In one scene, Dave is suffering from low self-esteem. He heads out to the garden shed where, in order to try and lose some weight, he wraps glad wrap around his stomach. Once he has done this, he proceeds in eating his chocolate bar. Obviously the two actions are contradictory, and this may evoke laughter from the audience. The film is more than just entertaining, however, as it also communicates observations regarding human nature.
The Full Monty promotes stereotypes assigned to males. Early on in the film Gaz and Dave are portrayed as chauvinists, judging a women entirely on her appearance. Whilst Dave rates her, "eight out of ten", Gaz comments, "you can never really tell until you see the tits." The film also shows that, whilst men can be sexist, they are also poor at communicating their feelings. Nathan leaves his father one night to walk home, and Gaz catches up with him to reconcile. Gaz pleas to his son, "I like you", and then hesitates before continuing, "I love you, you bugger", and punching him. Nathan then hits his father back before they hug. Not only is Gaz unable to express his love, but Nathan too feels awkward and is unsure how to respond. In a separate scene, Dave and Gaz ruin Gerald's chances of receiving a full time job. They feel guilty, and bring Nathan and Lomper to apologize. After stumbling when saying sorry, it becomes apparent that the men have a gift for Gerald. They are embarrassed, however, and Nathan hits his dad to prompt him to present it to Gerald. Once again, the men of the film cannot express how they feel. Indeed, The Full Monty portrays all of the men in the film as stereotypical males, and by doing so leads the viewer to believe that most men are similar in character.
Peter Cattaneo's film promotes the importance of masculinity. All of the men were once employed in a steel factory. This work is traditionally seen as very manly, as it involves hard work and heavy lifting.