The Program: Men Behaving Badly MEN BEHAVING BADLY spawned the cult of laddism. With its outrageous
but endearing characters, the programme was warmly received by
audiences and critics alike - and half its viewers were women. The
title has now entered into common usage, often used in headlines to
describe the antics of politicians, footballers and other celebrities.
When ITV decided not to take up the option for a third series, Beryl
Vertue took the series to the BBC; switching networks was almost
unprecedented. The programme went from strength to strength, won many
awards and regularly received rave reviews, handsomely rewarding the
BBC's faith in the project...
Men Behaving Badly
One of the BBC's most popular comedies in the 1990s, Men Behaving
Badly, didn't even begin on the BBC! Written by Simon Nye, the series
was originally on ITV and starred Martin Clunes and Harry Enfield as
clueless roommates. For the second season, Enfield was replaced by
Neil Morrissey, but the series still failed to impress ITV chiefs. The
BBC, in a rare move, picked up the series and turned it into a smash
hit. Now BBC America is running the series in the USA, giving
Americans a chance to see this great series (which also spawned a
terrible remake on NBC several years ago, about which the less said,
the better!).
At its core Men Behaving Badly is a satire about Britain's "lad"
culture, personified by Tony and Gary (Morrissey and Clunes), who only
care about getting drunk, making out with women, and watching TV. Gary
manages to have a full-time girlfriend, the long-suffering Dorothy (Jonat...
... middle of paper ...
...tball star Lineker himself also appeared. All four stars of Men
Behaving Badly squared off against each other (women versus men) in a
charity edition of the game-show Bullseye presented as part of
Children In Need (BBC1, 20 November 1998) and turned up again in a
special edition of C4's food and chat show Late Lunch, screened as
Late Lunch Behaving Badly on 23 December 1998. In danger of being
perceived as a permanent double-act, Clunes and Morrissey starred in
one-off musical comedy film Hunting Venus (Yorkshire for ITV, 31 March
1999) and teamed again for a three-part documentary on Australia, Men
Down Under (BBC1, 31 August-14 September 2000). On 11 July 2002 BBC1
screened The Real...Men Behaving Badly, a spurious tie-in that
combined clips with interviews with real-life laddish-lads, including
Neil Morrissey.
In their homosocial environment, there are no specific roles to play, it is an unstable, unspecified environment on which the foundation of dominance is placed to create roles. This lack of roles and desire for patriarchy creates the perfect environment for the boys to enact methods of obtaining dominance. The boys obtain their hierarchy through the “fourth-class” system by abusing and effeminizing the “knob” underclassmen. Their method of obtaining a patriarchal dynamic between all men is very similar to the manner in which the experimental prison guards established dominance in the Stanford experiment in Gladwell’s reading. In this experiment, the volunteers placed as guards were “given uniforms and dark glasses and told that their responsibility was to keep order in the prison” (Gladwell, 157). In a sense, these guards were given a specified role in a new environment, but were not given an explicit method of how to do so. It was entirely up to the guards as to how they would go about enacting their new roles to “maintain order”, or establish dominance in the environment. The only way the guards knew how to obtain such dominance was through violence, for “as the experiment progressed, the guards got systematically cruieler and more sadistic” (Gladwell, 158). By abusing the volunteer prisoners, the guards made them weak
Michael Abernathy’s article “Male Bashing on TV” uses many television sources and percentages to explain how men are treated like idiots inside of the media. Abernathy is a television reviewer, cultural critic, and queer culture commentator (350). While Heather Havrilesky's article “TV’s New Wave of Women:Smart, Strong, Borderline Insane” is the opposite and uses television sources to explain how women are treated as smart yet crazy inside of the media. These two articles describe how men and women are portrayed differently in television shows and the media. The articles have smaller subtopics in common which are the portrayal of men and women in the media, the comparison of men and women in each article, and how Abernathy and Havrilesky want
We are all different. We are all at least biased on one topic. Some people just look at the surface, while others dig deeper into the facts that were given. Reginald Rose demonstrated these points beautifully in 12 Angry Men. All of the Jurors bring a special part of their personality to the jury room, which is the beauty of having a jury. All of the jurors are different in their own unique way,
Standing up for what one believes in is not always easy. The book Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose should be taught in schools for many reasons. The book is about the trial of a sixteen year old boy accused of killing his father. The boy’s fate is determined by the decision reached by twelve jurors in a New York jury room. Twelve Angry Men displays the effects that one person can have on a group, it teaches the value of being part of a jury, and it explores how stereotypes and prejudices can have an effect on someone’s decision or beliefs.
People tend to base characteristics and personalities of people pretty quickly. Most people base their opinions on stereotypes. Reginald Rose and his play “12 Angry Men” demonstrate how people are quick to judge other people based on looks. In the movie all twelve jurors must decide if a young boy is guilty or innocent. At the beginning of the movie/play-write, only one juror, juror eight, decides the boy is innocent. Based on the evidence gathered from the case everyone agrees the boy is innocent except one man, juror three. He eventually breaks down and tells the truth. The viewers can tell that this movie/play is full of emotions. Each of these emotions can be described as something more than what comes to the eye.
Beloved by Toni Morrison and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry tackle issues of masculinity. On pages 125 to 138 and 147 to 149, Morrison illustrations in Beloved how white power structures and the sexual fetishism of the black man’s body, which were established by American slavery, emasculates the black man. On pages 143 to 144 in A Raisin in the Sun, which takes place between World War II and the present, portrays a peculiar mindset of a black man, and his fight to define his masculinity within a matriarchal family structure, a product of American slavery. The language in Beloved and A Raisin in the Sun, underlines the products of the societal structures of slavery effect on black masculinity.
Examining different scenarios, such as toy proportions, outlook from inmates in jail, and the ideas portrayed of what the ideal man consist from the viewpoint of man, the movie depicts these things to show how pop culture, social constructs, and masculine identities influence their opinions. Consequently, men believe they can gain respect and admiration from others from their use of violence and threats. Katz asked inmates about their ideology of masculinity; they said that masculinity is about having power and respect. Furthermore, they showed concerned about what the other inmates thought of them and their masculinity. Boys and men have to carefully shape their persona to fit the ideal standard of masculinity, no matter the cost. Katz and Earp break down the social constructs of masculinity by looking at the ideas of the “ideal man,” violence leading to masculinity, and degradation of masculinity by attacking individuals with the notion that they are acting
According to RAINN, (2009) approximately 10 per cent of all victims of sexual assault and abuse are adult and juvenile males. In terms of the nature of assault, real figures include a compendium of reported incidents ranging from unwanted sexual touching to forced penetration. To qualify this statement, it must be understood that the percentage does not reflect a vast number of crimes that go unreported due to issues that will be discussed in the present paper.
The "others" do not want to demonize men, yet are not taking an active role in eliminating the occasional poison that masculine expectations inhibit. Hamblin 's opinion, as well as several respected experts in psychology, criminology, and sociology, believes that toxic masculinity is an accurate term that can further both discussion and action on how to stop the aggressive and destructive notions of
Despite its increasing presence in mainstream media, BDSM is still largely viewed as transgressive behaviour. James’ trilogy, while very popular for its titillating content, has been accused of promoting abusive relationships and violence towards women. (reference) When BDSM is represented in popular culture most people only vaguely understand it despite its prominent existence in soci...
If a man possesses the masculinity that society claims he should have, he may still experience many emotional issues within himself. After a man has been taught that domination is the key, they may develop a sense of aggression. Aggression may also follow the fact they men hold all of their feelings into to protect themselves from the schemas. Men have been seen to use violence in their past to solve their issues. In the documentary, one of the prisoners in the group session spoke about how he was in jail because all of his emotions that had been bottled up become uncontrollable in one instance. If a boy or a man does not contain the masculinity expected, he may become bullied and out-casted. The continuation of discrimination toward a boy may cause suicidal thoughts. On top of being bullied for not being a powerful man, he may still be trying to hold in his emotions to prove that he
In viewing 12 Angry Men, we see face to face exactly what man really is capable of being. We see different views, different opinions of men such as altruism, egoism, good and evil. It is no doubt that human beings possess either one or any of these characteristics, which make them unique. It is safe to say that our actions, beliefs, and choices separate us from animals and non-livings. The 20th century English philosopher, Martin Hollis, once said, “Free will – the ability to make decisions about how to act – is what distinguishes people from non-human animals and machines 1”. He went to describe human beings as “self conscious, rational, creative. We can fall in love, write sonnets or plan for tomorrow. We are capable of faith, hope and charity, and for that matter, of envy, hated and malice. We know truth from error, right from wrong 2.” Human nature by definition is “Characteristics or qualities that make human beings different from anything else”. With this said, the topic of human nature has been around for a very long time, it is a complex subject with no right or wrong answer. An American rabbi, Samuel Umen, gave examples of contradictions of human nature in his book, Images of Man. “He is compassionate, generous, loving and forgiving, but also cruel, vengeful, selfish and vindictive 3”. Existentialism by definition is, “The belief that existence comes before essence, that is, that who you are is only determined by you yourself, and not merely an accident of birth”. A French philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre, is the most famous and influential 20th - century existentialist. He summed up human nature as “existence precedes essence”. In his book, Existentialism and Human Emotions, he explained what he meant by this. “It means that, first of all, man exists, turns up, appears on the scene, and, only afterwards, defines himself. If man, as the existentialist conceives him, is indefinable, it is because at first he is nothing. Only afterward will be something, and he himself will have made what he will be 4”. After watching 12 Angry Men, the prominent view on human nature that is best portrayed in the movie is that people are free to be whatever they want because as Sartre said, “people create themselves every moment of everyday according to the choices they make 5”.
“Patterns of behaviour taught to children and adults in order to help them learn to behave as acceptable females or males. It begins at birth via naming, clothing, and treatment of the infant, and it continues to be taught and reinforced throughout life within most social institutions” (Online Learning Centre, 2003). The main agents of socialisation includ...
In a selection from Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men titled “Bros Before Hos”, Michael Kimmel defines masculinity and describes the societal guidelines for being a man. Kimmel lists the generalized rules of manhood and explains that the majority of men attain these ideas from other men in their life. Men who were shaped by these ideals then shape other men to fit the same rules, furthering the cycle of masculinity. Kimmel then illustrates the shunning of emotion, sensitivity, and any other effeminate behavior, for the fear of being perceived as gay. These effects of masculinity push men to avoid being ostracized and conform to idiocracy of manhood: recklessness, poor health, and stress. Just when masculinity seems like an obvious
After viewing the movie 12 Angry men, clear and set boundaries can be observed that coincide with this week’s assignment involving persuasion, conformity and influence. One of the initial questions that was proposed after the jurors began deliberations was a conversation that juror 2 and 3 initially had in the beginning of the film. Juror 3 asked juror 2 “How did you like it”? Response was, “pretty interesting huh”? Return response from juror 3 was, “ugh, I almost fell asleep, I’ve sat on may juries, what gets me, is the way those lawyers talk and talk especially when it’s an open and shut case like this”. Juror 3 replies, “they are entitled”. Return response from 2 is I guess he’s entitled, but, if you ask me, I’d slap those tough kids down