boyish dudes cool again?
November 19, 2007 7:35 PM Subscribe
Are blond haired, fairer skinned and somewhat more boyish looking men experiencing a comeback as tough guys, leading men and generally cool dudes???
Being a fair haired, rather boyish looking man myself, i've always felt that the more chiseled, dark haired and more masculine men always seemed to be the heroes for ages. think sean connery's james bond...but lately i keep seeing fair haired, fair skinned guys that i wouldn't normally think of as tough playing ass kicking leading men on tv.
i was flipping around and some show called the journeyman that got me to thinking about this, but there is also david caruso on CSI - clearly not your typical tough guy, then that guy on Life, and Kieffer Sutherland on 24...
i know steve mcqueen fits this bill in the 1960s...
is there a trend going on or do i just have an inferiority complex that i'm growing out of??? Who else is a part of this trend?
the new james bond? Definitely!
Being a fair haired, rather boyish looking man myself, i've always felt that the more chiseled, dark haired and more masculine men always seemed to be the heroes for ages. think sean connery's james bond...but lately i keep seeing fair haired, fair skinned guys that i wouldn't normally think of as tough playing ass kicking leading men on tv.
i was flipping around and some show called the journeyman that got me to thinking about this, but there is also david caruso on CSI - clearly not your typical tough guy, then that guy on Life, and Kieffer Sutherland on 24...
i know steve mcqueen fits this bill in the 1960s...
is there a trend going on or do i just have an inferiority complex that i'm growing out of??? Who else is a part of this trend?
the new james bond? Definitely!
This post was deleted for the following reason: This is kind of hopelessly chatty, but I wish you luck in your boyish, blond adventures. -- cortex
do i just have an inferiority complex
That one.
...that i'm growing out of???
I would say no.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:38 PM on November 19, 2007
That one.
...that i'm growing out of???
I would say no.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:38 PM on November 19, 2007
Please please, go outside. Television is dumb. Go to a resturant, go work out. If you are concerned about a "tough guy" image, go work out.
posted by ooklala at 7:44 PM on November 19, 2007
posted by ooklala at 7:44 PM on November 19, 2007
Response by poster: i have a television in my home office, so when i'm around i watch it, but i really only have it on a few hours a day, tops! and i have like 10 channels!
posted by Salvatorparadise at 7:49 PM on November 19, 2007
posted by Salvatorparadise at 7:49 PM on November 19, 2007
Do not throw your self-esteem into the arms of what is considered "cool" in any given social setting. Ignore TV, ignore mens magazines, ignore Metafilter. Go outside and have a real life that makes you happy.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:50 PM on November 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:50 PM on November 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
I'm part of the trend, but I've always been cool.
posted by wemayfreeze at 7:50 PM on November 19, 2007
posted by wemayfreeze at 7:50 PM on November 19, 2007
Actually, Newsweek talked about this toward the beginning of their Boomer Files series. The previous generation had leading men like Cary Grant. But the Baby Boomers' obsession with youth (the article hypothesized) led to more boyish leading men like Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, Matt Damon.
posted by lampoil at 7:56 PM on November 19, 2007
posted by lampoil at 7:56 PM on November 19, 2007
Edward Norton's success supports your idea that boyish men are becoming cool. He sure isn't very macho.
posted by jayder at 7:58 PM on November 19, 2007
posted by jayder at 7:58 PM on November 19, 2007
Aha! I found it. Maybe it wasn't part of the Boomer Files after all. Here's the article, and here's a relevant quote:
There's a fundamental difference between the big American male stars of Gen X and their predecessors. The icons of the past were men. Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Warren Beatty were young and beautiful at the start of their careers, but they were never "boys." Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Will Smith and Cruise, not to mention Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio, are defined by their boy-ishness. They began their careers as kids and, even as they move into their 30s and 40s, have never fully lost their dew.
This was possible only because their parents--the baby boomers--had redefined the culture's perception of maturity, masculinity and aging. The boomers were conscientious objectors to adulthood. (How could maturity be a good thing if you didn't trust anyone over 30?) And as the boomers entered their 40s and 50s, and became the men and women running the Hollywood studios, they still clung to their right to dress like 20-year-olds. How could the Gen-X stars not be boys? That was virtually the only model available. "Youth" had become a lifestyle, a commodity, an ideal, a fetish. Indeed, when a romantic leading man came along who wasn't cut from the American Boy cloth--George Clooney, say--he would be explained as an anomaly, a throwback, a reincarnation of a Cary Grant or William Holden.
posted by lampoil at 8:01 PM on November 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
There's a fundamental difference between the big American male stars of Gen X and their predecessors. The icons of the past were men. Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Warren Beatty were young and beautiful at the start of their careers, but they were never "boys." Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Will Smith and Cruise, not to mention Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio, are defined by their boy-ishness. They began their careers as kids and, even as they move into their 30s and 40s, have never fully lost their dew.
This was possible only because their parents--the baby boomers--had redefined the culture's perception of maturity, masculinity and aging. The boomers were conscientious objectors to adulthood. (How could maturity be a good thing if you didn't trust anyone over 30?) And as the boomers entered their 40s and 50s, and became the men and women running the Hollywood studios, they still clung to their right to dress like 20-year-olds. How could the Gen-X stars not be boys? That was virtually the only model available. "Youth" had become a lifestyle, a commodity, an ideal, a fetish. Indeed, when a romantic leading man came along who wasn't cut from the American Boy cloth--George Clooney, say--he would be explained as an anomaly, a throwback, a reincarnation of a Cary Grant or William Holden.
posted by lampoil at 8:01 PM on November 19, 2007 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by 45moore45 at 7:36 PM on November 19, 2007