0:02 I came across a vice video recently
0:04 there asked a number of men from
0:05 different walks of life the question
0:08 what makes a real man surprisingly in
0:11 today's reactionary internal culture it
0:14 was a rational and civil discourse that
0:17 I didn't think was possible why is there
0:19 a good job on this one with the editing
0:22 keeping it as neutral as possible but
0:23 rather unsurprisingly
0:25 they all had different opinions as to
0:28 what makes a real man so what got me
0:30 thinking what makes a real man in
0:33 fiction and What Makes Us connect with
0:35 them as I was studying for this video I
0:36 realized that it was going to be a
0:38 little different from my previous video
0:40 about writing strong female characters
0:44 and not just leather suit wearing over
0:46 sexualized badasses I also said in the
0:48 video that perhaps this might be because
0:50 we just don't have many ready to go
0:53 Architects for female characters for
0:55 obvious reasons I also said that we
0:57 shouldn't really be stuffing characters
0:59 into archetypes anyway instead we should
1:01 use them as jumping off points in the
1:04 case of male character archetypes we
1:07 have a long story in history in film and
1:10 fiction so this video would be a very
1:12 long one if I follow that format and I
1:14 didn't really want to do a boring video
1:17 on character archetypes instead I'd like
1:20 to talk about great male characters that
1:22 have lingered in my mind and the minds
1:24 of many others if you have others that
1:27 resonate with you feel free to comment
1:29 below we have the series with lone
1:31 wandering badasses devoid of too much
1:34 commitment or responsibility essentially
1:37 proxies for power fantasies which is
1:39 awesome until it gets a little old for
1:41 me at least maybe that's why I haven't
1:44 given either Jack Reacher or Jack Ryan a
1:46 shot yet this is less noticeable in
1:49 films with limited runtimes like Vampire
1:51 Hunter D later the inspiration for
1:54 Alucard from Castlevania where it's just
1:58 a lot of fun to join D and his weird
2:00 talking hand for his job in that
2:02 specific movie he dispatches the also
2:04 awesome bad guys while ripping with
2:07 style we don't even know the limits to
2:09 his abilities and then we get to watch
2:11 him ride off into the sunset I haven't
2:13 read the novels in the vampire entity
2:16 Series so I don't know what happens next
2:18 however I have noticed that when this
2:21 kind of character gets cast in series
2:23 they tend to get a little boring for me
2:25 we tend tend to get an issue of power
2:28 creep where the plot turns into this
2:30 pissing contest where the main character
2:32 has to be physically stronger than the
2:35 villain until of course the hero meets
2:37 his match and is beaten but then he
2:38 comes back to be the bad guys and the
2:42 rinse and repeat of course this is not
2:44 always bad because that's what makes
2:47 shows like Naruto and bleach and Dragon
2:50 Ball Z nostalgic we want more
2:53 well-rounded action men embracing more
2:57 honest vulnerable roles of friendship
3:00 Brotherhood and protector that young men
3:02 seem to really want these days even if
3:04 they don't really know it and we see
3:05 this natural progression of male
3:08 characters everywhere I need to address
3:10 something first the question of the woke
3:13 agenda of Boogeyman and its paranoid
3:15 cultural Amnesia driven counter the
3:18 anti-work agenda apparently it's now
3:20 considered woke by some dudes online to
3:23 portray Joel from the new Last of Us
3:26 show as more of a relatable human and
3:28 showing more emotion
3:30 this paranoia has gone so far that it's
3:32 affecting men's own enjoyment of
3:35 well-written male characters
3:37 some would say that they've become their
3:40 own worst enemies here now this is not a
3:42 recent phenomenon because subversion of
3:44 popular archetypes is not a modern
3:47 Scourge looking to indoctrinate Young
3:49 Minds contrary to some conspiracy
3:52 theorists and alarmist beliefs today as
3:54 the scores of snowflakes who
3:56 unfortunately happen to be grown men
3:58 will tell you Hollywood is trying to
4:01 brainwash us and masculinity is under
4:04 attack men are not allowed to be manly
4:06 anymore and we are becoming weak okay
4:09 Boomer relax let's talk about Predator
4:12 1987. now that's a real movie none of
4:13 that political vocal gender in that one
4:15 they don't make them like that anymore
4:18 right in Predator we got the perfect
4:20 example of a movie subverting the
4:23 expected Norm in manly action films of
4:26 the 80s we get the most Macho hyper
4:28 masculine dudes come together to kick
4:31 ass only to get their asses kicked by a
4:33 hyper-competent alien that's even more
4:36 Macho than they are it forces funnel to
4:38 shift from minigun wielding para
4:41 stereotype into a tactical Hunter using
4:43 his brains to overcome the problem now
4:47 if this movie were released today there
4:48 is a chance that in our current
4:51 snowflake outrage culture people would
4:52 say oh my God men are under attack
4:54 they're shown as weak even though they
4:56 have giant muscles and the characters
4:58 saying good honest jokes are killed off
5:01 by the Predator the other day I was
5:02 going down to my girlfriend
5:05 I said to her chase you got a big [ __ ]
5:07 chase you got a big [ __ ] she said why
5:11 did you say that twice I said I didn't [Music]
5:12 [Music]
5:48 a bunch of slap jawed [ __ ] around here
5:49 this stuff will make you a goddamn
5:53 sexual tyrannosaurus just like me foreign
6:01 might seem a bit controversial to some
6:04 and I know that some people will say but
6:05 Predator was just a good action movie
6:08 there was no politics in it the problem
6:11 with today is the identity politics
6:13 being injected into our movies all this
6:15 complaining we see these days from
6:18 Internet movie critics might just be a
6:20 case of looking in the past with rose
6:22 tinted glasses because sorry to break it
6:25 to you but Predator 1987 was more
6:27 political than you might have thought
6:29 you see what was really funny about
6:32 those scenes was how the writers
6:36 satirize real men who talked like that
6:38 as a wave trying to fit in with each
6:40 other seeking acceptance with one
6:42 another with grass locker room dock that
6:44 was the point but it was done in a way
6:46 that people who do that anyway in real
6:49 life wouldn't even notice and so they
6:51 could still enjoy the movie because it
6:52 clearly went over some people's heads
6:55 this is what I call a cope now that was
6:58 a social point that the movie was trying
6:59 to make now let's look at the actual
7:02 capital P political points it was no
7:04 coincidence that Predator painted the
7:07 CIA as an entity not to be trusted
7:09 Ronald Reagan was the president of the
7:12 US at the time and the cia's funding of
7:15 the Nicaraguan Contra Rebels through the
7:17 illegal setting of arms was headline
7:19 news and undermined the American
7:20 people's trust in the government
7:22 considering this the setting of Predator
7:25 with its kgb-funded Mountain doubles
7:28 takes on a new political Dimension just
7:31 with some roles reversed it was no
7:32 coincidence that the bad guys in the
7:36 film were Communists in real life Reagan
7:39 inherited a largely pacified region in
7:41 South America and by pacified I mean
7:44 nearly every country south of Costa Rica
7:46 was Secure under the thumb of
7:49 pro-america dictators up until the late
7:53 1970s Guatemala El Salvador Nicaragua
7:55 were ruled by corrupt deadly
7:59 pro-american dictatorships but in 1979
8:02 the Nicaraguan Samosa regime fell to the
8:05 leftist sandinistas and the state
8:07 department worrying that El Salvador and
8:10 Guatemala were next needed to act
8:13 quickly paranoia and panic set in and
8:15 Reagan came down hard on Central America
8:17 in effect letting his administration's
8:20 most committed militarists set and
8:23 execute policy Reagan could afford to
8:26 support the Region's calamitous regimes
8:30 not because of the areas importance but
8:33 because of its unimportance The Fallout
8:34 that resulted from a hard line there
8:37 could have been ignored or easily managed
8:38 managed
8:40 at least that's what they thought so yes
8:42 Predator was a film with a political
8:44 message Ani's character Dutch was a
8:46 representation of your average American
8:48 Working Man and Soldier being
8:51 manipulated by the Invisible Hand of the
8:53 US government being fed and die
8:56 communist propaganda and fear-mongering
8:58 to validate invading and meddling in a
9:00 foreign country's Affairs the reality
9:03 was that the US wanted the people to
9:05 support the use of the country's funds
9:07 to Aid in the training of brutal death
9:10 squads and the main antagonist the
9:12 Predator acts as a mirror to each of the
9:15 team's specific forms of masculinity the
9:17 creature treats each of them as objects
9:20 just for it to hunt and that's what made
9:22 it so interesting and subversive whether
9:25 you realized it or not so it was very
9:27 interesting to see the outrage when the
9:29 trailer to the movie prey was released
9:33 yes the trailer in 2022 before anyone
9:36 had even watched the film reviewers
9:38 jumped on the fact that the lead can
9:40 narrative was a woman but really nothing
9:43 else and slammed it for being already
9:46 bad the criticism was well why can't it
9:48 be just like the old one the old one was
9:51 in political with forced diversity and
9:53 women inserts this is just a BS Modern
9:57 Woman empowerment movie and what is the
9:59 evidence for this apparent Theory
10:02 because the main character is a woman so
10:04 it has to be lazy riding and pandemic
10:06 right they fell into the Trap of the
10:08 Hasty generalization fallacy this occurs
10:11 when someone draws expansive conclusions
10:13 based on inadequate or insufficient
10:16 evidence in this case the only evidence
10:19 they saw was main character equals
10:22 indigenous wolf and as I said before
10:24 it's now being applied to the idea that
10:27 even male characters are seemingly being
10:29 weakened like in the case of Pedro
10:32 Pascal's portrayal of Joel
10:33 but this is strange because I actually
10:37 think he's portrayed as a stronger
10:39 character in The Last of Us
10:41 for instance in the scene where Joel
10:42 confines in his brother and gets
10:45 emotional and vulnerable in the show
10:46 the game Jewel is actually more
10:48 aggressive and angry during this Exchange
10:49 Exchange
10:51 men know how difficult it is to
10:54 seemingly risk showing emotion in front
10:56 of other men there's an anxiety that you
10:58 might be called less manly or something
11:02 so to do it despite that fear being a
11:04 real social thing is true strength
11:06 there's also a good amount of research
11:09 like this 2021 study that suggests that
11:12 higher Conformity to masculine Norms in
11:14 the west is associated with higher rates
11:15 of depression and to make this result
11:18 even more depressing it seems to affect
11:20 older men even more with that being said
11:24 you know no one really asked anyone to
11:27 watch prey of The Last of Us so any
11:31 other work content right there are some
11:33 terrible shows out there right now for
11:37 example Velma is a good example the
11:39 I don't even know how to call it but why
11:40 are we talking about it why are we
11:43 talking about bad shows we should let
11:47 the bad shows just fade away into
11:49 nothingness so no one will remember it
11:52 no viewers means no one's entered I mean
11:55 Hulu made pray for a relatively modest
11:58 budget only for streaming and they even
12:00 made the Bold move of not including the
12:02 name predator in the title maybe they
12:04 already had low confidence in prey who
12:09 knows pray look it was an okay movie it
12:11 was nothing like it was a good time but
12:13 nothing culture shifted for now anyway
12:15 but really this comes down to preference
12:17 if a certain kind of movie is not a
12:19 thing just don't watch it I mean we did
12:22 have North men the same year an epic
12:24 insanely awesome movie with a male
12:27 protagonist with super manly concepts of
12:29 Revenge with Finland Saga Vibes dude
12:31 great for history nerds too that
12:33 actually showed in cinemas in critics
12:36 and audiences both loved it well
12:40 audiences slightly less for some reason oh
12:42 oh
12:44 I guess not a lot of people went to
12:47 watch the movie when it came out in
12:49 theaters could it be that in the midst
12:52 of the modern frothing rage culture
12:55 they've shifted the focus from actual
12:58 good movies to just hating on the bad
13:00 ones hating on movies that weren't even
13:02 made for them in the first place
13:03 and this is really unfortunate because
13:06 Robert Eagles is a great director and
13:08 I'm a huge fan
13:11 but the North Main Floor perhaps this
13:14 cultural Amnesia is no fault of our own
13:16 it just so happens that today's
13:20 Boogeyman in the west is woke culture
13:22 but tomorrow it'll be something else and
13:24 there will always be people waiting in
13:27 line to make money off the hate for the
13:29 next Boogeyman because hate is currency
13:32 I'm not even saying that movies these
13:34 days don't suck I'm just saying let time
13:37 do its thing because bad media will be
13:39 forgotten anyway time acts as a filter
13:42 which is why we always think that things
13:44 back then were so much better when in
13:46 reality you just don't remember all the
13:48 trash that came out that year if
13:50 anything the best filter from Years Gone
13:52 by was the fact that there were no
13:54 internet Echo Chambers there were Echo
13:56 Chambers in your local classroom or
13:59 workplace or bus ride home but they were
14:02 pretty small they felt small however
14:04 internet Echo Chambers plus how the
14:07 algorithm locks you in while
14:09 recommending things that it knows that
14:12 you will already like it's like that
14:13 scene in the Clockwork Orange with the
14:16 ludovico technique so if you go down
14:18 that movie hating Rabbit Hole chances
14:21 are you'll probably start thinking that
14:23 all movies these days and art are
14:25 rubbish when the reality is just like
14:27 always there are some things that will
14:29 be good and a lot of things that's
14:32 really bad the reason I had to address
14:35 this cultural context is because men
14:38 older and younger have become just a bit
14:41 sensitive as to what is considered manly
14:44 and what is not and it's clear that men
14:47 in real life are experiencing this
14:48 problem of struggling to fit into
14:51 accepted archetypes and if there's any
14:54 crisis in masculinity it's within that
14:56 fact and no one else is responsible but
14:58 us because we are the ones who
15:00 solidified those Norms I don't think
15:03 it's the woke Boogeyman or the feminist
15:05 so whatever it is that comes later that
15:07 people will tell you to get you riled up
15:10 it's really just about us being hard on
15:12 our fellow men something I noticed was
15:14 many of my favorite male characters
15:17 start off in a very simple way usually
15:20 more anti-social and pragmatic and they
15:22 eventually move into a more complex role
15:25 while accepting the responsibility and
15:27 commitment along the way Edge Lord got
15:28 from the berserk prototype and the black
15:31 swords Monarch angry man Kratos from
15:34 early God of War magical Clint Eastwood
15:37 geralt from early Witcher 1993 and even
15:41 from Witcher 1 in 2007.
15:46 what you drink not true
15:49 ouch don't let me see you again very
15:52 nostalgic but yeah it didn't really age
15:54 well these stories all centered around
15:56 brutal killing machines Unstoppable
15:59 forces the epitome of the self-reliant
16:01 badass whose main flaw was that they
16:03 were really mean and had no normal friends
16:12 guts his only friend early on is this
16:15 weird fairy [ __ ] geralt's only friend is
16:18 his horse rocks before he meets
16:20 dandelion and Kratos well
16:23 early Kratos was so mean he couldn't
16:25 even get a sidekick
16:27 until later on
16:29 let's talk about berserk to explore this
16:32 change because miura's Masterwork spans
16:35 over 30 years not in not including the
16:38 hiatuses and as miyora grew himself so
16:40 did guts and the story of Berserk I was
16:43 on a dark fantasy and horror trip when I
16:45 was about 17. I was in a metal band I
16:48 watched every horror movie within IMDb
16:50 radio more than six and after that
16:52 pulled right up I was reading Lovecraft
16:54 when it came to gaming I had just
16:56 finished The Witcher 1 and The Witcher 2
16:59 hadn't come out yet so to scratch that
17:01 itch I searched online for similar media
17:04 that's how I was introduced to Joe
17:06 abercrombie's the first law Trilogy Mark
17:08 Lawrence is the broken Empire Trilogy
17:11 also how I watched vampire hunterd the
17:13 highly underrated claimer and then I
17:17 came across the 1997 anime adaptation of
17:19 Berserk I went into berserk completely
17:22 Bland none of my friends had seen it or
17:24 even heard of it in fact I think if they
17:26 knew I was watching another time and
17:29 then you I think they would think I was
17:31 really real I don't I don't even think
17:33 it had the sizable uh YouTube fan base
17:35 that it has now because I don't remember
17:37 seeing a lot of videos about it so I was
17:40 pretty lucky in not having the events
17:42 spoiled I did not see the ending coming
17:44 and after that ending I just had to read
17:46 the Manga and for a very long time that
17:49 was the only manga that I really read
17:52 and followed to this day guts's Ark
17:55 alone is a study in evolution by itself
17:58 because miore did not set out to make
18:01 cuts a deep character right from the
18:03 get-go there's even a prototype chapter
18:07 where you see his ideas still Brewing he
18:08 initially just wanted to write an edgy
18:12 action man with a giant sword and a
18:15 metallic arm an arm Cannon gut starts
18:18 off as a stereotypical anti-hero who
18:20 literally tells a young girl who was
18:24 just orphaned by him after using her as
18:27 a hostage to murder her demonically
18:30 client father he tells her after this
18:33 that she should probably kill herself he
18:35 even had that edgy bad guy face that you
18:37 usually see in anime when they're saying
18:43 you know like in way of the house has been
18:44 been
18:47 and we even get the infamous sad guts in
18:49 the panel at the end of this chapter
18:53 which acts as kind of a subtle hint to
18:55 there being a little bit more to this
18:57 edged Lord there's some early clunky
18:59 dial a dialogue and stuff but Mira was
19:02 only 22 at the time and it only makes
19:04 sense we get the usual unwelcome lone
19:07 Wanderer scene which a lot of similar
19:08 stories have which is said in a bar that
19:11 escalates into a fight guts led to one
19:13 of the bad guys live and tells him to
19:15 tell his boss that the Black Swordsman
19:16 is coming the bad guy comes looking
19:19 Burns everything in his wake self fragile
19:26 Joy sucking the flesh from your Bloody Bones
19:27 Bones
19:37 oh [Music]
19:53 God speeds him bloody and awesome about
19:56 the God Hand hinting at there being a
19:58 larger story a larger plot and then we
20:00 move on to the next then we get the
20:03 golden age rock where everything changes
20:06 we see the horrible abuse and Trauma
20:09 that guts has endured his loss of a
20:11 childhood due to her circumstances at
20:13 the hands of the men who are supposed to
20:15 be his protectors they betrayed him in
20:18 the most vile and depressing ways he
20:19 eventually means Griffith and the band
20:22 of the hawk were based on Mira's actual
20:25 childhood friends seeing gutsby accepted
20:28 and loved and loving in return while
20:30 finding real purpose in his life really
20:33 further humanize them and provided a lot
20:36 of much needed context for the Black
20:39 Swordsman Arc it could be said that this
20:43 was probably the most normal condemned
20:46 phases in God's life gutsgros attached
20:48 and builds a sense of loyalty to
20:51 Griffith the next male figure his life
20:54 but one rule finally seems to actually
20:56 live up and give him purpose guts even
20:59 goes as far as to accept a job from
21:01 Griffith to assassinate a political
21:03 rival and in carrying out the
21:05 assassination he ends up killing a child
21:08 in the process as is the case with the
21:11 cruel world of Berserk moments of
21:14 condemn filter guts finds out that
21:16 Griffith doesn't really see him as an
21:20 equal and only sees his men as pawns to
21:23 be used in God's greater plan so guts
21:26 has a realization and decides to go It
21:29 Alone he abandons the band because he
21:32 feels like guts will never be good if
21:35 it's true equal if he stayed this led to
21:37 the decisive moment that changed
21:39 Griffith setting the horrifying events
21:41 in motion that led to how we are first
21:44 introduced to the cynical World weary
21:47 vengeful guts in the manga and the anime
21:49 as the manga goes on with the help of
21:52 Puck he learns to accept help in
21:54 companionship again guts is also forced
21:56 to reckon with his Inn Inner Demons all
21:59 the time he is deeply scarred physically
22:02 and mentally he can never get a good
22:04 night's sleep he struggles to manage the
22:07 darkness within him so he doesn't hurt
22:09 the ones around that Darkness literally
22:11 takes a form of a beast there's a
22:13 horrifying scene in which he harms kaska
22:16 and when I say horrify it's more
22:18 horrifying than you might think it's a
22:20 scene that's very hard to read and makes
22:23 the reader incredibly uncomfortable
22:25 because we've seen guts grow and feel
22:28 kind of gross at what's happening but at
22:30 the same time it's something terrible
22:32 that guts has experienced himself guts
22:35 feels tremendous shame and is terrified
22:37 of what he might be capable of without
22:40 realizing the Beast of darkness wants
22:42 guts to kill kaska the one person
22:44 keeping him chained to reality in a way
22:47 they are both made to relive the horrors
22:50 between themselves and the world but I
22:52 won't bother here if you've got a
22:55 stomach for gritty disturbing but deep
22:58 storytelling then realism but be warned
23:01 It Is by no means light rating it gives
23:04 you the idea that even though you may be
23:06 the strongest with the biggest muscles
23:09 even that cannot save you from The Evil
23:11 Within in fact it may just Clarity
23:13 judgment even further guts is
23:15 ridiculously repressed but his actions
23:18 show you that he truly does Love kaska
23:20 and his friends some of the saddest
23:22 moments are reading about how Gods
23:25 remembers kaska the person she used to
23:27 be the person he fell in love with
23:29 before certain traumatic events caused
23:32 her to regress into a childlike State
23:34 other times he's excited about her
23:37 eventual return it's heavy [ __ ] guts
23:40 transforms from an edge Lord to the
23:42 compassionate struggler that he is known
23:45 for today the beauty of guts and berserk
23:48 lies in choosing love and Humanity
23:51 despite how difficult the world makes it
23:54 so without ever explicitly stating it
23:57 this dark horrific story is in many ways
24:00 an antidote to nihilism guts is not too
24:02 strong because he can wave a big sword
24:04 around he's so strong mentally that his
24:08 very actions challenge the very fabric
24:12 of the universe the idea of causality
24:14 and Destiny the villains in berserk all
24:16 have ambition but they are willing to
24:18 give up what makes them human in order
24:21 to obtain their goals Kurtz's arch
24:24 nemesis is a walking God who is
24:25 literally treated like he is Christ
24:27 incarnate he even has the powers to back
24:31 it up and more horrifyingly he is the
24:34 accepted savior of that world even
24:35 though he's saving them from a world
24:38 that he damned himself but Griffith
24:40 isn't doing this out of religious
24:42 military he doesn't care really what he
24:45 values more is the power that it gives
24:47 him over the common person he's like a
24:50 superpowered version of your modern
24:53 motivational speaker or political crypto
24:55 the ones who Farm the Masters for some
24:57 coin capitalizing on a problem that they
25:00 themselves created and on the surface
25:02 when you look at the marketing material
25:04 or the synopsis of Berserk it doesn't
25:06 tell you that berserk is a story about
25:08 Humanity or greed or any of the stuff
25:10 that I just talked about it'll tell you
25:12 that it's about a giant sword building
25:14 balance out for Revenge but so are
25:17 another 100 good revenge stories what
25:19 makes berserk Stand Out is guts's
25:23 ability to cling to the Tattered strands
25:25 of goodness that still find their way
25:27 into his miserable life it's a life he
25:30 did not choose to live yet he cannot
25:33 help but push through it anyway because
25:35 it is a life worth living no you might
25:37 have some people saying well the logical
25:40 thing to do in that kind of world would
25:43 be to join the evil but not giving in
25:46 despite the odds is the point of Berserk
25:48 guts doesn't need a Kingdom he didn't
25:51 even have a childhood yet he's trying to
25:53 love anyway Griffith didn't have a
25:55 childhood either but Griffith believes
25:57 that a kingdom will solve all those
26:00 problems and he give up anything and
26:02 everything to obtain that selfish desire
26:06 the hyper focus on materialism greed
26:08 pursuit of shallow goals at the expense
26:11 of your humanity and others naturally
26:14 devolves into a devaluation of human
26:17 life and we see this everywhere in art
26:19 now I want to talk about another one of
26:21 my favorite characters in media let's
26:24 take a look at why Arthur Morgan made
26:27 grown men cry on the outside Arthur has
26:29 a Swagger and bravado over true
26:31 protagonists in the western genre film
26:33 complete with a heavy smoking gravelly
26:36 voice an insane competency with the gun
26:38 however when Arthur comes to his
26:41 eventual inevitable End Men did not cry
26:43 because of these superficial tricks that
26:45 he had Arthur was always shown to be the
26:47 loyal one the hard worker and the
26:50 reliable reliable to the cause so much
26:53 so that he's willing to do bad evil
26:55 things for people who raise them like
26:57 guts he didn't really have a childhood
26:58 and was essentially
27:01 Soldier although Gods was forced into it
27:03 at a much younger age Arthur was taken
27:06 in by Dutch and Hosea Arthur's real
27:08 father was also an outlaw a petty
27:11 criminal of known throughout his journey
27:13 we see Arthur perform acts of compassion
27:16 caring consideration even though you can
27:19 tell them he might not capture all the
27:21 nuances of what he's doing but you know
27:23 that deep inside he's a good person he's
27:26 a simple man who understands and expects
27:27 struggle and harm
27:30 even empathize with them despite all the
27:32 horrible things he does in the name of
27:34 loyalty he's portrayed as not being
27:36 particularly intelligent which is
27:37 interesting because not being
27:39 intelligent or being portrayed as such
27:42 as not a stereotypically heroic trait
27:45 but at the same time in his own way we
27:47 know that he realizes that people are
27:49 all equal which he probably learned from
27:52 a life of crime and watching all kinds
27:55 of people do equally bad things just
27:57 have a look at this scene I want you to
27:58 ask yourself
28:01 do I consider myself
28:04 pure and then I want you to ask yourself
28:09 what is the most disgusting revolting
28:12 vulgar and depressing thing in all
28:18 co-mingling nature
28:20 nature
28:23 nature likes purity
28:27 nature does not like co-mingling nature
28:31 likes a family tree not a family bush
28:34 and this being America
28:39 and us being Nature's Paradise on Earth
28:42 we must push for purity
28:44 I want you
28:46 I need you
28:48 to be pure
28:52 you sir do you want a pamphlet okay
28:54 okay
28:56 read it
28:59 it's really interesting stuff
29:03 I explain using real science why we
29:06 whites are under attack and what we must
29:08 do to fight back
29:11 under attack yes under attack
29:15 people aren't the same sir I mean
29:19 white people are the same and all the
29:21 other races are trying to kill us I
29:24 don't want to die sir I got friends
29:26 who's Mexican
29:28 friends who's Indian
29:32 known blacks Irish Italians good and bad no
29:33 no
29:36 no good white people and bad white people
29:37 people
29:40 and above all
29:41 don't want people
29:47 you sir are a real fool
29:51 how can you possibly believe in equality
29:54 I've never heard such nonsense and all
29:57 my natural born days please
30:06 I'm sorry you just call me a fool come here
30:12 that's a clever bit of writing there the
30:14 writer is kind of used a life of
30:18 violence to show a positive world view
30:20 that's interesting but Arthur also has a
30:23 dry humor in wit that geralt is also
30:25 famous for from The Witcher both games
30:28 had been stopped just to laugh out loud
30:31 do you have the first odd deal what
30:34 you're getting into I'm Anthony Foreman
30:37 oh thanks for the introduction Anthony
30:40 is that foreman with an a I want the
30:43 Undertaker to spell it right when we ran
30:46 away from Blackwater I wasn't able to
30:48 get supplies in but when government
30:51 agents are hunting you down sometimes
30:54 shopping trips need to be cut short
30:55 we'll survive
30:57 we always have
31:00 if needs be we can eat you you're the
31:03 fattest he even has scenes where he's
31:05 shown to be a good father figure for
31:07 Jack teaching him how to fish and so on
31:09 all these things help endeared us to him
31:12 and shows us that there's more to the
31:14 seemingly rough Lagoon so it's all the
31:16 more concerning when we hear Arthurs
31:19 cough it comes up again and again and
31:21 seemingly random moments and then this
31:23 happens we find out that Arthur has
31:27 contracted TV while trying to collect a
31:29 Death full again and since the game
31:31 takes place in 1899 a time when the
31:33 world would have killed for a vaccine
31:35 for DB a star contracts from today's
31:38 anti-vaxxas snowflakes then later on in
31:41 the game we're given one of the most
31:44 iconic scenes in modern gaming
31:47 what's wrong
31:54 I'm dying sister
32:00 I got it
32:04 beating the man to death
32:11 I've lived a bad life sister [Music]
32:13 [Music]
32:16 we've all lived bad lives Mr Morgan we
32:19 all sin
32:28 forgive me but that problem you don't
32:29 know you May
32:31 May
32:34 I don't know but whenever we happen to
32:36 meet you you're always helping people
32:42 medicine
32:45 he passed away
32:47 I had a girl who loved me I threw that away
32:48 away
32:51 my mama died when I was a kid
32:54 and my daddy
32:56 I watched him die
33:04 my husband died a long time ago
33:07 life is full of pain
33:14 what am I gonna do now
33:18 be grateful that for the first time
33:21 you see your life clearly
33:23 sure perhaps you could help somebody
33:39 often neither do I
33:42 but then I meet someone like you
33:51 you're too smart for me sister
34:02 there is nothing to be afraid of Mr Morgan
34:04 Morgan
34:08 take a gamble that love exists and do a
34:09 loving that
34:15 shall try
34:23 like the horse in the George Orwell
34:26 novel Animal Farm others blind loyalty
34:29 led him to find death in his work a trap
34:31 that many a man in today's world fall
34:33 into when faced with a really
34:36 problematic employer with the toxic work
34:38 culture and I'm not reaching that far
34:40 with that all world reference I truly
34:42 believe that the writers had this on
34:44 their mind when writing Arthur's
34:46 character I mean just look at the scene [Music]
34:47 [Music]
34:51 how's the scar I heal pretty fast lucky you
34:52 you
34:55 so you're just lazing about him he got
34:57 an Elites
34:59 you got something
35:02 you see them sure well you see yourself
35:04 as a Shepherd now
35:07 maybe come on
35:10 well where exactly we going
35:13 collect something help us get some sheep
35:16 you know that attempt to seem all
35:18 enigmatic and interesting that might
35:20 work for Dutch but for you just makes
35:22 you look stupid
35:24 come along
35:28 you see a train job was a star but we
35:30 need more money until we can get back to
35:32 Blackwater and collect I'm here to tell
35:35 you we try to collect that money anytime
35:38 soon it'll come with a noose let's work
35:41 you say that that says that Dutch says a
35:44 lot that's his gift
35:47 saying things oh yeah what do you mean
35:48 by that
35:51 I was surprised Pony once now I'm a
36:00 but well you was at that thing in Black
36:02 Water we already seen pinkerton's here
36:05 new centuries coming
36:08 it's live this way
36:10 we're the last I reckon and we ain't
36:12 long for it
36:15 and that's the way it goes I guess for
36:18 me ish in fact what was boxer the horse
36:21 known for in Animal Farm boxer was us
36:23 the hard worker squeezed by an
36:26 exploitive capitalist environment devoid
36:29 of real human connection all in service
36:32 of an apparent greater good the morally
36:34 right choice a choice that benefits a
36:36 few and he usually doesn't include you
36:38 and like the pigs of Animal Farm want
36:40 you to believe it's just the natural
36:43 order of things it's every company or
36:45 person that's used the words wages
36:46 family well never really acting like it
36:49 Dutch's characters shown signposting
36:51 these selfish ideals masterfully
36:53 throughout the story in bits of dialogue
36:55 and then in foolish selfish actions that
36:57 would have massive consequences on
37:00 Arthur and the rest of the game while
37:02 Griffith's actions literally sacrificed
37:04 the band of the hawk he knew what he was
37:07 doing Griffith wanted to save himself
37:10 and Achieve his goals so badly that even
37:14 in his tortured decrepit form he rushed
37:16 to give up his people Duchess sacrifice
37:19 of his men is similar but more relatable
37:22 because it's a deceptive understandable
37:25 form of manipulation that those of us
37:27 who've experienced working with Daryl
37:28 the bosses have seen before
37:31 Dutch has delusions of grandeur he
37:34 believes that he is carving out a truer
37:37 more honest way of life than what they
37:39 have now he believes that the country is
37:41 going the wrong way he is a man
37:44 struggling with change the world has
37:46 left him and his ideals behind but
37:48 because he has a duty to himself and the
37:51 others uh what
37:54 to self really he must see his plans
37:56 through he recklessly endangers his
37:59 entire crew in the process in fact the
38:01 very reason why they're even risking
38:03 freezing to death in the first place was
38:05 because of his Reckless actions in Blackwater
38:06 Blackwater
38:09 Trend continues and he keeps getting the
38:11 gang in trouble with his anti-social
38:14 ideas to battle the tide of modernity
38:16 and change
38:18 Dutch is particularly dangerous because
38:21 he offers the guise of Civility family
38:24 culture and heroic idealism
38:26 the young men who've gathered around
38:29 them in the world like Arthur have been
38:32 fooled by him calling them his children
38:35 a great lesson in the adage actions
38:37 speak louder than words he shows a lack
38:40 of regard or concern for other people
38:43 but at the same time knows the right
38:45 things to say on some fundamental level
38:48 the younger gang members are like some
38:50 young men that we know you know daily
38:54 lives the types who value Macho Bluster
38:56 false strength in what they call being
38:58 based these days except the problem
39:01 arises when being based means you can
39:03 say anything including racist hateful
39:07 ideology for example and expecting not
39:09 to receive any criticism or backlash
39:11 sure you can say those things if you
39:14 want just be prepared to go live out in
39:16 the country or the mountains and be
39:18 ostracized from normal society they
39:21 conflate speaking without thought for
39:24 speaking the truth and this is why so
39:25 many young men and women were
39:28 indoctrinated into the Nazi regime and
39:30 many other modern regimes Cut From the
39:32 Same Cloth they were infected with
39:35 anti-social ideas luckily many men grow
39:37 out of this and in their late 20s and
39:39 30s they tend to announce their full
39:42 hearty beliefs but a few foolhardy
39:44 individuals tend to stay this way until
39:47 they die usually alone
39:48 just like Dutch but in the case of
39:51 Arthur he died trying to be a better man
39:53 having helped one of his brothers Escape
39:56 leaving an impression on Jack who ends
39:59 up having a long life Arthur like Cuts
40:02 is not interested in the trappings of a
40:04 luxurious life climbing social ladders
40:07 or even gaining validation really the
40:09 only validation he seeks early on is to
40:12 be seen as a loyal productive member of
40:15 the camp Arthur is frustrated and
40:17 disgruntled because he doesn't know how
40:20 to deal with his realization that the
40:22 world is changing and doesn't need
40:24 people like him anymore initially he
40:26 can't put his finger on it it frustrates
40:28 him he can't see that he's become so
40:30 gullible that he denies Dutch would ever
40:32 betray him it's sad that he could have
40:34 never really had that conversation that
40:38 he had with a nun with any of his gang
40:40 members Micah for example just makes
40:43 light of him having TB calls Blackline
40:46 Dominion for being weak enough to eating
40:48 contract and illness besides Jon I don't
40:50 think he truly trusted any of the guys
40:53 he rode with even after Dutch leaves him
40:55 for dead and betrays him Arthur is still
40:58 loyal to protecting him he eventually
41:00 makes a realization that he wasted his
41:03 life in senseless killing and robbing
41:05 and feels like he hadn't done a single
41:07 good thing he truly believes that he is
41:10 a Batman so is one way to Redemption is
41:12 to help Jon escape with Abigail in Jack
41:14 because no amount of money could get him
41:17 his life back now did Arthur become weak
41:19 did he become soft I don't think he did
41:21 because as any grown man will know when
41:23 life is hard it's not easy to help
41:26 others it's not easy to be compassionate
41:28 if you think others are out to get you
41:30 either it's easier to be selfish if you
41:32 think the world is selfish and it's very
41:35 easy for lonely impressionable men to
41:38 slip into the trappings of nihilism and
41:40 hate if you're young and edgy you might
41:42 slip into this because you think
41:44 nihilism is cool in some way it can make
41:46 you feel as false sense of superiority
41:49 over other is for a short amount of time
41:50 but whatever it is there's definitely a
41:53 market for nihilistic edgy content on
41:55 the YouTube algorithms the way the
41:57 internet works is kind of like a dark
42:00 creepy Cathedral with many echoey halls
42:02 in which you can attend Mass every day
42:05 safe so you can listen to the sermons of
42:08 your favorite propagandist it truly is
42:10 the new religion hate I believe there's
42:14 a reason the inner struggle of many male
42:17 fictional characters centers around
42:19 emotion strength and vulnerability
42:23 contrary to the edgy memes that do the
42:25 rounds on in cell communities and the
42:27 like more tactical gear armor and
42:29 weapons cannot make you more of a man
42:32 men are not under attack these guys
42:36 maybe don't understand that they didn't
42:38 want to stop playing soldier when they
42:40 were kids like many of us did if
42:42 anything young men just like anyone
42:44 would be more vulnerable to feeling
42:46 lonely and misunderstood which would
42:48 naturally actually make them think
42:50 they're an attack and these performative
42:52 superficial things are not going to make
42:55 you get any worthwhile long-term
42:57 relationship anyway whether it be
42:59 friends or romantic Partners it's no
43:02 secret that our cultures have built an
43:04 unhealthy obsession with materialism and
43:06 is no secret than in many of our
43:09 brothers quests to a mass a nicer car or
43:11 a bigger house than your neighbors some
43:14 also lump in a beautiful woman as a
43:17 requirement to the checklist of success why
43:18 why
43:21 because the norm tells you that women
43:23 are also part of the objects to be
43:25 collected and this attitude of
43:27 simplistic authorization doesn't really
43:29 stop with that I believe it spreads it
43:31 spreads to dehumanizing people who are
43:34 other than you just like how dutches
43:37 self-serving worldview to amass more
43:39 money and influence came with the cost
43:42 of the lives of his gang or even in the
43:44 way that he used the plight of the
43:46 Native American warriors in his own
43:50 narcissistic way as a way to relate to a
43:52 warrior culture seeing them as equals
43:55 this is why greed and a lack of
43:57 restraint corrupts Arthur shows
43:59 restraint multiple times in our time
44:01 with them as opposed to Micah who does
44:03 not show any restraint at all with his
44:05 actions speech yet even greed with how
44:08 he Rats on the gang for money when
44:11 kendaro Miura was a younger man he wrote
44:14 guts as having no restraint whatsoever a
44:16 true monster among monsters however as
44:19 time went on and Miura grew so Goods by
44:22 the time of Mira's unfortunate passing
44:25 guts had things to lose mura left guts
44:27 with things that Gods really cared about
44:29 a ray of Hope in a cruel world and if
44:31 you don't have love to fight for then
44:34 that costume is just another costume
44:36 gut's sword would have been seen as just
44:39 another giant enemy sword instead of a
44:41 crucifix that he has to Bear these
44:43 stories are legendary not just because
44:45 of the facade and the Bravada or the
44:47 costume but because they resonate on a
44:49 deeper level with men everywhere it
44:51 connects men with things that we
44:53 sometimes feel too embarrassed to talk
44:55 about no matter what culture you may be
44:58 from it's why an Indian like me who grew
45:00 up with Malayalam Cinema and who never
45:03 really was into the wild west genre so
45:06 thoroughly enjoyed Arthur's character as
45:09 man we have our own set of uncomfortable
45:11 realities that we must contend with and
45:13 expectations we must ramble while
45:15 keeping our balance and making sure not
45:17 to hurt others along the way no matter
45:20 the cast Creed or vocation I've got a
45:21 lot more to say about this topic but I'm
45:24 gonna stop here and I might revisit it
45:26 in the future this video is really just
45:27 something I had I had to get off my
45:30 chest while gushing about some of my
45:32 favorite men in fiction and whatever it
