The Portrayal of Men on TV

[timmycharger]

Kern Dog's colorful comments in the Star Wars thread got me thinking about what I have been seeing on TV over the last few years.  I am getting sick and tired of commercials and TV shows that show Men as useless human beings.

Just last night I saw a commercial, not even sure what it was for but it had 3 guys in their 20s or 30s sitting there trying to put together a piece of furniture, not able to figure it out.  Other commercials I have seen have guys trying to fix stuff in the house and the wife calling the plumber etc...

There have been many more that I cannot recall, but most guys they show in the current TV shows will have the hipster lumberjack look. You know the look, usually a big burly beard, flannel shirts, work boots but in reality cannot screw in a light bulb. 

What scares me is I am starting to see it in the workplace.  I have been working an office job for over 20 years and I have witnessed an influx of "soft" guys.  20 something year old guys with skinny jeans, perfectly manicured fingernails, and absolutely no knowledge of anything outside of sports or politics.  Was talking to a guy last week who could not wrap his head around the concept that I framed, wired and finished my basement w/o having to hire someone. Blew his mind. 

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Men have always been portrayed as bumbling fools on sitcoms dating back to the dawn of TV with shows like I Love Lucy & The Honeymooners.

[Charger_Fan]

I was gonna say that it started with The Simpsons, but you're right, it goes back even earlier. I think in the last 15 years or so, it has been progressively getting worse year by year.

[70 sublime]

Think you can go back farther than I Love Lucy to Laural and Hardy or Three Stooges ( Curly Larry Moe )

[Mike DC]

  
Women's intelligence is a little more concentrated in the middle of the range.  You find more men at the smart and dumb ends of the bell curve.  That's what research says.

Based on life experience I can believe that.  

[Dans 68]

The book "The Bell Curve" was a good read. One does not hear that term much these days. Such an erudite site!

Dan

[Ponch ®]

Manly men don't get offended by how men are portrayed in dumb tv shows.

#snowflakealert

[timmycharger]

Says the guy with children dancing in his signature


# pedophilealert

[John_Kunkel]

I am getting sick and tired of commercials and TV shows that show Men as useless human beings.

You capitalized the word men. Freudian slip?

[Ponch ®]

Says the guy with children dancing in his signature


# pedophilealert

Sick burn bro

[BDF]

Why watch TV when there's so much entertainment here?   

[Kern Dog]

Manly men don't get offended by how men are portrayed in dumb tv shows.

#snowflakealert

Oh bullshit on this....Offended? Nah....I'm pissed about it. Being White and Male seems to be the #1 target for everyone to aim for. Fuck that...
I know the "Lumber-sexuals" the OP refers to: Manly looking on the outside but absolutely worthless. There is some TV ad where 2 young guys get a flat and the one guy says to his Dad on the phone..."Yeah Dad, I know what a lug wrench is...,." Trouble is, if the Dad did his job as a Father, there would be no reason to ask that question. In contrast, a few years back, Subaru had an ad where a young Woman changed her own tire...after her Father taught her. Was this smart marketing or smart parenting? I say BOTH.
My own Brother-in-law fits the "Lumber-sexual" description. He saw a screw in his tire and called AAA to come and swap on the spare. No, the tire was not losing air and he was spending the day at his Parents house. What a worthless assclown. I have tried nurturing this fucker into being a competent car guy...When he lived near me here in CA, he was actually becoming a decent wrench. Since he moved back to AZ, he has reverted back to his millenial ways.  I've had his 72 Duster in my garage since 2007. I did the body and paint. About the only things this limp wrist has done is clean parts. I keep thinking that he might regain interest in the car but I'm out of hope at this point.
Back on topic:
When the media perpetuates a stereotype over and over, people not only believe it, some adapt to it.
I used to think all Mexicans were lazy and criminal....until I met some. TV and movies had no Latino heros, my only knowledge of them was them being car thieves, gang members, etc. I got to work in construction and learned that they are no different than I am: They just want to work and provide for their families. I used to think the same thing about black people. I grew up in a primarily white area so I had little contact with other races. If one were to rely on the media to help them define people, they'd be sorely misinformed.
Now if the extremely biased and agenda driven Liberal entertainment industry continues to perpetuate myths that Men are worthless idiots, what the hell good do you think would come from that? Losers will always be losers but some that could have been decent, worthwhile people may never rise to meet their potential. Some people need a push to rise above mediocrity.

[MoParJW]

Men being ridiculed and bashed in main stream media, the result of feminism.

Boys being raised to be in touch with their feminine side and to pedestal women, also the result of feminism.

The irony? women don't actually like soft guys pedestalling them.


It ain't easy being a millennial 

[Charger_Fan]

Thank God, the dancing children GIF is gone.   

Love ya, Ponch. 

[ws23rt]

My fav. sitcom was married with children. Equal bumbling for the whole family.

[70 sublime]

My fav. sitcom was married with children. Equal bumbling for the whole family.

And Al drove a Dodge 

[Kern Dog]

Al called it a Dodge. The car was a Duster.

[Mytur Binsdirti]

A Duster is a Demon that looks like a Dart.

[John_Kunkel]

My fav. sitcom was married with children.

You do realize that modern sitcoms are aimed at an audience whose IQ matches their hat size?

[Kern Dog]

I go off on rants, most often I take it over the top for the sake of humor. I exaggerate to illustrate a point. In this case, I really do feel that the entertainment industry does see White men as a easy target to pick on. We own most of everything. We are responsible for most inventions, most innovations in the past 100 years as well as a large percentage of the worlds mistakes.  Nobody is going to organize a protest march for us. It is like a Billionaire trying to get someone to feel sorry for him because he works too much to enjoy his wealth. 

[Bobs69]

Men being ridiculed and bashed in main stream media, the result of feminism.

Boys being raised to be in touch with their feminine side and to pedestal women, also the result of feminism.

The irony? women don't actually like soft guys pedestalling them.


It ain't easy being a millennial 

"Empowering females."

[ws23rt]

My fav. sitcom was married with children.

You do realize that modern sitcoms are aimed at an audience whose IQ matches their hat size?

From the "modern" sitcoms I have seen-- that is clearly true.

Good comedy writing has given way to lame political messaging. A wink of getting the current political "message" is the new wave of whats funny.

To me--married with children- and the Bundies pokes fun at all of us. --No specific agenda aside from the humor of stupidity in a general sense.

All in the Family ---was to me the beginning of the end of comedy being exclusively for fun as I knew it at that age.

[Bobs69]

My fav. sitcom was married with children. Equal bumbling for the whole family.

And Al drove a Dodge 

I had always hoped to see Al race the duster against an old highschool rivalry.  Seeing as he only took a job at the shoe store to buy a carburateur for it.

[Ponch ®]

I go off on rants, most often I take it over the top for the sake of humor. I exaggerate to illustrate a point. In this case, I really do feel that the entertainment industry does see White men as a easy target to pick on. We own most of everything. We are responsible for most inventions, most innovations in the past 100 years as well as a large percentage of the worlds mistakes.  Nobody is going to organize a protest march for us. It is like a Billionaire trying to get someone to feel sorry for him because he works too much to enjoy his wealth.  

As bad a rap as millennials get (rightfully so, in my opinion) for being so snowflakey with their safe spaces, trigger warnings, and overall sensitivity to everything; old white men aren't very far behind in how whiny they are. Everything is an attack on them or their values and take great offense to it...from the fictional War on Christmas to football players taking a knee to foreigners daring to speak a language other than english in public to Caitlyn Jenner and so on. Good god, y'all act so fricking downtrodden. Whatever happened to the American way of taking it in the chin and dealing with it? Need to get over it! And of course, someone is going to take offense of this post. Watch.

[Charger_Fan]

^^^ ??