A Tough Act To Follow

When it comes to media representation, women, visible minorities, gays and lesbians often feel misrepresented. And no doubt they have a case to make when it comes to how they're depicted on-screen, but men too have much to complain about when it comes to the way masculinity is portrayed, particularly on the small-screen. Who in their right mind can live up to the types of men we see on shows like 24, The Sopranos and The Shield, basically shows featuring empowered he-men beating the shit out of whoever they want, sleeping with whatever woman they like, with almost no consequences? Is this really how masculinity works, the stronger you are, the more violent you are, the better a man you are?

I guess we could write these shows off as male fantasy, especially 24 with its almost superhuman main character Jack Bauer, but I’ve started to question whether or not these shows can be written off as fantasy so easily. At some point, the characters behaviour begins to rub off on us, and we begin to equate notions of manliness with what we see on-screen. Not all of us maybe, but certainly those of us who watch enough of it will no doubt have a hard time disassociating the images of masculinity we see on TV from our own lives.

Three series in particular are good examples of this hypermasculine world that exists on television, and while I love their writing, acting and characters, I have to give pause when I think of just how unrealistic their portrayal of masculinity is.

Mad Men
 
Set in the early 1960’s, the show looks at the lives of the men and women of an advertising agency. Through this prism, we also see how the social mores of America were changing, going from a more conservative, tightly-wound, sexist America to a less conservative, loosey-goosey, women are somewhat equal America. The main protagonist is Don Draper, a handsome, well-groomed family man with a shady past. He’s married to a gorgeous 20-something former model, and has two kids. He doesn’t really care as much for the family-life, and often finds himself jumping into bed with just about any woman that tickles his fancy. He gets to live out this fantasy life, hopping from one woman’s bed to another, and his wife is basically willing to go along with it. I don’t mean to suggest that the writers are saying this is acceptable behaviour, and there may even be some truth to the dynamic between men and women that existed at the time, but it always feels like their only showing the positives and never the negatives. Don can cheat from time to time, go home to his wife, and basically get away with his shenanigans, mostly guilt-free.  

Entourage
 
Following the exploits, and I do mean exploits, of its young star Vincent Chase, the boys of Entourage basically ride the coattails of this promising upstart to fame, riches and plenty of bitches. The woman on this series are the least-developed characters, naturally, and pretty much exist to be ogled at. Vincent goes from one ridiculously hot girl to the next, even bedding actual female starlets like Mandy Moore in the process. It’s like watching a giant hard-on for thirty minutes. While we have to take into account the comedic nature of the series, it’s depiction of male-female relationships is about as hollow as a tree trunk. To get with beautiful women, one doesn’t need to be funny, nice or even educated. Wealth and fame will do, and if you’re friend is both, than that’s all that really matters.

Californication

Probably the worst offender of the bunch, David Duchovny’s raunchy sex-comedy is I guess his way of exorcising the ghost of Fox Mulder from his career, but could Duchovny have picked a more over-the-top show to star in? As Hank Moody, he’s as hedonistic as they come, “working” as a writer by day, sleeping with one-piece of eye-candy after another at night (and morning and afternoon), all the while co-raising his pre-teen daughter with his eye-candy ex-girlfriend/girlfriend. It gets complicated of course, but only in the sense that he needs to find time to juggle all this piece of ass he’s getting with his “demanding” job as a novelist. He even manages to bang his ex’s soon-to-be step-daughter, who happens to be 16! Does he get caught? No! Instead he gets to live out this Lolita-fantasy scott-free. I’ve got to hand it to Duchovny this season, managing to get three woman, each from a different generation, lusting after him, fucking two of them in the process while on his way to fucking the third. *Clap clap clap*

It’s difficult to really pin-point exactly the effect these shows, and all media, have on male behaviour. I don’t have a study I can cite to show whether or not watching programs like Californication will lead men to conclude that this is ideal masculine behaviour. But I think if we believe that Hank Moody is the masculine ideal, than his is a tough act to follow. And that's really what lies at the heart of all these shows. They create unrealistic portrayals of what being a man is, and the expectations we have of ourselves become out of proportion to who we really are. What we're left with is a pretty narrow and unrealistic definition of manliness that's pretty hard to achieve. And while I am no doubt entertained by the Hank Moodys, Don Drapers and Entourages I see on the boob-tube, I'm left a little self-conscious and insecure when the credits begin to roll.