Spectrum8044

I can’t give a full assessment - my niece has asked me to see it with her this weekend.

I think much of the criticism has to do with the hypocrisy of filmmakers being so concerned about how women are portrayed, and then “forgetting” to include a male character in this film who is either kind or has two brain cells to rub together.

As for the messages about men not being defined by women and male solidarity, I’m curious to see how this is presented. The cynic in me feels like it will be presented as kind of a joke, but we’ll see.

These suggestions are pretty mainstream and probably reflect my age demographic:

• Bob’s Burgers - This might be a bit debated but it’s still going, and I find this show to be such a refreshingly non-dysfunctional take on a family cartoon sitcom. Rather than an incompetent idiot or antagonist, the Gen-x Bob takes the role of the set-upon dad who occasionally gets a bee in his bonnet in a very relatable way. His relationship with his son, Gene, is beautifully honest and direct.
• husband-and-wife team action comedies - You may have noticed a recent, small genre of these, including Shotgun Wedding, Murder Mystery 1&2. They’re not great action movies and they’re very formulaic. But they depict couples who actually respect eachother (or come to do so) working as a team, without gender politics being a thing.
• Star Trek Picard (seasons 1 and 3) - after Discovery, I was ready to give up on the whole franchise. Season 3 particularly gives us old and new male characters with depth and heart. I particularly like it when a male character is introduced as if he will be a one-dimensional stereotype, but then we get to relate to his point of view.

These are slightly older, but I can’t go past the Lord of the Rings trilogy (positive, wise, strong male characters to balance the negative), Disney’s Onward (surprisingly sincere story about two brothers), and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (depicts the handover from one era’s masculinity to another with grace and honesty).

there is a danger to dropping these terms as you suggest. The danger is that the related problems are not discussed.

The problems are only being discussed now because it was finally realised that men’s gender expectations are negatively affecting women.

The men’s movements of the 80s and 90s (which originally coined the term TM) already worked out that men suffer under harmful gender expectations. Nobody gave a crap. Here we are, 35-40 years later, and we only give a crap because of #metoo.

Feminism is about achieving gender equality by advancing women’s rights.

Thank you for this succinct definition. Many male advocates are confronted with feminists claiming that they have everything it takes to solve men’s problems too - but all in good time. Men need to accept that this is never going to happen before we can begin to build change.