Hollywood Has Stopped Making Good Male Characters

Modern Hollywood Is Struggling To Make Compelling Male Characters
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[@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5]

Hollywood Has Stopped Making *Characters*

[@chasehedges6775]

EXACTLY!

[@chasehedges6775]

And good storytelling in general

[@SpruceCampbell]

If only Hollywood could just stop. Period.

[@MrCroky123]

They just regurgitate content ....

[@SRMoore1178]

Most of their "characters" are just self-inserts now.

[@Kubwaw]

Hollywood has stopped making good female characters as well.

[@mcculloughli]

THIS

[@daveroe4961]

The big difference is that Hollywood has stopped trying to make good male characters.

[@chieff8]

You can't make a good female character without knowing how to depict it's counterpart. Heros mean nothing without villains

[@realistic_delinquent]

@@chieff8”he who knows only of his side of the case knows little of that” -John Stewart Mill. That, or Hollywood is populated almost entirely by trust fund Americans, an therefore languishes far to the left hand side of the bell curve.

[@CyTolliver]

Hollywood has stopped making *anything* good for going on a decade now

[@paulmurgatroyd6372]

Entertainment is failing because it's not entertaining, it's just propaganda.

[@cattrucker8257]

Worse yet, it isn't even effective propaganda, it's just recitation of dogma and slogans presented as if just stating them is meant to have some sort of holy power.

[@SurfbyShootin]

It always was propaganda. There just is no one else to propagandize so they just make content now.

[@umbrellacorp.]

Woke culture is constantly being Forced on us. Stick to old movies, that's what my family and I do. DVD if possible. 💿

[@DocMicrowave]

​@@umbrellacorp.Indeed. Hold on to physical media of your favorites. The classics are being restricted or sanitized if deemed problematic for "modern audiences".

[@mwfmtnman]

​@@SurfbyShootinstupid comment

[@blackadder564]

They have stopped making good characters. Period.

[@wombatillo]

Yes. The female characters are equally trash - just for different reasons and with different flavors of suckitude.

[@nerychristian]

Were they ever really good? Or just exaggerated hyper masculine characters who can beat up people?

[@EdiTheDon]

You mean 80's action stars? Hardly the breadth of acting archetypes.

[@blackadder564]

@@EdiTheDon Miles better than anything they have now.

[@powerbeard5653]

@@nerychristian No. Hitchcock movies were all famous for their hypermasculinity and violence, after all. Not an inch of depth in them. (in case you actually are an underage who doesn't know the history of film at all, this post is sarcasm)

[@ComicsForLife2023]

They stopped writing compelling characters all together. The female characters are written atrociously now days. Hollywood has no idea what real women are like now days. They paint this distorted picture where women hate men, are angry at men, humiliate men, lack ANY sex appeal and can’t fall in love anymore. And yes male characters with dignity, honor, masculinity and intelligence are long gone from cinema right now.

[@MrOgyny]

Women never fell in love with men, they fell in love with themselves and their ability to make men do stuff for them

[@ComicsForLife2023]

@@MrOgyny stop. That bullshit doesn’t help.

[@MrOgyny]

@@ComicsForLife2023 no. Yours doesn't help. Yours is the reason we're here.

[@ComicsForLife2023]

@@MrOgyny what I’m saying is the truth. It’s what everyone else in this comment thread is saying as well. What you said is just nonsense. Pure BS.

[@MrOgyny]

@ComicsForLife2023 nope. Your in fantasy land.

[@trey1941able]

THE MESSAGE

[@commonsenseisntcommon1776]

We aint buying it!

[@XenoChron2]

Is all they care about.

[@petrairene]

Hey, the female characters are just as shitty. Or what is the message of Captain Marvel, Rey and TV Galadriel supposed to be. There isn't a positive message to girls and women in this, they are most definitely not good role models, for women, or any human beings.

[@Markunator]

What _is_ “the message”? No one ever seems interested in clarifying that.

[@andrewlowden322]

ThE mEsSaGe

[@paulaburrows8660]

Crappy writers ., crappy stories, crappy characters. Just one big crapfest.

[@chasehedges6775]

ITS A MADHOUSE!

[@jalcobo]

Crappy people.

[@Aukrania]

It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world, huh

[@MolecularArts]

Hollywood has been castrated.

[@dennisdezarn5895]

But what a beautiful singing voice she has. Too bad all the songs she sings suck. Like Whitney Houston singing Cardi B.😢

[@XenoChron2]

Never heard it that way, but true.

[@Zzyzzyx]

*and* de-wombed

[@jameydunne3920]

As the famous Bob Barker regularly said at the end of 'the price is right', remember to spay and neuter your actors... I mean pets

[@SurfbyShootin]

Circumcised is the more accurate description.

[@danabnormal5988]

I don't know why the modern entertainment industry is so convinced that Strong Female Characters preclude the presence of a male character that isn't 1. An idiot. 2. Evil. or 3. A creepy loser.

[@saint.vitus.7775]

Yep - it's been like this for years now. I think you nailed it with 1: Idiot & 2: Evil. for 3: Queer, and for 4: a male feminist cuck ally (maybe that's what you meant by 'creepy loser' - lol). That about sums up the types of men we see in pretty much everything now.

[@SilverSaw988]

Or that it means that women can’t show female traits lol. They write strong female characters by not writing them as female ironically XD

[@lightworker2956]

And don't forget that our enlightened female writer overlords frequently also sexualize the evil male characters nowadays. So men are either background extras, or idiots, or creepy losers, or hot evil guys.

[@arostwocents]

With a strong male character too, it makes the strong female (the way they write them, all the worst masculine traits) look ridiculous.

[@gbonkers666]

I don't know why the keep on writing movies with strong female characters that still suck.

[@MasticinaAkicta]

You can't these days. Even James Bond is a wuss... James Bond, JAMES BOND!!! A freaking wuss! Letting women decide everything for him. F that.

[@saint.vitus.7775]

Yep - that is tragic. Can you picture Sean Connery's Bond acting like that?

[@luiznogueira1579]

@@MasticinaAkicta Daniel Craig makes Lazenby look good. Worst Bond ever!

[@TheFirstNephilim]

Can you elaborate more? And which version of James Bond you talking about?

[@Adelina-293]

That's why I stick to pre-Craig 007 films. Dalton's seriously underrated.

[@luiznogueira1579]

@@Adelina-293 Yeah, I never saw what all the fuss was about Dalton. Maybe the movies weren't so great, but he was fine as Bond, imo.

[@danielconroy6695]

Ever since masculinity started getting looked down on as toxic (unless a girl boss does it), there haven't been many writers who would risk their careers portraying men as manly and they stick to what will get them the pat on the back they desire from their colleagues over being creative and truthful

[@Ira_Ross]

I give my "full-throated endorsement" to this essay. The men who can't write men are also easy to spot.

[@GB-mu9ue]

Bet you do, gobbler.

[@toolegittoquit_001]

Not to mention women (whatever they define themselves to be) who attempt to write male characters...

[@kathleenhensley5951]

Hollywood isn't doing well with Female Characters. Hollywood acts like there is no such thing as an adult male OR female, and we all stay in High School mode, forever. And that is tiresome.

[@akashajones6079]

Good point

[@Edd25164605]

As a rule, Male characters are now written as broken, juvenile or incompetent. Plus, they're usually the butt of the joke.

[@dms-f16]

Same with female characters. Only Girl Bosses. Gone are the complex mothers, widows navigating their grief, daughters torn between desire and duty and queens learning to navigate complex political structures with grace and determination. Nobody loves, cares or feels anymore. All are perfect. Perfectly boring.

[@Bauglir100]

Hollywood stopped making good female characters too. It's just girlboss this, lesbian that. We can't have a woman who has anything resembling a personality or even a good character design without her being completely unlikable and/or attracted to other women.

[@jwt-nu3ei]

The subtext of the Critical Theory ideology appears to be that 'equality' requires competent men (and masculinity) be downplayed, whilst women be presented as (essentially) flawless, with diminished feminine traits. Make of that what you will.

[@battleofwills7189]

They've always wanted low IQ, blank slate, bipedal, androgynous blobs.

[@realistic_delinquent]

That’s “equity”, a nonsense term meant to leech the moral power of “equality”, but which is actually wielded indistinguishable from “ME supremacy”. Sort of like how Scientology uses its phonetic association with science to dupe brainless California millionaires. “Equity” demands that; first, women be conditioned to be more masculine in order to compete with men, and second, men be conditioned to be more feminine, in order to remove the competition.

[@bestdjaf7499]

​@@ashhhhhhhhhhhhhhh No, it is the foundation of Critical Theory. The whole point is to deconstruct the standards/norms/truths... They often say something like: "The assumption that men are stronger is a product of Patriarchy, with the intent to subjugate women and minorities. And we are here to overthrow the Patriarchy, in order to free women & men". * And the issue is the Education System. It requires talent & years of practice to become good at something. But everyone can criticize. That's why they go after the good movies & are just replacing the characters. And they think that they did a great job. Well, it's what they're supposed to do. They would get A+ & praise for the Activism at the school.

[@mirekcerny2081]

That is because 'equality' would indeed require either for women to become men (which is impossible); or for men to stop existing as men.

[@Catherine.Dorian.]

But the women are never shown as flawless. Look at She Hulk, were any of those characters likable? Captain Marvel? The female Indiana Jones? What’s hilarious is while having near complete control over Hollywood, the female authors have written some of the worst female characters I’ve ever seen. In fact, it makes women look incredibly unsympathetic

[@thechuckjosechannel.2702]

Hollywood gave up writing Good characters after 2012.

[@tyronewalker5764]

2000!😮

[@haroldb1856]

The end of the Mayan calendar is no small matter.

[@zephyrr108]

Yep. I feel like 2014 was the cut off.

[@filidhdeklend893]

"Why entertainment is failing" because we raised an entire generation on participation trophies and telling them that they are all special and are equally deserving of reward despite skill, talent, or effort...so now we have an entire generation within the entertainment industry expecting us to give them money just because they did "something". Notice how they always default too "you're not a decent person for not supporting this" and "all these people spent a lot of time making this so you can't criticize it!"

[@uslines]

Spot on! And, not only entertainment. The "hey, I can do that" generations to follow. Leading to full decline in just about every aspect of life.

[@dabba_dabba]

It's our generations fault we raised them this way. We can't be mad at them for the mistakes our generation did imo. Every generation acts as a product according to their surroundings usually created by the previous generation but those of us who are able to should raise our children learning from the mistakes of others.

[@ThereIsAlwaysaWay2]

You forgot black rok and van gard using media to weaken society. They own ALL Hollywood, music, news, Disney, Netflix, etc ..... Just search main shareholders of __________ (company name here).

[@custos3249]

Nah. It's because people keep relying on thought-terminating cliches like participation trophies while devoid of any self-awareness of who invented and handed them out as they point the finger.

[@OrchinX]

The problem is far more profound and honestly much worse than this. Participation trophies are a speck on a leaf on the tree of the enlightenment. Blame evil genius French perverts from the 1600s

[@dannypalin9583]

The worst thing the entertainment industry can do and has done is ruin established characters instead of making their own. When their projects are dying, they bank on fanservice. They bring back a beloved character and then put them down to raise their OCs up. It's the classic "I was cool but now I'm a loser" trope. They did it with Luke Skywalker, Thor and Indiana Jones. The OC has to snap them out of their self-pitying. They don't. It's fixed with a hokey resolution and the beloved character gives the OC their blessing to replace them. I hate that.

[@WatchtowerSeven]

That's funny, I was actually writing a story about how my hero is soon to be replaced by not one but 4 younger characters who are supposed to fill his shoes. He basically trains them. And then later in the story, some drama happens, my hero is framed for it, the young 4 have to apprehend him. He kicks all of their asses.

[@RandomNorthernFella]

The Hollywood can't write men problem has been talked about ad nauseam on KZbin (not that they've listened). But this is one of the most balanced, well articulated videos I've seen on the subject. Great job, Echo.

[@AshCosgrove]

Anything by Robert Eggers has excellent characters, both male and female. Mostly male characters though. See The Northman and The Lighthouse. Also Alexander Payne's The Holdovers is excellent at showing a relationship between two male characters that is completely fraternal. You are correct though, those movies have to be "found." Finding strong male characters in any major blockbuster is like finding a unicorn these days.

[@chasehedges6775]

The Northman had a well written male and female character working together.

[@user-cq5sg9cb4t]

Good writing and Roger Eggers are antonyms, but the effort is appreciated. Maybe he'll eventually get better.

[@Gringosaurus]

Deniro and Pacino diner scene in heat is peak masculine interaction between two powerful men.

[@emersonshiff8132]

Don't underestimate the Hollywood imperative to diminish any group that would want to stop their age-sensitive predilections.

[@MountainRhode]

I just watched Band of Brothers again. A company of heroes. Wouldn't get that now

[@theUnknown-oz9dh]

You have excellent taste! Best show ever! 😁

[@saint.vitus.7775]

That series is pretty much perfect.

[@luiznogueira1579]

@@MountainRhode It would be Band of Sisters now

[@joet7136]

Same reason why everything in general is at such a piss poor level of quality. Hiring and promoting based on everything BUT actual merit and accomplishments.

[@LogosFlow]

The more savvy of us have recognized that entertainment today has switched from the production of art to the critically tearing of it apart.

[@saint.vitus.7775]

I took my son to go see Ford Vs Ferrari back in 2019 - because i wanted him to see a movie in which men worked together, make sacrifices, accomplish great triumphs, and are portrayed in a generally realistically positive light. Those kind of movies were already rare in 2019. I can't really think of any i've seen since then.

[@creatrixZBD]

ooh, you guys might like the Eric Bana film "Love the Beast" then. It's kind of a documentary/love story about Bana and his '73 XB Ford Falcon that he bought as a teenager and has worked on in his dad's garage with his best mates pretty much ever since. The car gets kitted out to do a rally in Tasmania and is a main character of the film, but the real story is the one of friendship, family and keeping your feet on the ground. It's a few years old now, but jeez it's the best bloody car film it will fill your heart.

[@laganas2008]

Once upon a time in Hollywood, and Ford Vs Ferrari. That's about it.

[@SpruceCampbell]

This is the year I discovered Ryan's Babe. It's just the greatest thing ever.

[@realistic_delinquent]

Whiplash.

[@user-cq5sg9cb4t]

Ferrari, Uncut Gems, A Hidden Life. Probably a few more in there.

[@saint.vitus.7775]

Good call Once Upon a Time in Hollywood! I just commented on Ford V. Ferrari - and that was the only one i could recall.

[@eeddieedwards3890]

@@realistic_delinquent Whiplash is a "pain in the neck".

[@stonepasta5296]

Back in the days, filmmakers dreamt of modern tech to make movies they had in mind and now when it's possible, they don't know how to write good stories. And then there's this woke crap.

[@mooseyman74]

That's why the 2nd half of Jaws is so good, the interaction of 3 different men, with the realisation that the strongest is actually the weak link

[@creatrixZBD]

I love the film Master and Commander too. For years and years I never even realised that the film has no women in it. It's just a great film with a compelling story, it doesn't spell everything out for you like you're stupid, and has meaningful emotional depth. I know I am not in the majority, apparently women are not supposed to gel with this film, but it's right up my alley (I hate romances, romcoms, anything mooshy and overemotional)

[@mooseyman74]

@@creatrixZBD I like Heat, even though it's mostly about the relationships between men and women rather than crime

[@aleksander8497]

@@creatrixZBD intense and realistic historical war film. Shame there's not as many now

[@actchickcee]

Hollywood has stopped making good characters entirely.Let's be honest, they aren't even making good stories. The only thing Hollywood is doing is taking already existing stories and twisting them around for remakes. In the process they're wringing out everything that made the story and characters good to begin with.

[@arostwocents]

The gaming industry is the same. It's all of entertainment.

[@mexicanr3volution944]

All that woke politics. They put their agenda and message before good storytelling and hiring people based on their talents and not their skin color or pro nouns.

[@Renegade-kf8fp]

Wahh

[@JonnyCrackers]

​@@Renegade-kf8fp Yeah, people are going to complain because it sucks. You say "Wahh", but it's people like you who do the most crying.

[@Renegade-kf8fp]

@@JonnyCrackers I can’t trust yall Seems like the goalposts keep moving Acting like you’re objective when we all know what side that yall are on

[@JonnyCrackers]

@@Renegade-kf8fp That was vague. Could you be more specific?

[@Renegade-kf8fp]

@@JonnyCrackers I’m talking about bozos like you

[@cmbaz1140]

Its called "hero's" journey for a reason. ...

[@remuslazar2033]

Her-o's

[@ArkonBlade]

Hollywood has stopped making good everything.

[@Digitalcanvas77]

Of course its hard. The minute you label them as ‘male’ or ‘female’ it raises certain eyebrows that turns into a frown. 😂

[@ravens-crypt]

Well that’s obvious and I’m a woman and I find it soo bland because it’s not reflective of society as it is as a whole it’s a fairytale view that maybe true for some isn’t for all that has a knock on effect on stories that they are trying to portray. It just ends up like a dirty nappy that somehow someone stood in. In my opinion.

[@cpdreyer]

Hell or High Water (2016) was the last film I can remember that got male characters right. I could have said Logan (2017) as well but that character had been around for decades and frankly you can only intentionally screw him up in adaptation. Otherwise it has never been more brover.

[@160jeios]

Hell or high water is a classic. I still watch it occasionally

[@cpdreyer]

@@160jeios I need to rewatch it sometime. Still wild it got an Oscar nom even though way back when we all knew it couldn't win for the exact reasons it wouldn't even be nominated now.

[@googleislame]

One of the first stereotypes of the Millennial generation was that they were entitled and narcissistic. Now Millennials are old enough to be put in charge or TV shows and movies and we are seeing a lot of that entitlement and narcissism in culture. And this is why culture is in a nadir.

[@lightworker2956]

I'm not sure narcissistic is the right word. I'd characterise them more as: dumb, uninformed, lacking wisdom, lacking real-world experience, while also wanting to completely overhaul the world for the better. Millennials trying to castrate men and promote women isn't exactly them being narcissistic, I'd say. Because the men are participating just as hard in castrating men and promoting women. If millennials were narcissistic, millennial men would be pushing for positive male representation in movies, but they don't. I think it's more inexperienced and shortsighted fools trying to overhaul society. Regardless of what exactly is wrong with them, there's also another question to ask, which is: why did they turn out that way. Because I refuse to believe that a generation just magically and spontaneously became bad.

[@andrewbrennan2891]

Hollywood doesn't write characters at all, it just puts itself (themsleves) into every production and their everyday lives are like most lives, pretty boring, angsty, frustrated and confusing.

[@seniorelzappo9919]

They are not in the slightest degree interested in us, only themselves that's all they know !

[@aleksander8497]

elitist and narcissistic

[@mattmiraglia3199]

I actually just finished writing a novel with these themes. And the whole time I was thinking how these complexities are missing today. It's possible, and it's been done that women can write these characters and relationships, but not when they are disinterested or outright hostile to male characters.

[@custos3249]

By today's standards, by "novel" do you mean a few to several hundred pages or 3?

[@lightworker2956]

Part of the problem is female lead writers being hostile to male characters. But part of the problem is also female lead writers being promoted into that position purely because they are women, and them just being incompetent writers in general.

[@christijanrobert1627]

The grand irony is that no time is taken for great dialogue while films boast three-hour run times of action and padding.

[@ryan.1990]

There's 2 archetypes male characters are allowed to be: villain or gay BFF

[@DioTheGreatOne]

And even the gay Bff is not allowed to outshine the female characters and he is always treated as some kind of "cute pet" by the female characters.

[@ThereIsAlwaysaWay2]

We have EXCELLENT male characters. Example = Guyladrielle, She Hulk, Ass Hoka, etc etc..... See, tons of male characters to look up too. 🤣🤣🤣

[@theglanconer6463]

Of course there are a few rare exceptions but I agree. Cinema has become a soulless infantile themepark for children and ' excited' (mostly male) adult babies. If you are not woke or are not into adult baby stuff you are pretty much (explicit) these days. Hence the death of the movie going tradition. ps. don't agree with the Gen Z comments. In my experience they are bloody based (just take a look at the Gen Z voting records in numerous European elections (outside the Anglosphere). In fact many Gen Z are ten times more based than their wet immature spoilt parents. They had/have to be.

[@Amaryllis28]

I'm rewatching 'Lost' - end of season 3 now. Unbelievably involving JJ Abrahms (it couldn't be identified as his by someone who doesn't know). And it displays those different types of masculinity you talk about, as well as friendship between men, courage, and sacrifice for women, children and each other that is particularly and powerfully masculine, a large range of father/son relationships, fear, overcoming fear, loving and relating to female partners, friends and wives, and doing physically demanding tasks together and alone. I'm really impressed by the scope of male characters and masculinity in this show, and it stands out. The first few seasons were incredibly successful.

[@Aravaganthus]

I think JJ was only really involved with the first season

[@Amaryllis28]

@@Aravaganthus Thanks for that info. I'll look into it. 'Id heard that the character of Kate was supposed to be the main 'hero', but after scripting started, they realised it was in fact Jack - he just seemed to come forward as the main character. Not sure if that's true but I can imagine it.

[@phalynwilliams4119]

Lost was excellent until it started killing off or villainizing some of the show’s best male characters.

[@Amaryllis28]

@@phalynwilliams4119 I can't remember that, but I'm only on rewatch season 3.

[@fiat2496]

Hollywood also stopped making good female characters

[@clonecommando-cn6bo]

Because Hollywood has become the BORG

[@aggressivecalm]

" I am incapable/unwilling to relate/connect to people who don’t look like me! I'm SO "inclusive" and "tolerant", guys! - the "inclusive" people

[@milshubra]

Maybe we had enough movies, now it's time to live for real. And value the real people around us, not movie characters. Or make your own movies, you are free to do as you will? ❤

[@floydffrogfloydffrog7453]

It's funny how ex-radio jockey and unapologetic right wing Christian Matt Walsh, late of Am I Racist, is actually one of those now rare good male characters. The guy's not even an actor yet here he is, filling in for the roll models that Hollywood used to provide.

[@alexs7670]

An alternate title would be: "bad consumers continue to tolerate substandard products"

[@shaider1982]

Doesn't even have to be serious: Major Benson Payne is quite hilarious but has compelling scenes in the movie, Major Payne. Probably the only character my late dad, brother and I, all loved.

[@brianredding9542]

Telling fans they are wrong and hateful so just give us your money and shut up probably isn't going over very well.

[@marloc2019]

Perfect analysis. Top notch.

[@NightmanEX]

The Gentlemen was really good.

[@Cygnus75]

Hollywood has stopped making anything good, period.

[@Renegade-kf8fp]

Clearly hasn’t seen kind of kindness

[@TheNightshadePrince]

No it’s not that we are not having good male character it’s that we have a woke version’s of the hays code we’re cool male character who are gay can’t exist, male characters that aren’t accessories to their female can’t exist, complex and moral characters aren’t allowed unless they are punished, it’s weird. And they promised gay content and gave us radical feminism garbage. Also the retro pre 1970s Hollywood had lots of man child male characters too so it’s weird how this repeats.

[@custos3249]

*most creative media has stopped making good characters in general because good writing is expensive, especially when you consider the hellthat is content farms

[@seanisabel]

I'm more in the middle politically, but I'm definitely left leaning, but i hate what has happened to nerd culture. Maybe because we have been attacked as men and the genres we love have tried to be stolen and changed. They supposedly hate us, but why do they wanna write female characters like male characters? If they hate us, why do they wanna take the stuff we love, steal it, and change it?

[@MultiTexMex]

The only good male characters are created by Taylor Sheridan.

[@scifigeezer5271]

Hollywood has had a talent bypass.

[@JasonRasmussen]

This is why I read classic books. Something Wicked This Way Comes right now. Strong male characters, friendship, father son relationships, make identity.

[@Grabthar191]

The best stories I always thought were bromances. Riggs and Murtaugh, Kirk and Spock, Luke and Han, Wyatt and Holiday, Sam and Frodo, Bill and Ted, Andy Dufresne and Red, etc, etc.. Good romances seem few and far between, but the fraternal comradery between friends always seems to nail it. Most of the time, today they want to turn the characters gay because Hollywood writers can no longer conceptualize platonic love.

[@NJGuy1973]

Butch and Sundance. Mikey and Double Down Trent. Will Hunting and Chucky Sullivan.

[@woodwyrm]

I'd add the 1st Season of True Detective as well to the golden age of television.

[@derectumart4684]

A few examples of great modern, complex masculine characters I've taken some time to analyse. To anyone interested please check out these shows, they not only contain amazing characters and examples of strong masculinity, but also complex, layered stories: Jax (Sons of Anarchy), Ragnar (Vikings), Leonidas (300), Tommy Shelby (peaky Blinders) - from older movies obviously Heat is a good example as you've shown but let's not forget Batman in his many incarnations, some samurai movies, and there's definitely a lot more still to discover!

[@Deletedvirus404]

i liked your points on how connected irony is to how masculine characters think or act

[@forrestredd2706]

Anime. That's your only choice now.

[@chasehedges6775]

Or older films and shows from 1930 and 1950 to 2016.

[@nexus_of_a_crisis]

Imagine going through the training required to be a Hashira in kny.

[@brendonlake1522]

Amen!

[@msp_-_-uk6ge]

Most of what you find nowadays is a bunch of spineless feminine boys with a harem of overly sexualised women

[@GB-mu9ue]

Anime is gay

[@robsan52]

I immediately thought of Butch Cassidy and Harry Longabaugh the Sundance kid. Such a great movie portraying, among other things, deep male friendship. Sensitive portrayals completely devoid of the modern wokist cringe Hollywood tries to shove down our throats as masculine portrayal.

[@creatrixZBD]

one of my favourite movies from childhood. I know I am not the intended demographic (not a dude lol) but I have always loved westerns and outlaw stories, and male-led adventures/friendship stories

[@Anticitizen2501]

Hollywood must be stopped!

[@JohnnySalami6]

There are no Charles Bronsons or Clint Eastwoods anymore...

[@GodmasterCritic]

Yeah. All we have is whiny beta male cucks nowadays.

[@benjamingentile1660]

The Holdovers is the main movie I’m thinking of but it’s not the norm at all

[@petrairene]

Hollywood hasn't made any good female character lately either. Both, male and female characters are going down the drain. Or does anyone see Rey, Captain Marvel and TV Galadriel as credible, interesting, likeable female protagonists with deeper themes around what it means to be a woman?

[@abdelestrada7429]

Once upon a time in Hollywood, Hell or High Water, The Iron Claw and the new Dune movies

[@thebitcoinknicksreport5673]

Extraction! Only one I can think of.

[@robynmarler1951]

I love it in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid that Butch keeps chattering and Sundance just looks at him.

[@CapitalFProductions]

As someone whose gone to many film festivals over the last few years, one note I've often gave on films ends up being variations of "The movie was good but that domestic violence subplot was pretty shoehorned in." I feel like there's a lesson in there somewhere

[@NefariousKoel]

A lot of that indeed. Plus a preponderance of grape-y or creeper male characters being added to shows in recent years.

[@isaiahthompkins]

The boys in the boat is the only movie I can think of that has captured this lately.

[@umbrellacorp.]

I watched Clint Eastwood Grand Torino and Resident Evil Animated Movies. Those were some Awesome classics. And Great female characters are also in old movies as well. Just stick to old movies. That's what my family and I do. It's Very Rare and Hard to find good movie with well written characters in it.

[@dramaticwords]

Well, I think the films you're citing, while very good, were not terribly popular. That sort of film has always been rare and appeals to a niche audience. But you have a point in that Hollywood seems too focused on making "blockbusters" that will be highly profitable -- without recognizing that the pool of talent capable of creating them is and always has been very limited.

[@witoldkrasuski2784]

This is why "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" was such a gem. Slow burn, cigarette smoke stained palette and incredibly solid portrayals of men locked in the world of perpetual lies.

[@charmawow]

I have a huge library of classic and some not so classic movies from the past but despite this, there is STILL a shedload of older film and TV I still have yet to discover.

[@sloburn_1]

I'm 60 years old and it's not just male roll there's no blonde bombshells either who makes a man or destroyed him now it's destroy him ask questions later I really haven't seen a good movie since 90s 2000s , it's seems that when they interject a strong woman in every movie, they don't have the same real sexual attraction ,just a opinion,no hate mail please lol

[@djBlindFaith]

To answer your question posed at the start of the video… it’s not a Movie, it’s a TV show but Heels starting Stephen Amell has everything you asked. Such a departure from his Arrow days and shows that the man can act. It had me tearing up in parts and Wild Bill is the GoAT 😂

[@benjaminwilson4558]

..."Hollywood" stopped period -The End...

[@AmgedphaLimael]

ho ho ho, Cranston did looked back on his roles and "complained" about the so called "white privilege" of himself and the characters he played......

[@SpruceCampbell]

Odd, this video just got recommended on my main feed even though it's absolutely 8 or more years old given the title....

[@velvetram2975]

I just rewatched the movie Twins for the first time since I was a kid. Even such a goofy, playful movie, has such a well rounded, fleshed oit portrayal of masculinity, it is astounding. We have nothing like that anymore.

[@kingofthorns203]

It does warm my heart, though, that at 94 Clint Eastwood continues to not only work, but also say and do whatever he wants.

[@creatrixZBD]

Right turn, Clyde :)

[@aggressivecalm]

The unbridled self-absorption, and self-indulgent narcissism is pretty disgusting. And pretending this unbridled self-absorption, and self-indulgent narcissism is fighting the imagined patriarchy is laughable.

[@ElimGarakSpoonHead]

Its not entertainment.

[@DSKekaha]

Between you and Despot, I've heard quite enough about Scum. Get out of that echo chamber. I'll see myself out 😬

[@emptyshogun]

Watching HBOs Rome for the first time and my god the full spectrum of masculinity is completely on display with the different male characters and it shows a society based on masculinity and intelligence, we see the glorious benefits of such a system and the horrific negatives of a society that needs war and domination to function. Damn where we eating good during the "Golden age of TV"

[@DioTheGreatOne]

Thank you for acknowledging that Rome wasn't a Utopia like a lot of guys think it was.

[@emptyshogun]

@@DioTheGreatOne hell no rome wasn't a utopia, i would have been a soldier sent to die in one of the hundred political power struggles going on.

[@DioTheGreatOne]

@@emptyshogun Exactly.

[@Power_Prawnstar]

Can't expect film students to make much good, they're film students

[@noneofyourbusiness5326]

Add into your montage of men struggling with themselves and each other Good Will Hunting. Personally it is the most moing and fulfilling movie I have watched. Two men, each with their own demons, who who wrestle with masculine bluntness and compassion in a replacement father/son relationship driving each to new insights, resolution and ultimately, maturity.

[@kaymoto4023]

“The Forge” is a current movie with several strong male leads. The main plot features an older man struggling to mentor a young man to save him from a life of destruction. Recommend it.

[@kpsk8031]

Modern writers will sacrifice any character for another lousy quip.

[@schiz0phren1c]

I paused this video to go collect some food, am an older Man(not quite fit for the chopping block yet) I dress comfortably but always with a military edge(it's just easy), a young Man ahead of me made me laugh internally, possibly through no fault of his own this young, tall and handsome chap was dressed to UNIMPRESS, open toed sandals in winter, ankle socks, and the kind of flamboyant fleece garment that my Sisters would think overly feminine, top this off with multi colored nail varnish and a LITERAL simper at me(not gay, by the way, girlfriend called him to chastise him while in the restaurant, VERY audibly) Where do I even start? Good times make weak men make hard times make strong ones.

[@Ezberron]

There's no fire to change the iron into steel. We don't need an inferno but there does need to be a crucible somewhere. where is it? grade school? no. college? absolutely not. working a job? maybe, if you're in an union job. maybe. the military? maybe but even that's getting soft. They want the men weak and soft and successful so 30 year old women can just bully them into marriage into a life of "yes, dear".

[@thetimeisninefifteen]

RRR. Nothing from America.