Will it take a zombie apocalypse to fix masculinity? An idea came to me while I was sitting in the theater playing Danny Boyle After 28 years another day. This intense, gruesome, nudity-filled drama was also one of the surprisingly heartwarming journeys for a young boy, Spike, who doesn’t buy into his society’s view of the world. Everyone around him is scared, curious, and readily accepts simple and obvious lies about their lives. Spike is looking for hope, even if it requires him to face the violent, cruel, and deadly real world on his island.
I won’t spoil too much in the way of the plot but I will say that the way the story deals with masculinity – traversing through lost men, toxic lies, and not-so-fit alpha males (in the form of one truly terrifying zombie) – is thoughtful and fresh. In the context of the cultural landscape of boys and men today, it’s the kind of test we can really use.
Two months ago, Scott Galloway, NYU marketing professor and media tour de force best known on his podcast as Prof G, took to Watching talking, as he often does, about masculinity.
“I like the idea of ​​bringing back the longing vision of masculinity,” he said to a room that seemed, surprisingly, to be in complete agreement. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with leaning into your femininity or your masculinity if it feels natural.”
According to him, this idea of ​​masculinity involves three pillars: the doer, the doer, and the protector.
In After 28 yearsSpike becomes a provider, chasing the health care his mother needs and his father neglects.
When it comes to the provider, “everyone at the beginning of his career must bear the economic responsibility of his family.” Sometimes that means getting out of the way” of your more successful partner, she says, and sometimes it means stepping up. As for fertility, she says we have to channel “that fire of desire… the right ways [to] it makes you a better man – kinder, stronger, thinking about the way you dress … showering, for God’s sake.”
Finally, he says in a passionate view of masculinity, “your default operating system is protection.” This is a gentler and more compassionate pillar than it might sound on its face. “Many women don’t feel safe on the subway,” she explains, “or they see men walking down the street, crossing the sidewalk.” This is because men shirk their duty as protectors. And “it’s not just physical,” he continues. “When you see a team being demonized, your default setting as a man is to move to the defense.”
In After 28 yearsSpike found himself chasing this idea of ​​masculinity impulsively: providing the health care his mother needed that his father would not, protecting her from zombies and himself in teaching, not by rushing to procreate (he is 12) but rejecting his father’s example of deception. The fact that he lives in a post-apocalyptic environment in many senses brings clarity to his vision. Where there are no worldly comforts, there is moral clarity.
Danny Boyle and Prof G have this in common: They both talk to as many audiences as possible about things that most men talk about primarily, with other men. With After 28 years collecting more than 100 million box office already and WatchingAn audience is an audience, well, WatchingListeners, it’s refreshing to see such a discussion coming out into the public eye.
Manhood is coming back. It’s time to talk about it.
