I wonder if these tropes actually derive from the fact that most men don't resort to violence; most men I know have never been in a fist fight (which was what Chuck Pahlaniuk was satirizing in "Fight Club"). And so looking at films as entertainment, perhaps the popularity of violence (especially the extreme kind a la "John Wick") is the playing out of internal fantasies for men who wish they could be more assertive, more like these characters? If you've always backed down from confrontation and suffered the humiliation that entails, wouldn't such films basically provide fantasy fulfillment of a sort?
I read this before reading the previous six; I'm looking forward to the others though maybe I'll start at the beginning...
That definitely is a factor, I think: it’s a power fantasy for sure.
There’s 7 Toxic Masculinity tropes and before that, 7 Badass Female tropes. You can pretty much read them in any order, methinks, but I wrote the PBFTs first. If that means anything.
Yes, I read and commented on the female tropes and quite enjoyed them; looking forward to catching up by reading the male tropes.
In the interim between now and my comment, I wondered how much of this a "masculinity" problem and how much is a "human" problem. Mean people exist; and by "mean" I mean people whose whole goal in life is to ruin everybody else's day. Whether it's the "mean girl" or the bully who physically humiliates other men these people are real. That's why stories about someone who starts out powerless becoming powerful resonate with people; whether it's "Romy and Michelle" or John Wick (although I guess John Wick wasn't powerless but it was all I could think of at the moment).
Yes! It’s great to have your thoughts on those; especially because I first wrote them in the Before Times (tm) and so it’s good to see how they’ve aged for this new world after all its traumatic changes.
The "man card" graphic makes me curious what you think about the Heinlein quote "specialization is for insects . . . " which I think is both less toxic and has a lot of overlap with the "man card" stereotypes.
As far as (fiction) movies that don't have violence . . . I'm tempted to say _Before Sunrise_, but you already said (corrrectly) that Rom Coms as a genre are often problematic. I'll think about that.
I wonder if these tropes actually derive from the fact that most men don't resort to violence; most men I know have never been in a fist fight (which was what Chuck Pahlaniuk was satirizing in "Fight Club"). And so looking at films as entertainment, perhaps the popularity of violence (especially the extreme kind a la "John Wick") is the playing out of internal fantasies for men who wish they could be more assertive, more like these characters? If you've always backed down from confrontation and suffered the humiliation that entails, wouldn't such films basically provide fantasy fulfillment of a sort?
I read this before reading the previous six; I'm looking forward to the others though maybe I'll start at the beginning...
That definitely is a factor, I think: it’s a power fantasy for sure.
There’s 7 Toxic Masculinity tropes and before that, 7 Badass Female tropes. You can pretty much read them in any order, methinks, but I wrote the PBFTs first. If that means anything.
Yes, I read and commented on the female tropes and quite enjoyed them; looking forward to catching up by reading the male tropes.
In the interim between now and my comment, I wondered how much of this a "masculinity" problem and how much is a "human" problem. Mean people exist; and by "mean" I mean people whose whole goal in life is to ruin everybody else's day. Whether it's the "mean girl" or the bully who physically humiliates other men these people are real. That's why stories about someone who starts out powerless becoming powerful resonate with people; whether it's "Romy and Michelle" or John Wick (although I guess John Wick wasn't powerless but it was all I could think of at the moment).
Looking forward to reading the others.
Yes! It’s great to have your thoughts on those; especially because I first wrote them in the Before Times (tm) and so it’s good to see how they’ve aged for this new world after all its traumatic changes.
The "man card" graphic makes me curious what you think about the Heinlein quote "specialization is for insects . . . " which I think is both less toxic and has a lot of overlap with the "man card" stereotypes.
As far as (fiction) movies that don't have violence . . . I'm tempted to say _Before Sunrise_, but you already said (corrrectly) that Rom Coms as a genre are often problematic. I'll think about that.