Even on Fathers' Day, Media Find a Way to Bash Men

reply to post by Rasobasi420


Yeah, male minorities on The Simpsons are made fun of, their masculinity is undermined, isn't that the whole point of this discussion, while female characters on the Simpsons are portrayed as far superior to the men.

If you really pay attention to the pecking order, you will notice that while the show pokes fun of minority males, they are second on the rung after women in the pecking order. Minority males most often are givern the voice of reason, like Lou, the black police officer who often questions Chief Wiggins crazy decisions.

If you watched the modern version of the Justice League, you would notice that Truth, Justice, and the American way of life isn't the theme of the show anymore, like it was forty years ago.

Forty years ago, the superheroes were reasonable, emotionally solid, and had a clear moral compass, todays superheroes are perplexing, emotionally on the edge if not psychotic to a degree, and seemed confused most of the time about what is right or wrong.

In the 2008 Justice League movie, Superman, the white male, farm grown role model takes on the menace all on his own and is defeated quickly. Superman comes off as an outsider and not a team player who is easily defeated, not really all that good of a role model. The racially ambiguous Green Lantern is the hero in the movie. While the old Justice league provided strong white male role models, todays Justice League does not. That is a big strike out on your part.

There is a fairly current cartoon for the Junior Justice League, and like the Simpsons, the female characters are the strongest, most likeable and most responsible, the male minority character comes in second, and the white male characters are all very shallow, weak, and uneffective.

Add up the numbers, so far, it is pretty obvious that postive white male role models are pretty scarce these days. At least fifty percent of the female characters should be dumber that fifty percent of the male characters, and the rest of the minorities should also fall into their respective numbers range. If you paid attention, the white male characters on almost every show are the weakest characters, and the worst role models.

Seriously, where are the characters of women and minorities that match up to Homer Simpson, Chief Wiggins, Mr Burns, Lou, Ned Flanders, Seymor Skinner, ect, ect.. Start looking at the other shows, and which characters are portrayed the worst. My Name is Earl, Boston Legal, Ugly Betty, The Office, Scrubs. Look at the childrens cartoons, they are even worse. Fairly Odd Parents and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy are both prime examples.

What percentage of villians are women and minorities?

Originally posted by poet1b
reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

 

I never claimed that violence is a measure of a man, I pointed out that defending oneself against accusations are characteristics of a man. What gives you the idea that my definition of what makes a man is so narrow?

You first comment. then the following post kind of affirmed it for me.

In this world, there are times when a person has to stand up and defend themselves and their loved ones and their way of life. This is a reality of this predatory world. If you don't grasp this, it's probably because you have never had to fight for anything in your life, especially for your survival. This is the problem with many who live in first world nations, they have lost their connection to the struggle for survival that is very real, except it doesn't seem that way in the very insulated realm of life in first world nations.

Apparently i was incorrect. I apologize.

Originally posted by poet1b

Seriously, where are the characters of women and minorities that match up to Homer Simpson, Chief Wiggins, Mr Burns, Lou, Ned Flanders, Seymor Skinner, ect, ect.. Start looking at the other shows, and which characters are portrayed the worst. My Name is Earl, Boston Legal, Ugly Betty, The Office, Scrubs. Look at the childrens cartoons, they are even worse. Fairly Odd Parents and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy are both prime examples.

What percentage of villians are women and minorities?

Your take on the Justice League is seriously flawed. Superman is and always will be the power behind the justice league. He's morally strait and has all of the other boyscout traits, always has and always will. Batman is just as strong of a figure. The Flash, green Lantern, Green Arrow, Hawkman.......
all white males who are positive characters. And the X-Men, Fantastic 4, Avengers......

Using the Simpsons to judge the medias take on the white male character is just ridiculous. EVERYONE IS WACKED IN THE SIMPSONS!!! that's what makes it funny. And sure there are bad women characters in the simpsons. Remember when Bart 'stole' the church collection? Remember when Marge got the Pretzel Wagon? Skinner's Mom? Nelson's mom?

My Name is Earl? Do you mean Earl? He's probably the most reasonable person on the show!!! The women easily take second tier to him. Like Jamie Pressly's character of being selfish, scheming conniving and all that. Boston legal has Shatner, that's all I know. Ugly Betty is about a Hispanic girl I think. The office has nothing but white men, and they are reasonable, intelligent handsome and whatever. Jim is the hero of the show, and he's the perfect example of what you're looking for in a man right? Scrubs? Are you kidding me? They're all doctors!! White black, male, female, they're all saving lives with their genius and compassion.

Like I said, you've got to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. This is not a battle worth fighting. If you're going to take it personally every time JD has a wacky pratfall, then you might as well stop watching sitcoms now.

Originally posted by poet1b

I reserve the right to defend myself, and people who call me a whiner for doing such are the ones out of line.

Except that no one is attacking you. So, it's more offensive than defensive.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


Hmm, I'm guessing here, but it seems to me that either I am a whiner or a macho fool who thinks that violence is the solution to everything. I imagine that is how you view most men, except those big guys smart enough to seek perfection. Glory days, they'll pass you buy.

Is this correct?

The only conclusion I can reach after reading only half the first page (all I could take) is this: A lot of the male posters (yes, I am male) are excessivley paranoid and overly touchy, possibly due to some insecurities about their own intelligence or masculinity.

I find this portrayal of males just as galling and offensive as anyone else would and should, but I know it's a lot of stereotypical BS (and I'm smart enough to know any idiot knows it's just that.) It's certainly not a portrayal of myself, or any men I associate with. (There's plenty of sleazebags out there, but that's not really the same as being "dumb-as-a-rock") so I don 't let it get to me... To get so up in arms over it only seems to support my first theory that some people are overly insecure. (Also, where did anyone get this crap about it starting in the 90's?... Watch an episode of the Flinstones for crissake!)

And to say this portrayal of dumb males essentially "brainwashes" children is foolish. I grew up in the 90's after all. I don't belive any of it, nor do I recall much of it being commonplace in commercials (nearly all about household chores "typically" for women) until a few years ago. If YOU AS A PARENT expose your kids to enough this media BS, maybe it's your fault they ("might") end up being stupid enough to start believing that stuff on TV (or any media) in the first place (ho ho!) Turn of the TV. Not much left to worry about in this regard, hmm?

I'm pretty sure all it takes to set a good example for children is to not be one of those cliches on TV. My dad is hardly the most admiral person (I'm not about to get into that... He just isn't!) But he's a perfectly capable individual, a damn good cook, keeps a fairly tidy home, is skilled in both the work and design sides of architechture (or maybe just construction, hahah)... and, for the most part, a "smart-in-neccessary-ways" person. My mom is a flaming conservative and a bit of a whackjob, and can be incredibly annoying and overbearing, and she is not entertaining any guests or doing any regular cleaning, just working to get her masters and working as a highschool teachers, having multiple breakdowns along the way. My parents are both regualr fu**g people. No one is like what you see on TV, and to expect them to be, is to be incredibly foolish. *hint hint*

and this talk about trying to "break men down" further backs my "everyone complaining is just terribly insecure and paranoid" argument. Sorry, but it only affects you if you let it for whatever silly reason. Like I said, those commercials annoy the sh** out of me, but to bi**h and moan (as well as make the assumption a man or men alone has to be the one to "rise up against the system" in the first place-- hence the "psychological warefare" statement) is AGAIN, a whole lot of insecurities and paranoia showing themselves, and at the same time, reinforcing the 1950's "men work, women clean" mindset. Not everything is as black and white as some of you seem to see/want it to be.

I see all of the negative portrayals of men as women (who for centuries have been secondary figures in society) lashing out essentially, and I see the men feeling angry at their places being usurped... It's all a lot of selfish, meaningless crap on BOTH sides of this coin...

BUT THAT'S JUST MY TWO CENTS. Flame away, folks.

reply to post by poet1b


Ummm...no sir. As i stated, i misunderstood. And i apologize. Denial of ignorance requires humility, sometimes.

reply to post by Rasobasi420


I'll repeat myself, AGAIN. You are talking about the Justice League from Forty years ago, compromised of characters created so long ago, they are all eligible for senior discounts. Non-white characters were introduced DECADES AGO. In the latest version of The Justice League Superman is not the hero, the racially ambiguous Green Lantern is the hero.

You need to escape your fantasy construct of the world and start paying attention to current events.

Women make up 50% of the population, yet on The Simpsons bad women characters are a tiny percentage of the cast. That is not balanced. The rest of what you ignore on my comments on The Simpsons is also true, but like your insistence on referring to The Justice League as it was forty years ago, you choose to ignore the contemporary reality.

On "My Name is Earl", Earl is not the most reasonable character on the show, the black guy that his blond ex-wife is so infatuated with is the most reasonable and most intelligent character on the show.

On the Office, all the male characters are extremely sad sacks, while the women characters are all intelligent and reasonable most of the time. The show is so stereotypical it disgusts me, and I can't stand to watch it. The fact that The Office wins so many awards, while a far superior show like "Two and a Half Men" is given no respect because the show dares to portray the women as badly as the men, shows how lopsided the media is their portrayal of women and men.

reply to post by the raytownian


At the end of a long day, it is nice to settle down and stare into the fire, get a few laughs, relax, and not be bombarded with a deluge of one sided ugly stereotypes that these days point almost exclusively at white males. Most people don't buy into this stuff, but all too many people do. Political correctness is weaving its evil intentions through everyones minds these day. It's nice to have a place to point out the hypocrisy.

Originally posted by poet1b
reply to post by Rasobasi420

 

I'll repeat myself, AGAIN. You are talking about the Justice League from Forty years ago, compromised of characters created so long ago, they are all eligible for senior discounts. Non-white characters were introduced DECADES AGO. In the latest version of The Justice League Superman is not the hero, the racially ambiguous Green Lantern is the hero.

www.cartoonnetwork.com...

Women make up 50% of the population, yet on The Simpsons bad women characters are a tiny percentage of the cast. That is not balanced. The rest of what you ignore on my comments on The Simpsons is also true, but like your insistence on referring to The Justice League as it was forty years ago, you choose to ignore the contemporary reality.

It's the simpsons. There are only 2 bad guys!! Are you upset that one of them isn't a girl?

And this is where I'm confused. Are you saying that Matt Groening (white guy), Mike Scully (white guy), Hank Azaria, Harry Sheerer and all those other white guys are self hating? (then again, what writer/actor isn't)

On "My Name is Earl", Earl is not the most reasonable character on the show, the black guy that his blond ex-wife is so infatuated with is the most reasonable and most intelligent character on the show.

And i suppose you're upset that he's playing second tier intellect to a black man. Dude, Earl is fine.

On the Office, all the male characters are extremely sad sacks, while the women characters are all intelligent and reasonable most of the time. The show is so stereotypical it disgusts me, and I can't stand to watch it.

There are only 2 decent intelligent, rational and normal people on the show. One man, one woman. The rest are nuts. Again, reading too much into it.

The fact that The Office wins so many awards, while a far superior show like "Two and a Half Men" is given no respect because the show dares to portray the women as badly as the men, shows how lopsided the media is their portrayal of women and men.

Two and a half men gets no respect because it's on CBS and it's a generally crappy show. Nothing to do with the women. I have to say though, I do respect Charlie Sheen for coming out about his belief in the 9/11 conspiracies.

I think you're just over sensitive and paranoid. I think you're seeing things that aren't there. I could be just as upset over the Simpson's portrayal of black men, or the portrayal of mexicans on Reno 911.

reply to post by Rasobasi420


Follow your own link, right in the center of the picture, the superheroes are not all white guys anymore as you claim they are. Your racial stereotyping of the Justice League is no longer true. The white heroes are characters created over sixty years ago. Do you have any contemporary white male role models? You have yet to name one.

You have yet to come up with a contemporary character that is a positive white male role model that balances out Homer and the rest of the very negative white male role models on The Simpsons.

DO you recognize how lopsided the portrayal of whites is on Earl? Earl, the white trash character is, by the way, portrayed by Greg Garcia, a latino male. It is really a modern day Amos and Andy, but from my understanding Amos and Andy portrayed blacks with more respect. The smart black guy and the dumb white guy relationship on TV is a standard these days, and it is also getting old.

I have only observed one sane character on The Office, and that is the female character.

Personally, I think "Two and a Half Men" is the best current comedy on today. What don't you like about the show, over your head?

reply to post by poet1b


So you're mad that the modern day justice league isn't all white men, and that Earl is played by a Hispanic male. (not true btw, Earl is played by Jason Lee from Mallrats and Chasing Amy...White Dude)

I'm sorry you can't find a single white person you can look up to these days, but don't blame it on the media, don't blame it on the women, don't blame it on the minorities, blame it on the people who aren't standing up and being role models like they should.

I'll also mention that I know of a few, but you should probably work on finding your own person to look up to.

Originally posted by comm12
reply to post by ~Lucidity

 

Insignificant nonsense? Whining? Who said I was male?

Yes. Yes. And not me.

That's three lines.

reply to post by Rasobasi420


Wow, now you have resorted to simply attacking me personally, rather than discussing how white males are portrayed in media. Where did you get that big chip on your shoulder? What is so wrong with a white guy complaining about the lack of positive white male role models on TV these days?

I was happy when the comics started creating super heroes of different ethnic groups. In fact, as kid, I always wondered why there weren't black super heroes. You are barking up the wrong tree. All I am doing is pointing out that your perspective of The Justice League is way out of date.

I have many great white male role models to draw from. I could name a few even in the media, BUT that was supposed to be your job. How is it that you couldn't name a contemporary positive white male role model? Here is one for you, Indiana Jones, and he is now a father. Maybe that is why the new Indiana Jones movie did so well.

I'm sorry, My Name is Earl is created by Gregory Thomas Garcia, which still makes the show a modern day Amos and Andy.

Really, why is it that you felt the need to label Two And A Half Men as a crappy show? Usually when I make such a comment I give a reason. What makes you dislike the show so much?

A belated happy fathers day to all fathers.
even the little ones.

Perhaps these commercials might illustrate the original intent of the thread?

Originally posted by poet1b
reply to post by Rasobasi420

 

All I am doing is pointing out that your perspective of The Justice League is way out of date.

Not sure what you mean by that. My perspective of the justice league was that there were plenty of white male role models in it. There are also black male role models, female role models and Martian role models.

I could name a few even in the media, BUT that was supposed to be your job. How is it that you couldn't name a contemporary positive white male role model?

Can you name a single blockbuster this summer or last that didn't have a white male as the lead role or supporting role? The Incredible Hulk? Iron Man? Spider-Man? X-Men? Die Hard? There are literally too many to name. And comedy is comedy! You can't take it personally when one of the 3 stooges gets a pie in the face. It's not a personal attack, or an attack on the 'male population'. It's a pie in the face!.

I'm sorry, My Name is Earl is created by Gregory Thomas Garcia, which still makes the show a modern day Amos and Andy.

www.imdb.com...
You know, the Garcia part of his name could have been from Spain. He 'looks' about as white as anyone I've seen (except for an albino maybe). What's in a name anyway. Find me some family history.

Really, why is it that you felt the need to label Two And A Half Men as a crappy show? Usually when I make such a comment I give a reason. What makes you dislike the show so much?

It's a generic sitcom complete with live studio audience and a laugh track. The characters are derivative right down to the pushy mother and wacky neighbor. Might as well call it My 2 Dads. My personal tastes lend themselves towards more original shows that don't follow a generic cookie cutter style, but that's just me. And that's not what this thread is about. It's about men not feeling that they get a fare share in the media...... And that's just absurd.

[edit on 20-6-2008 by Rasobasi420]

reply to post by spacedoubt


Go watch the 2008 version of the Justice League. Then try reading my previous posts, and look for the phrase "border line psychotic". Tell me, from the 2008 Justice League movie, which super heroes do you think would make a good father figure?

Movies not starring white guys, "The Forbidden Kingdom", "Hancock". By the way, Spider-Man, X-Men, and Die Hard were all from last year. Indiana Jones is probably the only decent father figure white male role model in any of these. What percentage of the villains will be a human being that is not a white guy, or blond woman.

So what do we classify as white? You could say Spiderman is Jewish.

Generic sitcom pretty much describes all sitcoms these days, some succeed some don't. At least in Two and A Half Men, the women are portrayed as badly as the men, at least the show has that going as balance.

This is off topic, but last year the big Disney kids movie was High School Musical, and of course as standard fair these days the villain was a blond high school girl. Then this year, Disney is pushing it's Jonas Brothers band, and made Camp Rocks, and this year the villain is, surprise surprise, the blond high school girl. Seriously, this has been going on at Disney for over twenty years now. It's became an obsession years ago if you ask me.

And you still have yet to name a good white male role model in current media.

Originally posted by poet1b
Go watch the 2008 version of the Justice League. Then try reading my previous posts, and look for the phrase "border line psychotic". Tell me, from the 2008 Justice League movie, which super heroes do you think would make a good father figure?

That's what I linked to. The Justice league is a league of superheroes with some real life problems, but all in all, good roll models.

Movies not starring white guys, "The Forbidden Kingdom", "Hancock". By the way, Spider-Man, X-Men, and Die Hard were all from last year. Indiana Jones is probably the only decent father figure white male role model in any of these. What percentage of the villains will be a human being that is not a white guy, or blond woman.

Right, because 2007 isn't contemporary. Maybe it's a thing that comes with age. As for black bad guys what about Samuel L Jackson in Jumper?

So what do we classify as white? You could say Spiderman is Jewish.

His name is Peter Parker
Just because his superhero man ends in 'man' doesn't make him Jewish.

Although..... Hyman Spiderman......

Generic sitcom pretty much describes all sitcoms these days, some succeed some don't. At least in Two and A Half Men, the women are portrayed as badly as the men, at least the show has that going as balance.

And you still have yet to name a good white male role model in current media.

Right, because Superman, the X-Men, Batman, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four and all those other heroes. And I think you need to define 'current'. To me, most things past 2000 is pretty contemporary.

[edit on 21-6-2008 by Rasobasi420]

reply to post by Rasobasi420


All the Justice League characters you are claiming to be current role models were created over fifty years ago, half a century. In the latest movie version these characters are not the role models that they once were. Obviously you didn't watch the movie. How many times do I have to repeat this.

You asked me to name movies for this summer while you named movies for last summer. Yeah, Samuel Jackson played a somewhat bad guy, and that is a rare turn for a black actor.

So, any contemporary white male role models you can name?

reply to post by poet1b


Do you know what contemporary means?

Edit: 2 of the 3 articles in the OP were from 2007, does that mean they're no longer valid either

[edit on 21-6-2008 by Rasobasi420]