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