THE KULTURE VULTURE: Are There Any MANLY American Actors Around Anymore?

I just finished watching a DVD that I rented from Blockbuster called The Ugly Truth, with Katherine Heigl and Brit actor (actually a Scotsman) Gerard Butler.  Butler as you may recall was the studly Spartan leader King Leonidas in the CGI* hit movie 300. Butler in 300 displays muscular six-pack abs (but not the kind of abs that look like he drank a six pack of beer every night).

In The Ugly Truth, Butler plays a stereotypical male chauvinist pig (sorry about the 1970s lingo readers). The plot** is set in Sacramento, where the female lead, Abby Richter (Heigl) produces a morning news show that's about to be canceled because of poor ratings. To boost ratings, her boss hires Mike Chadway (Butler), a local cable access call-in host promoting the "ugly truth" that sex is the only glue in a relationship (Man, can I ever relate to that one!), that men can't change, and that men only respond to women's looks.

Mike initially offends Abby's sterotype of the ideal man because she--like most women--has a checklist about the perfect man. Through the mysterious hand of kismet, Abby believes that she's found him in her new neighbor, Colin (Eric Winter), an apparent Mr. Right and a heterosexual woman's perfect dream-- a doctor.  (Think "Dr. McDreamy" on Grey's Anatomy or Dr. Oz.) Mike offers to help her reel in Dr. Colin if she'll work with Mike on the show; she accepts the deal, ratings go up, and with Mike's help, so does Colin's interest in her.

Mike's advice basically parrots--with a little "hard to get" play thrown in--the old Dusty Springfield song by Ani DiFranco entitled Wishin' and Hopin' that goes like this:

Wishin', and hopin', and thinkin', and prayin',

Planning and dreamin' each night of his charms.
That won't get you into his arms


So if your're looking for love you can share
All you gotta to is hold him, and kiss him, and love him,
And show him that you care.


Show him that you care, just for him.
Do the things that he likes to do.
Wear your hair just for him, 'cause,
You won't get him, thinkin' and a prayin',

Wishin' and hopin'.

'Cause wishin', and hopin', and thinkin', and prayin',
Planning and dreamin' his kisses will start.
That won't get you into his heart!


So if you're thinking how great true love is
All you gotta to is hold him, and kiss him, and squeeze him, and love him.
Yeah, just do it!


And after you do, you will be his.


You gotta show him that you care just for him.
Do the things that he likes to do.
Wear your hair just for him, 'cause,
You won't get him, thinkin' and a prayin',
Wishin' and a hopin'.


'Cause wishin', and hopin', and thinkin', and prayin',
Planning and dreamin' his kisses will start.
That won't get you into his heart!

So if you're thinking how great true love is!
You gotta to is hold him, and kiss him, and squeeze him, and love him.
Yeah, just do it!
And after you do, you will be his.


You will be his.
You will be his!

The film in the end is a minor cop out in a way that I won't reveal because it would be a "spoiler" for those that haven't seen or heard about the film.  It's enough to say that two women wrote the screenplay.

This film is a loose variation of the Miles Standish or Cyrano de Bergerac plots with a bit of a twist in that the ideal man turns out  to be a male that was victimized by women. This character appeals to motherly women that like a bit of a rogue in their men, but not a total rake like a Bill Clinton or a John Edwards.  Women like guys that are manly, yet have a softer side that is revealed only under limited circumstances. For example, crying when a relative dies or when Bambi's Mother dies. (Rule Number One: Never cry in front of a woman unless it one of the two above-mentioned situations!)

So what does all this have to do with American actors? Well, based on what's currently popular in entertainment, women don't really like men that are like them, i.e.,  they don't really want feminized men.  (Doesn't the whiney-ass wussy voice of Tom Hanks really grate on your nerves?) It seems like women really want old fashioned guys from the 1950s and early 1960s.  How else would you explain the popularity of testosterone loaded TV shows like Mad Men, The Mentalist or the importation of traditionally masculine-like  English actors like Gerard Butler, Daniel Craig, and Clive Owen.  But for some reason men don't feel threatened by these guys.  In fact in The Ugly Truth, the Mike Chadway character expresses the sentiments of a lot of us regular guys that are tired of the SNAG*** male paradigm. So it seems that the current crop of feckless American actors leaves a lot to be desired by women and in a non-gay way, by men. Maybe life will imitate art for a change.  

 

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*    Computer Generated Imagery

**   The basic plot synopsis in the IMDb is by  J.Haily, jhailey@hotmail.com.

***  Sensitive New Age Guy