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(nice little summary)
http://mensnewsdaily.com/archive/h/h-misc/hernan092503.htm
by Steve Hernan
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Beginning (1930 – 1950) – The “Quintessential” Era
In the beginning, God created the Tough Guy. He gave him names like James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, and Edward G. Robinson. He gave him character traits like a quiet strength and a rough-edged masculinity. The Tough Guy was an explorer, an achiever, a provider, and a protector. God dressed him well and made him competitive and ambitious. God gave him the entire world along with a brilliant torch to light his way. When the Tough Guy became too ambitious for all the wrong reasons, God made another Tough Guy to protect us from the first. Good and evil were absolute. Good always triumphed. Order always prevailed.
Rise (1950 – 1980) – The “Classical” Era
The Tough Guy grew strong and flourished. Like so many other men of his time, his carbon soul had been pressurized into a diamond character by World War II. He was hard, sharp, and resolute. He knew right from wrong. He was decent. He was good. He was John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, William Holden, Yul Brenner, and Lee Marvin. War heroes, field marshals, frontier lawmen. Men on the front line of an uncivilized world. Men who did their job no matter how hard the work or how unpleasant the task.
Over time, he became polished and refined. But he never lost his diamond hard inner strength. He could still ferret out and fend off the bad guys, but his battlefield was no longer the distant shores of some savage nation. He instead brought his moral fiber and his impeccable sense of justice into the very heart of civilized society. He was the unshakable moral icon of Gregory Peck’s “Atticus Finch” (To Kill a Mockingbird). He was the calm but fiercely resolute father of Jimmy Stewart’s “Ben McKenna” (The Man Who Knew Too Much). He was ubiquitous – you would find him in the least likely places. You could see him in the reluctant heroes of Dean Martin’s “Dude” (Rio Bravo) and Frank Sinatra’s “Bennett Marco” (The Manchurian Candidate). You could even see him in Cary Grant’s urbane-with-an-edge “Devlin” (Notorious). Hitch could make a tough guy out of anyone.
The Tough Guys of this era groomed a second generation of young men to take their place. They were called Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Charlton Heston, James Coburn, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Sean Connery, and Sidney Poitier. They were strong, capable, cool, and brave. They were often shockingly ordinary men who shined brilliantly under extraordinary circumstances. They neither shirked their duties nor wavered under pressure. The torch was passed to this new generation of Tough Guys. They bore it proudly and unapologetically. And they ran with it.
Stagnation (c. 1980 – 2000) – The “Maniacal” Era
The rise of political correctness ushered in a growing contempt for all things Tough Guy. Classical Tough Guys became objects of ridicule, even scorn. They were too “patriarchal” and “chauvinistic.” They were deemed “old fashioned,” “uptight,” and “emotionally unavailable.” “Strong and silent” was unhealthy – if not suspect. This was the era where “enlightened” men were supposed to share their feelings with total strangers and express their doubts, insecurities, and passions with everyone around them. Patience and self-control were out. Instant gratification was in. And the Tough Guy torch became less of an heirloom and more of a novelty.
In response, Hollywood gave us Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, Kurt Russell, Bruce Willis, Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Segal, Russell Crowe, Will Smith, and Wesley Snipes. These Tough Guys weren’t afraid to show their feelings or express their passions. In fact, they were encouraged to do so by a public that craved graphic violence and sexual titillation.
It soon became comical. Tough Guys became either “loose cannons” such as Mel Gibson’s “Martin Riggs” (Lethal Weapon) or “beefcakes” like Sylvester Stallone’s “John Rambo” (First Blood et al). The common thread? All were crazed, vindictive, violent, and often quasi-suicidal rebels entirely bereft of rationality, intellect, or self-control. Masculinity was defined by who could act the craziest, drive the fastest, bed down the prettiest, and generally kill and/or maim the most opponents – be they good guys or bad. It was a glorification of every bad male trait, and a complete nullification of every good one. In short, it was an insult to every decent man in America.
John and Jane Q. Public ate it up. The sequels flourished…
Decline (2000 – present) – The “Metrosexual” Era
The torch has been dropped, if not entirely abandoned. The Tough Guy has all but vanished, and there is no one to take his place. There are still a few holdouts from prior generations, but their ranks are rapidly diminishing. Clint Eastwood and Sean Connery are still fairly active. Robert DeNiro can still hold his own fairly well. But aging veteran actors like Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson have been forced to take on diminished roles while being paired off with limelight darlings like Colin Farrell or Adam Sandler. What a let down that must be.
Let’s not delude ourselves. The Tough Guy era is over. Need proof? Just look at the lead male characters in today’s movies. Most of them are either overly “feminized” or incurably oafish. These include the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Toby McGuire, David Spade, Adam Sandler, Jack Black, and Cuba Gooding, Jr. And the fellows who are starring in all the action movies? Colin Farrell? Ben Affleck? Tom Cruise? Matt Damon? George Clooney? Brad Pitt? Mark Wahlberg? Johnny Depp? Keanu Reeves? Not much of a line-up. Can you imagine any of these pretty boys going mano-a-mano with Steve McQueen or James Cagney?
Bottom line: Tough Guys are out. Their empire has fallen and the last ones are dying off. We now live in the Age of Wimps. And it’s a damn shame, too.
Charlie Bronson must be spinning in his grave.
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