Hollyweed, can you STOP KILLING MASCULINITY IN MEN, please?
[NOTE: if you can't read the whole thing just skip to the 3rd point and the 1st link at the end]
1. Do you know any present, somewhat young male movie character or actor overall, that could inspire boys to be masculine (including working out, of course)?
Well, I don't. Because even Chris Hemsworth is playing a wacky characters who get constantly humiliated for laughs!
Meanwhile many years ago we had Schwarzenegger and Stallone at their prime, Gerard Butler, Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee, Russell Crowe, Clint Eastwood, Brad Pit (at least in Fight Club, a popular movie), etc. Just watching those guys train or do nearly anything made my blood and adrenaline pump up. To this day Rocky's training montages are an irreplaceable motivation for workout, in my opinion.
2. It's not okay to have "sexist" remarks against women, even in fiction (including animated stuff and comics), even if they're just in form of a jokes, but it's completely fine when they're targeted towards men.
Do these lines sound familiar to you? To paraphrase:
"You boys act so silly and childish" (when men get into an argument or even a fight)
"All men are pigs!"
"Girl power!"
"Oh, what would you do without me?"
"Are (all) men really that dumb?" or "Why are men so dumb?"
But do you know why men were so silent about stuff like these for so long? I think it's because we generally don't give a crap about insults as much as women do (I mean, men constantly insult each other), probably due to the differences in our hormones which some transgender people have noticed too. Also, because the female characters were usually attractive, so it felt like a recompense to some guys... I guess? (it genuinely is a thing in japanese works for instance... from what I've noticed at least)
3. Do these cliches feel familiar to you? (NOTE: they don't happen ALWAYS, but most of the time, and, usually, in action/adventure genres)
-Male character is the dumbest and/or weakest one, or weaker than at least one female in the team;
-Male character is the more passive one, while the female character is very masculine in comparison;
-Male character is forced to get owned by a female character for gag scenes, even if he doesn't deserve it. The opposite BARELY EVER happens, and usually ends with the girl taking revenge on the male a few seconds later;
-Male protagonist is small, looks really weak and acts pretty awkwardly, but still gets the girl that was way more confident and attractive than him the entire time;
-Male characters are more likely to be defeated/humiliated by a kid or some animal, or environment itself...;
-Male protagonists are unlikely to show off how cool/good they are at something without a female interrupting him or trying to put him down after a moment. Meanwhile, when female character does something "breathtaking", the male character(s) has to stand there in awe (example: Ironman 2 - Black Widow and Happy fighting in the hall against numerous guards);
-Males are more likely to lose in competitions or duels against females, unless they cheat or the female opponent is a negative character.
4. Another way to realize the drop in masculinity is just by comparing current Spider-man to the previous ones! In current movies he is this boy who acts hyper awkward and stressed out even while wearing the COSTUME. And no, he was NOT like this in the comics, certainly not to that degree!
The scene in Endgame with Captain Marvel standing proudly above Peter with a smug on her face while the boy is shaking, is scared, and yet, who still is super, childlishly even, polite - is very symbolic of the twisted agenda working at Hollywood, and a wet dream of certain women (and men too) who don't understand that a lapdog men will never satisfy them. *sighs*
And no, that last conclusion didn't come out of my hatred towards modern feminism, but out of experiences of countless of men I read and heard about! Including the ones in my family. And including many women themselves - in short, they say that the submissive, cute boys are only fun at the beginning or until they find a new, more masculine love interest, or until they become old enough to realize that a weak man won't satisfy their needs.
There are studies that prove that, there are social experiments that prove that, and I have quite a lot of personal experience that proves that too. If you don't want to believe it then that's on you, I'm not going to start fighting over this argument when the point of this topic is a little different.
5. Women are portrayed to be as physically capable as men, or even more capable, way too often. And I'm not talking just about some obvious fantasy settings where rules are different from the real world, but about more realistic takes, including even John Whick or Zombieland. I get it, those movies are still exaggerated in their own ways, but the men there are CLEARLY way more realistic than a dude who can throw thunder or a car at you.
[[continuation in the posts below]]