This was sensational, Sasha. I wish this kind of level headedness existed in politics and the mainstream media. Instead, we only find this kind of clarity on places like Substack where writers are allowed to see all sides of an issue and look for a way to help without fear of the mob.
And what's going on in Hollywood right now is insane. I'm not being dramatic when I say that you are told by the gatekeepers at agency/management/Producer levels that you should change your male lead to female to get your project serious consideration. The laziest thing going on is in the rebooting of existing I.P. where the "creative" execs big idea is to reboot movies they own the rights to with a gender flipped cast. We've seen these. They don't work.
The only role models boys are seeing on screen wear capes or are bitten by spiders. Or they wear masks and are armed to the teeth with weapons. Or they're in Fast And The Furious.
This would be okay if movies and tv shows still existed where you saw actual non powered/weapon toting men, boys, teens go through relatable experiences without it being a soap box for whatever woke nonsense can be injected.
There's no Ferris Bueller's Day Off. There's no Back To The Future. Or even something like Boyz N the Hood which showed violence but not in a John Wick kind of way. Or something silly like The Goonies. The only shows that come out that appeal to boys are Marvel or Star Wars.
Hollywood seriously needs to stop with the virtue signaling while they all make a ton of money at the top. The talking down to people through storytelling is offensive. Where are the stories that unite people?
The reason streamers are falling apart is they all spent wildly on the virtue signaling projects and they don't get people to watch so they've canceled their subs. They're destroying themselves by ignoring real people -- and sorry to tell them, but young boys and men are still real people -- they're not just the bad guy in a girl power show. We're telling boys/young men right now that if you're a straight man, you're the bad guy. Unless you're Ted Lasso who is basically crying and begging for forgiveness in every episode.
Mandatory service is important. Getting boys and girls off their phones and computers and out into the world to help others is beyond important. Humans need to re-learn how to be around one another. This is a no-brainer.
But this no-brainer will never pass and you know this. And if it did pass, the rich would find a way out of it for their kids.
I lack hope. With the way our media and political system is built, why should we be hopeful anymore?
Every other country has curbed gun violence and we've done nothing to fix it because of political donations to one side. This shouldn't be a Republican vs. Democrat issue. It's common sense kitchen table issue. But until someone comes along to unite the country with words you wished Biden had said, this isn't going to happen. I'm disgusted by what the Republicans are saying just as much as I'm disgusted about how Obama used this moment to tweet out nonsense about honoring George Floyd's anniversary. He's as much of a gaslighter as Trump is.
They all suck. I wish I could envision a way out of this. But I can't.
When men are demonized and taunted and lack purpose, they engage in acts of violence. In the Middle East, men are unemployed often become suicide bombers. That becomes their purpose. In the US, they pick up a gun. In Europe, where it's hard to get a gun, they use trucks/vans to drive over people.
Men need leadership and purpose. They need to be able to harness their gifts of strength, rationality, courage into valuable endeavors.
There are a few grassroots programs in inner cities, where men in the community take on the role of fathers to young boys with absent fathers. These should be expanded.
We're at an all-hands-on-deck moment. The USA needs the full engagement and service of men, as well as every other segment of our society. The ongoing, performative, self-interested and self-indulgent sowing of division is not serving America well and can serve up a banquet of consequences that no one should welcome.
All of our sports are tests of male strength. Most of our incarceration is designed to punish physical violence. A war every two years, except during Trump and Carter, later...we are celebrating and punishing violence at hysterical levels. If a young man reads at the fifth grade level or better, their chance of incarceration falls by 93%. Riddle me that.
The War on Men has been going on for at least a generation. It goes on because men are socialized to never complain, to take unfair abuse, to not act like a victim, etc. Instead, for so many, they detach, they hunker down, they check out, they anesthetize themselves, they die before their time.
Yes! It's something I've been thinking about for a long time. Such a good article. And your idea of a mandatory service of some sort. I love that. I had never thought of that as an option. That seems like it would do a lot of good - both for the people the college students would help and for the college students - men and women - alike. Thank you for this!
I don't think rage is the issue - what drives that rage?
Despair.
Why do so many young men feel so totally bereft of hope, that they have no future?
That is the question that is not being asked.
This was sensational, Sasha. I wish this kind of level headedness existed in politics and the mainstream media. Instead, we only find this kind of clarity on places like Substack where writers are allowed to see all sides of an issue and look for a way to help without fear of the mob.
And what's going on in Hollywood right now is insane. I'm not being dramatic when I say that you are told by the gatekeepers at agency/management/Producer levels that you should change your male lead to female to get your project serious consideration. The laziest thing going on is in the rebooting of existing I.P. where the "creative" execs big idea is to reboot movies they own the rights to with a gender flipped cast. We've seen these. They don't work.
The only role models boys are seeing on screen wear capes or are bitten by spiders. Or they wear masks and are armed to the teeth with weapons. Or they're in Fast And The Furious.
This would be okay if movies and tv shows still existed where you saw actual non powered/weapon toting men, boys, teens go through relatable experiences without it being a soap box for whatever woke nonsense can be injected.
There's no Ferris Bueller's Day Off. There's no Back To The Future. Or even something like Boyz N the Hood which showed violence but not in a John Wick kind of way. Or something silly like The Goonies. The only shows that come out that appeal to boys are Marvel or Star Wars.
Hollywood seriously needs to stop with the virtue signaling while they all make a ton of money at the top. The talking down to people through storytelling is offensive. Where are the stories that unite people?
The reason streamers are falling apart is they all spent wildly on the virtue signaling projects and they don't get people to watch so they've canceled their subs. They're destroying themselves by ignoring real people -- and sorry to tell them, but young boys and men are still real people -- they're not just the bad guy in a girl power show. We're telling boys/young men right now that if you're a straight man, you're the bad guy. Unless you're Ted Lasso who is basically crying and begging for forgiveness in every episode.
Mandatory service is important. Getting boys and girls off their phones and computers and out into the world to help others is beyond important. Humans need to re-learn how to be around one another. This is a no-brainer.
But this no-brainer will never pass and you know this. And if it did pass, the rich would find a way out of it for their kids.
I lack hope. With the way our media and political system is built, why should we be hopeful anymore?
Every other country has curbed gun violence and we've done nothing to fix it because of political donations to one side. This shouldn't be a Republican vs. Democrat issue. It's common sense kitchen table issue. But until someone comes along to unite the country with words you wished Biden had said, this isn't going to happen. I'm disgusted by what the Republicans are saying just as much as I'm disgusted about how Obama used this moment to tweet out nonsense about honoring George Floyd's anniversary. He's as much of a gaslighter as Trump is.
They all suck. I wish I could envision a way out of this. But I can't.
I loved your Presidential Speech. It is so good that I am going to save it. I wish Presidents would read your column & perhaps consult you.
The idea of mandatory service for youth is beyond excellent.
When men are demonized and taunted and lack purpose, they engage in acts of violence. In the Middle East, men are unemployed often become suicide bombers. That becomes their purpose. In the US, they pick up a gun. In Europe, where it's hard to get a gun, they use trucks/vans to drive over people.
You are so right.
Men need leadership and purpose. They need to be able to harness their gifts of strength, rationality, courage into valuable endeavors.
There are a few grassroots programs in inner cities, where men in the community take on the role of fathers to young boys with absent fathers. These should be expanded.
We're at an all-hands-on-deck moment. The USA needs the full engagement and service of men, as well as every other segment of our society. The ongoing, performative, self-interested and self-indulgent sowing of division is not serving America well and can serve up a banquet of consequences that no one should welcome.
All of our sports are tests of male strength. Most of our incarceration is designed to punish physical violence. A war every two years, except during Trump and Carter, later...we are celebrating and punishing violence at hysterical levels. If a young man reads at the fifth grade level or better, their chance of incarceration falls by 93%. Riddle me that.
Interestingly enough, those states with cowboy culture—Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas, have plenty of people who own guns but not many shootings.
Superhero movies fall far behind rap music as glorifying guns and violence.
Well, better late than never, I guess...
The War on Men has been going on for at least a generation. It goes on because men are socialized to never complain, to take unfair abuse, to not act like a victim, etc. Instead, for so many, they detach, they hunker down, they check out, they anesthetize themselves, they die before their time.
If the solution to shootings is to outlaw guns, the solution to rape is to cut off all penises.
Fatherless families is issue #1.
Yes! It's something I've been thinking about for a long time. Such a good article. And your idea of a mandatory service of some sort. I love that. I had never thought of that as an option. That seems like it would do a lot of good - both for the people the college students would help and for the college students - men and women - alike. Thank you for this!