostering a camaraderie between his sons and a sense of respect for him, but the film showed a dismissal of his wife as a disciplinary and guiding force in their sons' lives. The Von Erich boys' primary aim was to become champion wrestlers, and they held each other accountable to success with a mix of guilt, shame and hype.
The rest of this article contains spoilers, so read at your own risk.
An early scene shows Fritz speaking with his wife, Doris, of the curse in a flashy car he bought without her knowledge. The scene is portrayed in black and white as a flashback to the early 1970s when the couple was still laying the foundation to their lives. When she brings up that they cannot afford the vehicle, Fritz ignores her and carries on a conversation about how successful they will be in front of young Kevin and Jack Jr.
As they have more children, the belief in the curse that looms over their family is taught to each son. One by one, Fritz pushes his children to wrestle, believing that by being the most ruthless family in the wrestling industry, they can lift the ominous curse over their lives. Watching Fritz' determination to remove the curse in the film is like reading about Prometheus defying the gods; his attempts to manipulate events in the family's lives bring on a fate of their own as the film goes on.
In his days of wrestling, Fritz Von Erich's real name was Jack Adkisson. According to his son, Kevin Von Erich, in the Full Documentary: The Triumph & Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling, Jack no longer wanted to live after his first son, Jack Jr., died by electrocution as a young boy.
Kevin deduced that Jack wanted to punish people after the accident; hence, he became Fritz, The Iron Claw: an intimidating wrestler who would famously dig his hand into his opponent's face or head as a finishing hold.
Despite the sons having different goals, such as being in a band, playing professional football or making the Olympics, they abandoned those goals to become wrestlers. One of the sons, Mike Von Erich, was not an athlete, and unfortunately had a major injury from his first match his father drug him into.
Kevin, portrayed as the protagonist in the film and played by Zac Efron, watched his brothers suffer injuries and illnesses due to their wrestling careers. By the end of the film, all of Kevin’s brothers perished at young ages due to suicide following wrestling injuries, except for David, who succumbed to an intestinal infection while traveling in Japan for a match.
One of the last scenes in the movie shows Kevin weeping in front of his children as they comfort him, saying it is okay for him to cry and that they cry all the time. Kevin is moved by watching them play outside, apologizing for his crying over not being a brother anymore.
So, was the curse really the family name, or was it Fritz' unrelenting attitude?
It is hard to say what factors influenced the Von Erich family’s fate in real life, but Fritz as a character had a whole host of toxic masculinity issues in the film. He blamed Kevin for Kerry’s death and had a revolving order of who was his favorite son based on who was the most athletic or charismatic at the time. His wife and sons dry their tears before speaking to him at the many funerals for the Von Erich boys. Doris hardly speaks in general, especially toward the end of the film.
Kevin was the sole survivor of the family, and it is hard not to attribute his survival to his wife, a strong woman named Pam. Unlike Doris, Pam pushed back when Kevin spoke about the curse. She was fearless and introduced herself to Kevin, told him to ask her out and proceeded to lead the relationship in the film. Her marriage to Kevin was depicted as peaceful and stable.
The home they created was a stark difference to his father’s hostile home. Throughout the story, Pam supports Kevin by leading while he goes through one tragedy after another, which is not a traditional feminine role in society. She only decides to make smart financial decisions that would benefit their family, unlike Fritz’s extravagant auto purchase.
Since most of the brothers died by suicide, including Chris Von Erich, who was not mentioned in the film, Kevin’s survival begs the question: did a steady feminine influence on his life save him mentally and emotionally, breaking the supposed curse?
Of course, the real Kevin Von Erich does not believe in the curse, but the choice to give that perspective to Pam helped rewrite this story as one that uses the feminine as an anchor and exposes the patriarchy for the damaging lies men are told.