Insipid 'Man Up' makes both men and women look bad

Submitted by anthony on Wed, 2011-10-19 22:48

Article here. Excerpt:

'Should you decide to squander 30 minutes on what may be the worst of a bad bunch of fall sitcoms, divert yourself from the tedium by asking why our Man, Will, is so unhappy. He has a beautiful wife, two healthy children, an expensive-looking house, a job and two devoted friends.

Yet instead of celebrating, Will spends the night boo-hooing because he can't find his son a birthday gift and because his wife reminds him he and his buddies didn't fight in Vietnam or World War II— as if the men who risked their lives in those conflicts thought of them as some jolly, male-bonding, sweat-lodge retreat. No wonder the show's women treat these men like idiots; they're probably overestimating them.

Before you accuse Man Up of male-bashing, note that the portrayal of those manipulative, emasculating women is just as insulting. Man Up is an equal-opportunity sex offender.
...
And that's the real issue. When did TV decide that empty heads were the hallmarks of manhood, or that anything that smacks of education or cultural refinement was somehow unmasculine? The problem with this trio isn't that they're unmanly; it's that they're morons. And to compound that problem, they're moronic on our TVs.

With any luck, that problem at least should take care of itself.'

Like0 Dislike0

Comments

'Before you accuse Man Up of male-bashing, note that the portrayal of those manipulative, emasculating women is just as insulting. Man Up is an equal-opportunity sex offender.'

Um, no. Reverse the sexes and would the author be saying the same thing? As I have said before, women have never been as badly portrayed on TV as men are being portrayed now. I challenge anyone to find me anything that refutes that.

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Matt on Thu, 2011-10-20 00:33

He said equal opportunity, not equal outcome. The show can be offensive to both genders while still being more offensive to men. Being offensive is not a zero sum arrangement.

"I challenge anyone to find me anything that refutes that."

How about "As I have said before, women have never been as badly portrayed on TV as men"... The "as badly" still implies they are portryed badly, and that is equal opportunity (though not outcome).

As to reversing the genders... I certainly wouldn't like the male gender being portrayed as some manipulative, nagging, ballbusters (I haven't actually watched the show, so not sure how true the statement is that they are representing women in this manner, but that's not what you are objecting to).

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Kratch on Thu, 2011-10-20 17:26