Let me start, there are no spoilers in this blog. Also, I don't own the above picture.
Toxic masculinity is back and it is burning up the box office with Godzilla vs Kong. Two alpha titans are beating each other up on land and sea, just so they can find out which one is the bigger and stronger. Audiences love it. I do too. There's nothing like sitting back with a big bucket of popcorn and watching two guys go at it. It's probably not politically correct to say that anymore. Granted, it is a big gorilla and a giant lizard.
Not too long ago, tough guys were all the rage. And the ladies and movie goers in general really seemed to like them. Navy fighter pilots, Norse gods, boxers, bouncers, pro wrestlers, rogue space pirates, long haired lead singers and bass guitarists seemed to be getting all the attention. Many of my readers probably aren't old enough to remember the Fonz from Happy Days, but he was the very epitome of cool. After all, he wore a leather jacket, rode a motorcycle and could get the juke box to play simply by hitting it. As a young man, I aspired to be like these characters. Countless school girls plastered their bedroom walls with their images. We don't see leather jackets, Ray Ban sunglasses, tight blue jeans and bulging biceps anymore. And the whole notion of fighting for something greater than ourselves, a girl, our school, the weak or oppressed, our country, suddenly became, well, bad. Not just bad, mind you, but toxic. That's a pretty strong word. Toxic. It's almost like the tough guy was put behind glass with a sign saying "only break in times of...never".
After watching the movie, I found myself missing some of those tough guys from ages past. Maybe, just maybe, we could use a little more toughness in our lives today.
Don't misunderstand me, there's nothing wrong with strong female characters either. I enjoy them too. I'm not advocating going back to the damsel in distress mode of storytelling, Maybe it's not the most Christian thing to say either, but I'm glad Godzilla vs Kong is doing well in theatres and I'm equally glad to see a little touch of toxic masculinity come back into our lives. Sort of strange it took a big gorilla and a giant lizard to do it.
What do you say?
I watched the movie today after one of our exceptional young men recommended it. I wouldn't consider this as toxic masculinity due to two reasons.
First, both female and male characters engineered evil and worked together to stop it. Secondly, Kong and Godzilla eventually put their differences aside to collaborate with each other for the common good.