Posted on 01/18/2026 4:52:31 PM PST by Angelino97
Consider the hapless man. He’s uncertain, ineffectual, star-crossed. Nothing ever seems to work out for him; he can’t confidently take action to face a crisis. You’d think he would make for a dull story. And yet there he was last year, serving, improbably, as the protagonist in several notable films.
Instead of prestige movie heroes like J. Robert Oppenheimer, we had the unlucky lead who bumbles forward as if confounded by the plot unfolding around him. He’s a man of action, sometimes, but not much sense. He turns to exactly the wrong person for help with an important task. He spends so long numbing himself with drugs and alcohol that he can’t recall the talismanic words that will protect him.
And of course he reckons with the people these films inevitably put beside him: hypercompetent women. They are ever-present — and they are usually so capable, so confidently efficacious, that if they were the story’s focus, the movie would be over in 15 minutes...
All these protagonists are ineffectual bunglers. Once they’ve decided to act — not a given — they seem unmoored by the forces arrayed against them. It’s not just viewers who can see this. Early in “One Battle,” Perfidia’s mother asks Bob how he will take care of her baby granddaughter: “You look so lost,” she tells him.
The women they come across, on the other hand, seem ready for anything. They might see several chess moves ahead of both the protagonists and antagonists. They know how to affect the world of the movie, and they do so with ease — exactly what the actual “hero” of the story is completely unable to do.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Same with Landman, Billy Bob just got fired, Dimi Moore a freshly minted widow, now knows how to run an oil company.
I bet your Mom would like a movie called 36 Hours. It's an older movie usually played on Turner Classic Movies. Just a really good story.
“Every woman lawyer or real estate agent posts the identical pose on their billboard photo...”
You know, I never even noticed that! My Realtor’s magnetic business card is on my fridge. She got me big money and a very smooth transaction when I sold my farm in 2016. And that IS the exact pose she is striking!
She’s also a friend, so I’ll ask her about it next time we ‘Female Movers and Shakers’ do lunch. ;)
Bookmarked!
‘Nobody’ Bump! :)
Say goodnight Gracie.
That was a great summary!
Noted. Thanks!
Hollywood pushes anti-male movies. And it’s the way of culture as a whole. They want boys to be second-class citizens without anything while girls are empowered to have everything.
If Ralph and Ed didn’t get up and go to work every day then Alice and Trixie probably would’ve starved to death ... in other words they were ungrateful parasites ...
P.S. I stumbled across a very unique movie called, ‘From Noon Till Three’ with Charles Bronson and real-life wife Jill Ireland.
Set in the post-civil war West, it’s just adorable. Funny and fun and not Bonson-like at all!
Trailer:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074553/
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.