Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Man! I Feel Like a Man: Lessons in Masculinity from the New Fall Lineup

It’s almost September, and you know what that means. Fall premieres are just around the corner. The trailers are out. The press releases are in. The anticipation is mounting!

This year’s new comedies tackle such issues as being young and broke (2 Broke Girls), raising kids (Up All Night, I Hate My Teenage Daughter), falling for your co-worker (Free Agents), and acclimating to an eccentric roommate (Apartment 23, New Girl). But there’s also a deeper, more philosophical theme floating around TV land this season, serving as a premise for three new series. The question is, “What does it mean to be a man?”

Last Man Standing, Tuesdays on ABC

Tim Allen returns to ABC Oct. 11 in Last Man Standing, playing a married father of three daughters, with a tagline that reads, “He’s a man’s man, but lately he’s realizing he’s not in a man’s world anymore.” Can you imagine Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor raising girls? Can you picture how utterly clueless he would be? And how insensitive he would come off to them? Yeah, that’s Last Man Standing in a nutshell.

Some of the humor comes out of basic gender differences, poking fun at the stereotypical ways men and women can seem ridiculous to each other (men don’t listen, women cry a lot). But judging by the advertisements, the show is mostly about Tim Allen’s “fight to stay manly” while parenting three emotional females.

How to be a Gentleman, premiering Sept. 29 on CBS, has a similar tagline: “Bert's a man's man. Andrew's a gentleman. This fall they will teach each other a little bit about becoming a better man.” The two main characters here represent two extremes on the spectrum. Bert’s a rude, dumb, sloppy horndog who lifts weights and acts macho. Andrew’s a skinny, intelligent, prim-and-proper “nice guy” who writes a column on being gentlemanly.

How to be a Gentleman, Thursdays on CBS

Despite what the tagline says, the trailers indicate that it is mainly Bert who is teaching Andrew how to be a man rather than both characters teaching each other. And that’s rather unfortunate because Andrew has many admirable qualities while Bert has virtually none. Dave Foley, who plays Andrew’s boss on the show, commented, “Bert becomes a great, sort of, alter ego to Andrew in helping him basically learn how to be more of an ass.”

That is a scary quote. On a show addressing the topic of what makes a man manly, why is the nice guy derided and the jackass glorified? Maybe the series will live up to its tagline and Andrew will teach Bert a thing or two about respecting women… and being less ass-like.

ABC’s Man Up!, coming Oct. 18, advertises this slogan: “Will, Craig, and Kenny—three best friends who have completely forgotten what it means to be a man.” These are three sensitive, childish guys who feel a bit emasculated in their suburban lifestyles. They recall how their forefathers fought in wars, and they ask themselves what tough things they have done in their lifetimes.

Man Up!, Tuesdays on ABC
“They’re constantly like, ‘Man, we should be more like our fathers and take charge,’” said Dan Fogler, who plays the divorced Kenny. “And every time they take charge, they just mess up. That’s the fun of it.”

So unlike How to be a Gentleman, where the characters are, in theory, learning to be better men, in this show our main guys fail at redeeming their masculinity. The comedy depends on it.

What are we to conclude? Clearly the definition of manhood is on a lot of people’s minds lately, or else it wouldn’t be the basis for so many shows. But for the male viewer questioning the issue, are these shows going to give him any answers? Will the protagonists’ failures be comic relief or a frustrating blow to the ego?

As a woman, I don’t think I can answer that question. And we can’t know how these shows will actually pan out until they air. What I do know is that with active viewing, television can give us new questions to ponder and new ways of considering ideas. So at the very least, my hope is that these series will prompt discussions as they cause their viewers to see the issue from new angles.

What do you think? Is masculinity in jeopardy in real life or just in entertainment? Are nice guys doomed to finish last?

I hope not.

3 comments:

  1. Nice job, Laura! I want to comment substantively here because I think a lot about this topic too.
    When I get home, I will.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You may wish to delete this comment because its a bit dark, but I believe every word of it. David Kupelian addresses some of this in "The Marketing of Evil."

    Hollywood is driven by political power, and since 1960, said power has been increasingly hostile to American interests, fueling the trend towards global governance - their goal.

    Its not just Hollywood, its the arts in general, but their agenda becomes clear in TV and film. The name of their game is control over the minds and behavior of Americans.

    And the more they can rip people away from their families, they more control they have over our thinking, our purchasing, and our willingness global govt takeover. Family is their enemy, so they target the heads.

    The best way to destroy a free nation is to discredit the godly authority bestowed on the heads of families, usually fathers.

    Men are the best ones to protect their families from propaganda. Its their nature to protect. Emasculated and disconnected people are easy targets for manipulation. Divide & conquer.

    In conclusion, the old saying "if you give a man a name he will live up to it" seems fitting here. The evil ones want to give men a name, and it is wimp, immoral, incompetent, violent, insensitive, uncommitting, irresponsible, jerks, etc. They want to mock the authority of men and, in so doing, they try to mock God, and America.

    The days are evil.

    ReplyDelete