A dominant theme of comedies in recent years has been the guy with an extremely close group of platonic male friends who until now has been unable or unwilling to live up to society’s expectations of his age group. Certainly this played a major role in Old School, Wedding Crashers, Knocked Up, I Love You, Man, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, 40 Year Old Virgin and Role Models. Even Anchorman and Step-Brothers had this element. Now most of these films had Judd Apatow attached in one form or anther (director/producer/writer or all three), but it’s broad enough to recognize an industry trend.
Perhaps what’s most impressive with this, despite almost a dozen movies exploring the same aspect of the lives of thirty-something men, is that all of these films were largely commercial and critical successes. The latest film, I Love You, Man, certainly fits this bill. With that we’ll likely see a dozen more of these movies. Not a bad thing – but why now? Is this a backlash to the “feel your feelings” era of the 90’s? It’s certainly a rejection of the slap-stick toilet humor that dominated comedy films in the 90’s and early 00’s. Jim Carrey and Robin Williams are not the biggest starts of the industry – if anything they’ve moved on. They’ve been replaced by Paul Rudd, Seth Rogan and, to a lesser extent, Will Ferrell. Along with that new generation comes terms like “man date” and “bromance” and a renewed appreciation for one’s buddies and social momentum.
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of this trend is that while men are getting in touch with their feelings, the “female” movies of our day are Sex and the City and Confessions of a Shopaholic. Women are embracing their material sides while men reject them.
Great post!
I think that the first wave of bromance movies – Old School, Wedding Crashers, Zoolander – worked primarily because of the chemistry between the “Frat Pack” members. But the success of those movies opened a new market.
Judd Apatow’s genius has been his ability to cast virtual unknowns and turn them into stars who work well together bromantically.
Since these films have been so successful, I look at them collectively as a response to the feminism of the 80s and 90s, which was effectively feminism at the expense of masculinity.
Bromance is an attempt (and a successful one, it seems) at reclaiming masculinity without falling back on the stereotypes that perpetuate gratuitous sex and violence.
I think your last point is very salient. These movies are really about boys (or “dudes”) respective journeys into manhood. Often times these characters start out glorifying beer, sex and slackerdom long after it would be socially appropriate for someone in their age group. At the finale, they still revel in those things, but they’ve also gotten jobs/girlfriends/children/an education and moved on to different, more mature points in their lives.
It certainly is about reclaiming masculinity, but a far more mature and realistic masculinity. Instead of killing the bad guy and saving the village these guys are providing for their families and are productive members of society.
On a related point, these coming of age films, with the only real exception being Superbad, deal with guys in their 30’s. Has society’s concept of when “manhood” begins changed dramatically? Within our fathers’ generation a man could graduate from high school, get a job and start a family. For tens of millions of middle and upper middle class guys that’s not only impossible, it’s highly undesirable. Instead of building our own nests they hold onto the “frat pack” mentality well into their 20’s. This of course leads to the aimlessness that plagues characters in Knocked Up, I Love You, Man, Wedding Crashers and Old School. These men know they are gripping onto something they should have left years ago, but can’t leave the security blanket of ignorance and “whatever” behind. So in the 21st century, does manhood begin at 35?
There are all kinds of books on how adolescence has been culturally extended over the past 20-30 years.
The book “Unhooked Generation” delves into it as one of the principle reasons why people in the current 20-30 something generation are taking so long to get married, or even be in steady relationships.
“Has society’s concept of when “manhood” begins changed dramatically? ”
I think two things have eroded our fathers/grandfathers’ generational view of manhood. The first and foremost is feminism, which decries any sort of “manhood”. The second is the availability and expectation of higher education. It is nearly impossible to succeed out of high school, and it isn’t much easier to succeed out of college. For us especially, I think that graduate school is as much a requirement for success as college.
So at the very least, “manhood” waits for four years of higher ed, and frequently it waits much longer. Of course this reading disregards class issues, but I think the bromance movies are aimed at educated men.
Also, we should remember that these are comedies, and arrested development is funny.
Excellent post, Connscript.
I also realize as I read this how out of touch I am with pop culture. I’ve never heard bromance before, but it seems to be a pretty well-tred term. Works well, I like it. In fact, as I write that, it strikes me how these guys are able to pull off a sentimental commentary on male relationships that succeeds tremendously with a class of people – young adult guys – who tend to make homophobia central to so many of the jokes and insults they exchange. (I realize that sounds pretty PC, but any guy in his 20s knows what I’m talking about.) The delicate balance between acknowledging love and respect for your guy friends without becomine too iffeminate to turn this audience off is notable in itself. Make what you will of it, I just find it very interesting from a sociological perspective.