by David Capra
“I’m the man! I’m the man! I am the man!” ABC’s new show, Man Up, opens with three grown men sitting on couches reassuring each other that they are men, as they coordinate a complex attack on the enemy’s base in an online war game. Television has always commented on what a man should be, how a man should act, and how a man lets the world know, “I’m the man!” In Man Up’s case, it’s through the headset of a video game – showcasing and lamenting the diminished role of physicality and power in today’s man. As a boy grows up, he is molded, shaped and guided by his father, his teachers, his celebrity heroes, and the fictional characters he sees on the small or silver screen. In the case of television writers, they have clearly delineated three paths that young boys can follow: the manchild, the manwhore, and the man as an island.
The manchild or the “pre-adult” has gained a lot of attention with the recent success of the Brat-Pack and Judd Apatow. But for a long time, television has been glorifying the man who never grew up or smartened up. In the 1950’s, The Honeymooners premiered with perhaps the biggest manchild ever, Ralph Kramden, whose get-rich-quick schemes always failed. Fifty years later, Ray Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond is literally a manchild unable to move away from his overbearing parents, relying on his mother and wife to clean the house, take care of the kids, and cook dinner. In both of these cases, and numerous others, the main characters are portrayed as lovable buffoons unable to truly succeed in life, but also as men we can root for and laugh with. Young boys are taught that it’s funny to rely on people and that life is best spent having a good time, playing golf and hanging with the other men at the Raccoon Lodge. Success will come, or it won’t, and everything will be taken care of.
Another trope in the storied history of television is the manwhore, the man who treats women as objects and toys. Recently, there’s no better example than Charlie Harper from Two and a Half Men, who is with a new woman (or sometimes multiple women) every night. The manwhore character offers intrigue and drama, charisma and seduction, but it also has a darkside. While this season’s new shows like New Girl, 2 Broke Girls and Apartment 23, have been deservedly praised for bringing female comedians to lead roles, the inciting action of each pilot is a man cheating. In New Girl, Jessica is forced to find new roommates after catching her boyfriend with another woman. Max in 2 Broke Girls has the same story, and June in Apartment 23 catches her fiancé with her roommate. While it’s nice to see television writers move past the confining gender role of the serious housewife, they continue to push the idea that men are prisoners to their sexual drives and lack the capability to treat women with respect and love. Manwhores live a fun lifestyle that many men dream of, but it leads to broken relationships and betrayal, which happens to not be so fun in the real world. Perhaps if they weren’t so heavily emphasized in the fictional world, real men would dream of following a different path.
As the famous saying goes, “No man is an island.” In the television world, this is true, unless that man is intelligent. While it’s easy to criticize the portrayal of men in television as dimwitted womanizers, that is certainly not always the case. House portrays one of the smartest doctors in the world who handles cases no one else can solve. Numbers showcases a brilliant mathematician, Charlie, who helps solve crimes for the FBI. In Lost, there are numerous smart male leads; Jack is a well-respected doctor and Ben is an all-knowing leader. What these characters all share besides their intelligence is their lack of substantial relationships. House manages to alienate everyone he comes into contact with, Charlie only befriends other intellectuals, Jack has failed romantic relationships both on and off the island, and Ben manipulates everyone and works alone. According to television, if a young man wants to be an academic, he better be ready to be on an island.
When will a well-rounded, charismatic and realistic man appear as a true model for the malleable minds of young men? Perhaps this season: CBS’s new show How to Be a Gentleman holds promise by tackling the role of masculinity and pits two characters against each other vying to be the titular gentleman.
Is it the small, sweater-vest wearing high school nerd with no friends or the bodybuilding, smooth-talking bully that acts like he’s 13?
Then again, perhaps next season.
Image from ABC
