In the most memorable scene of Near Dark, Severen taunts and tortures the patrons of a country bar (which Severen gleefully refers to as “shit-kicker heaven”) and encourages Caleb to explore the full benefits of his newfound strength and power. In Paxton’s hands, Severen is the pathological result of what happens when a tough guy feels bulletproof because he is bulletproof. He understood the fragility of their hypermasculinity, and when his characters were humbled, or when their bravado turned to fear, it was not so much a reversal as a reveal. Paxton made his name in the 1980s playing tough guys, bullies, and military grunts with uncharacteristic insight. It’s a role Bill Paxton seemed born to play. Within the film’s cultural context, Severen emerges as a vicious and cruel model of unchecked white male aggression.
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