Revenge of the Nerds
April 29th, 2008 by Edward Keenan in Act Like A Man
Christopher Goodwin at the Sunday Times of London laments “The sorry state of masculinity in American movies”:
Segel’s flaccid member looks pathetic and laughable, especially because it’s attached to a body that is doughy and pallid. It can’t seriously be accused of being capable of anything, let alone of breaking a taboo. So obviously devoid of sexual intent, it symbolises not so much his character’s abject emotional condition at his girlfriend’s rejection of him, but the sorry state of masculinity in American movies today. […]
So, what do modern Hollywood’s images of masculinity tell us about maleness today? Some suggest it is a belated response to feminism. Ted Friedman, author of Electric Dreams: Computers in American Culture, suggests that the emergence of the schlub and geek as heroes “has to do with the rising influence of technology”, whereas, he says, “when I was in high school, to be a nerd or a geek was just shameful and not valued”.
Not everyone bemoans the evident lack of masculinity of the emerging stars. “Even Segel’s physique is refreshing,” says Dana Stevens, of the online magazine Slate. “He’s the first leading man in recent memory who’s actually built like most men I know.”
It’s like when the Breakfast Club grew up, everyone realized they wanted to be more like Anthony Michael Hall. That said, Michael Cera can project the awkward charm of late adolescence better than maybe any actor in history. And Seth Rogan looks more like the everyman always has than Steve McQueen ever did, a welcome corrective. It’s the lack of anyone, anywhere, under 40 who can project confidence (or competence) at all that shows how far the pendulum has really swung. A reflection, I think, of the male culture at large.
Thanks to reader and pal Dave M. for the tip.
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Posted on Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 at 11:21 am. Follow comments through the RSS 2.0 feed. Comment or trackback.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Judd Nelson captured my heart in The Breakfast Club when he re-enacted
his lovely home life. But then, so did Lloyd Dobbler (John Cusack) in Say
Anything.
Cera is equally captivating but I think he owes a great deal to Lloyd, Anthony
Michael Hall (Sixteen Candles, Weird Science) and Patrick Dempsey in Can’t Buy
Me Love to name a few of my favourties. Those awkward charmers had no masculinity but all the geek
that made them real and hot to me.
We’ve been easing over to the nerd-side for decades, and thankfully,
we’ve now arrived.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
“I realize your all bunged up about you mother picking out your clothes, but face it — you’re a neo-maxi zoom dweebie…” Judd Nelson was making us all wish we were poor badasses with abusinve parents for a few years there in high school. My daddy never gave me no pack of smokes for Christmas, a source of irritation to me for a couple years there.
Now Lloyd — I don’t think I ever perceived Lloyd as any kind of outsider when I was in high school (though if I saw Say Anything again, I’m sure it’s a key part of the plot I just ignored. Likewise in Heathers: it never occurred to me that Christian Slater was actually supposed to be uncool, I mean I understood the plot, I just thought it was a given that he was far cooler than any of the “popular kids” in the movie, and certainly would have been more popular than them if they’d all gone to my school.) We just thought Lloyd Dobler was pretty much how we evisioned our coolest selves being.
But yeah, Cera kind of finds the sweet spot between Anthony Michael Hall and John Cusack, I think, but I buy his geek a bit more. There’s very little Skippy Handleman hamming. AMH was good, but there was always just a hint of the popular kid imitating a nerd in him — just a hint mind you, but still. Or did I imagine that into his earlier work after I saw Johnny Be Good?
My only worry is that now the nerds have taken over, the new endearing nerds must be who: jocks? rich preppies? You can’t be an outcast if your geek chic is the hottest thing in school, can you?
April 30th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I think Cera appeals too because I know him. I mean, in the Brampton, Ontario sense. His cadence and exxxtreme Arid Extra Dry wit reminds me of the perfect pit party/hitchiking/classroom esoteric moments shared with close friends.
The new endearing nerd outcasts will be, horror of all horrors: HOMELY AVERAGE GIRLS.(Note: NOT fake homely girls with glasses and hair in their face but REAL thin-lipped, close-eyed, size 12 girls).
Y’all heard it here first. Please believe it.
May 3rd, 2008 at 9:01 am
As long as Jemaine Clement is the movement’s pied piper, I’m all for it. (The man makes claymation when not composing “Business Time” and other ditties for Flight of the Conchords. What’s not to love?)
May 8th, 2008 at 10:42 am
This is an interesting observation:
“It’s the lack of anyone, anywhere, under 40 who can project confidence (or competence) at all that shows how far the pendulum has really swung. A reflection, I think, of the male culture at large.”
While I don’t completely agree, I do to an extent. It does seem that self-deprecation, awkwardness and anxiety are celebrated to the extent that assuredness is too often interpreted as arrogance. Yet, in my experience, many women who are initially attracted to the vulnerable charm of the Cusack/Cera prototype end up desiring the same confidence and competence that is the antithesis of those characters. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to exhibit all of those qualities simultaneously. If you’ve got the awkwardness to begin with, the assuredness doesn’t necessarily follow, or maybe it isn’t as believable. On the other hand, if you’ve got the confidence and assuredness to begin with, you’re often deemed unapproachable or emotionally unavailable.
June 19th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
i’ve been reading so many of your posts i just had to write in.
sometimes i wonder if gender norms are pasted, layered, and thrown on top of human behaviours for our own purposes.
i think about gender issues a lot and as i build the list of “alternative” masculine performances (big fan of the ones above by the way) i’m wary of setting myself up for just another neat category to lean on.
how about confident vulnerability?