Posted on 01/16/2023 11:01:13 AM PST by Fiji Hill
Masculine male characters seem to be a dying breed in modern movies. Why? Well, I've got a few ideas...
In the past two decades or so, there's been a change in the way men are portrayed in movies and on TV. No longer are they cool, awesome and inspirational. Now, they tend to be dumb, hapless, insecure and incompetent and need to be bailed out by a female, preferably one who is “diverse.”
The problem comes in a number of different tropes.
Trope #1 The death of the stoic man
Male characters in earlier times were often reserved and exuded a quiet confidence and did not engage in to emotional outbursts. They did not talk about their “feelings” and set out to tackle the task at hand. When they showed aggression, it tended to be controlled and deployed at just the right moment for maximum impact. They were not likely to complain about insecurity or emotional fragility. In other words, they exuded stoicism.
Today's male characters now tend to come across as effeminate, talkative, expressive, reacting emotionally to what other characters say and do. They are easily intimidated by strong female personalities. They are almost never able to hold their own in an argument. They lack the self-confidence to assert control. They seem more like hyper-talkative and hyper-emotional children.
Trope#2 The deconstructed hero
Recent movies have transformed strong, brave, bold, assertive and ruthless heroes such as Luke Skywalker, Rocky Balboa, Superman and James Bond into sad, sullen, conflicted brooding and lonely characters. “Toxic masculinity” is definitely out.
Trope #3 Men are just dumb
In movies, TV shows and advertisements, men are often portrayed as stupid and incompetent. They need a strongr and smarter female character to get them on track. The smartest person in the room is never a man. And men never teach female characters anything of value.
Some of the marvel characters are manly men. Even though many of the actors are libtards butt holes.
Spoiler Alert: The White Man did it.
There are fortunately many vintage movies with masculine men in then to last a lifetime. I recently saw the original version of "The Big Sleep" (Raymond Chandler) with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
Good stuff.
He’s watching the wrong movies.
It’s not an either or world. I owned Big Sleep before Marvel movies became a thing. And I watch Marvel movies. Exploitation movies are fun. And, truthfully Big Sleep is just as much of an exploitation movie as Marvel, it just happened to come out before Corman figured out the formula. Actually probably one of the movies that helped him figure out the formula.
In advertisements this has been true since my childhood in the mid-20th century, particularly for items that women would be more likely to buy, though now it is essentially all items.
During the "manly man" era, it was comic men who took on the stupid/incompetent schtick: Charles Chaplin, Cary Grant, Red Skelton, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Mantan Moreland--but there was a clear understanding, accurate or no, that these actors, when they stopped acting and became themselves, were neither stupid nor incompetent. Can someone say that about the comic men of the last generation or so?
Worry Not—wait for the Big War—you know the one where we might really lose-— The Woke Metro-sexuals so beloved by women will be dumped for big he-men in Uniform. The war may well be here in months if not weeks. After we lose a few battles, and the Body bags roll in with thousands of flag draped caskets—then an icy chill will hit the nation. Once foreign boots hit American soil the churches will fill, the flags will come out—people will even play the anthem and not knell in protest. Peace Marches will seem anti-American then. Things will change—Just Like That.
Worry Not—wait for the Big War—you know the one where we might really lose-— The Woke Metro-sexuals so beloved by women will be dumped for big he-men in Uniform. The war may well be here in months if not weeks. After we lose a few battles, and the Body bags roll in with thousands of flag draped caskets—then an icy chill will hit the nation. Once foreign boots hit American soil the churches will fill, the flags will come out—people will even play the anthem and not knell in protest. Peace Marches will seem anti-American then. Things will change—Just Like That.
Don’t forget NO plot, NO dialogue, NO acting
The Critical Drinker is a modern Scottish philosopher....
That’s what frigid females who hate and fear men say. The Left is driven by such confusion and b.s.
In the meantime we had one movie last year, “Top Gun: Maverick” that celebrates the bravery, courage, and strength of men. I loved that movie.
You can find strong male characters in Asian movies and TV shows.
...which is not the same as a Scottish modern philosopher....
Way back when, in the mid-90s or so, I used this movie in my humanities courses, as a representation of what male-female relationships were considered "supposed to be" in the GI Generation, that the man was manly and the woman was not, but was considered his equal. The back-and-forth sarcasm and hidden sexual references made for good cinema, but my parents and their generational compatriots saw this as the way men and women should consider each other.
Even when Paul Drake would walk into Perry Mason's office with a "hello beautiful" to Della Street, this was affirming her feminine-ness, but today that would gain one an instantaneous meeting with HR over creating a hostile environment. Sad.
Still they made Thor into a fat drunk mess.
Top Gun Maverick did well, and no woke faggotry.
The personnel were a bit “more tan” than likely, but it wasn’t in your face.
They used to be. Since Phase 4 kicked in, the male heroes are being replaced with women or POCs or in some cases both.
The smartest person in the room is never a man. And men never teach female characters anything of value.
—
In racial competition for the dumbest male between a white couple and a black couple:
The white woman is smarter than the white male, the black male is smarted than either white, and the black woman is a super genius eclipsing the other three.
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