Comments on: Manly men versus slackers

By: BigEar38

BigEar38 — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 06:00:37 +0000

All of this is part of a continuing effort, whether intentional or not, to feminize our K-12 schools, indoctrinate our college students, create an Orwellian media, empower women and demean men in movies and on TV. Sadly, these efforts are succeeding.

By: Trish

Trish — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 00:58:37 +0000

Jim. Since I know what the protagonist of that story did, I can’t in any way agree that he was a manly man. No offense, but he behaved very badly, and his wife had to suffer for it. That’s not “making some difficult choices”, that is being a jerk.

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 23:42:25 +0000

Without disagreeing with Trish’s comment, I wish more people would actually read Sloan Wilson’s novel, THE MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT. It’s protagonist, Tom Rath, is truly a manly man underneath the gray flannel - quiet, unassuming, and strong - but inexperienced in the culture of the business world. As he tries to climb the corporate ladder, he has to make some difficult choices, both professional and personal, that will have impact on Betsy, his wife. The movie portrays them reasonably well, but the book is better, and far more intense. If you want to look into the private life of a man of ‘the greatest generation’ when the shooting stopped, read this book.

By: Christina

Christina — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 20:09:22 +0000

Here is a link to James Bowman’s review of MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, which you might find interesting. According to him, it seems that the only way to have chivalric, manly male characters and women who are awarded for their patience in a new movie is to set it in the past, because it was OK to behave that way back when women had less “choice” in their lives. Such behavior would be too retro today.

http://www.jamesbowman.net/reviewDetail.asp?pubID=1672

I’m trying to think of a romantic novel set today that would make a good movie and provide interesting male characters, but I’m getting a headache so I should stop.

By: Christina

Christina — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 20:05:49 +0000

http://www.jamesbowman.net/reviewDetail.asp?pubID=1672

I’m trying to think of a contemporary romantic novel that would make a good movie and provide interesting male characters, but I’m getting a headache so I should stop.

By: Joseph Libson

Joseph Libson — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 06:13:20 +0000

Mr. Lemieux, you bring up an excellent point.

I would assert that your son is a “real” man and your daughter is a “real” woman. And as such they fall into neither sterotype.

Real men and women both should be capable of being tough as nails for their enemies and gentle as a feather for their loved ones.

What has happened is we have removed all of the “tough” from the men and we are trying to remove much of the “gentle” from the women. And so we end up with caricatures of both.

We have a very young son and 2 daughters. We hope to raise them to be “real” men and women.

By: Danny Lemieux

Danny Lemieux — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 01:57:47 +0000

I taught my son how to shoot, get his black belt, compete in the ring and stand face to face to anyone with the strength of his arguments. We also taught him to cook, love kids, appreciate gardening, fix his own clothes and do mission work on behalf of his church. We taught him the importance of strengthening his mind, body and soul. We taught our daughter exactly the same things. He is very masculine, she is very feminine. They both know how to be gentle and how to be tough as nails, as the occasion demands. I pity the poor *@ that ever crosses them. I also wonder which neat little stereotypic sex roles they fit.

By: Trish

Trish — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 22:59:40 +0000

Unfortunately, this is the feminut version of role-reversal. They don’t respect the women of the past; their ideal human being is the man in the gray flannel suit: cold, materialistic, utterly-self-centered. The men in the modern films are what the feminuts sincerely believe women used to be.

It wouldn’t surprise me if this is the real reason heroic/adventure/roleplaying video games are so popular. They appeal to something essential in teenage boys (and in this aging “hausfrau” as well): the idea that men should have courage and honor.

I don’t care if a male character in a movie has a blue-collar job, but I do care if he’s a self-centered, self-satisfied jerk. And I care even more if a female character is. I think it’s about time the movies grew up.

By: Joseph Libson

Joseph Libson — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 21:28:58 +0000

Book: at the risk of being pigeon-holed as one of your many cloying fans…:)

This argument of yours dovetails nicely with your old articles on American Thinker (I didn’t know that you were famous there too!). You talk about Harry Potter and LOTR as providing strong values messages. And loe and behold they *also* have strong male characters.

Harry (especially in the latest book) is starting to look more and more like an old school hero from a western: “I don’t care what you all say to me or think of me. I know what’s right and that’s what I’m going to do.” Great stuff.

Finally: you should lump the latest Batman Begins into your “good values” list. Favorite line (albeit from a bad guy)

“Like you, I was forced to learn
there are those without decency
who must be fought without hesitation,
without pity.”

Or one that you might like better:

“it’s not who you are underneath,
it’s what you do that defines you.”

By: Ymarsakar

Ymarsakar — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 19:10:58 +0000

The funny as hell part was when I realized Chuck Norris was taught by Bruce Lee and played several parts in Bruce Lee’s movies. That was just hilarious.

This miasma of decadence in Western culture and civilization, is also why the military (old school outposts) may like military science fiction romances.

At the same time you see the decay, you will also see a lot of people counter-react to that decay, Bookworm. If you’ve seen Pat Dollard’s tapes, you should have some taste of what the newest generation of men feel about pop culture.