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On TV, men are the new weaker sex
Boston Globe ^ | November 15, 2007 | Joanna Weiss

Posted on 11/15/2007 9:00:20 AM PST by ConservativeStatement

"Big Shots," ABC's mostly-comedic take on male bonding, is a man's idea of a woman's idea of men. The show's heroes - each the head of a corporation - are adorable, sensitive, flawed, and yearning for love. And they're eager to talk about it. They gab about troubled relationships on the golf course, across the pool table, in the steam room at the gym. They buy each other drinks, and sometimes cars, for consolation.

It's a lot like "Sex and the City" for men, a comparison that surely came up when the show was pitched to network executives. Except that these characters aren't wrestling with empowerment so much as they're wallowing in victimhood. They're constantly beset by the women in their lives: badgering wives, cheating wives, fickle ex-wives, insidious ex-lovers.

This is the strange state of ABC's female-friendly Thursday night lineup: It has become a night of emasculated men and emasculating women. If the classic male pinup was the strong, silent, unattainable type, tonight's TV dream man is addled and fawning. And the empowered woman - once a happy departure from older stereotypes - has become not just self-sufficient, but kind of mean.

(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: chickculture; gender; men; tv
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Outside of South Park I don't watch TV shows anymore but TV ads and TV shows seem to have something in common.
1 posted on 11/15/2007 9:00:22 AM PST by ConservativeStatement
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To: MassRepublicanFlyersFan

Propaganda Directive 2:

The white male shall always be portrayed as a dunce.


2 posted on 11/15/2007 9:03:12 AM PST by Lexington Green (Not one dime to Hollywood traitors)
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To: MassRepublicanFlyersFan
It's a lot like "Sex and the City" for men, a comparison that surely came up when the show was pitched to network executives. Except that these characters aren't wrestling with empowerment so much as they're wallowing in victimhood. They're constantly beset by the women in their lives: badgering wives, cheating wives, fickle ex-wives, insidious ex-lovers.

Like "Sex in the City", huh? Is this one also written by homosexual men?

3 posted on 11/15/2007 9:03:18 AM PST by SuziQ
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To: MassRepublicanFlyersFan
On TV, men are the new weaker sex

On TV, men WHITE men are the new weaker sex.
4 posted on 11/15/2007 9:03:39 AM PST by papasmurf (sudo apt - get install FRed Thompson)
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To: MassRepublicanFlyersFan

Another reason why I watch very little broadcast TV. The remainder of my TV entertainment comes from classic TV shows on DVD.


5 posted on 11/15/2007 9:05:04 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four fried chickens and a coke)
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To: MassRepublicanFlyersFan

Wonder what version of Bigshots she’s watching, not the one I’m watching.


6 posted on 11/15/2007 9:05:28 AM PST by discostu (a mountain is something you don't want to %^&* with)
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To: MassRepublicanFlyersFan

I’m sure it’s going to be a runaway smash hit.


7 posted on 11/15/2007 9:05:53 AM PST by Enterprise (Those who "betray us" also "Betray U.S." They're called DEMOCRATS!)
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To: Army Air Corps

“...TV shows on DVD...”

Yep my wife and I are watching Perry Mason-1st season and its great.


8 posted on 11/15/2007 9:06:34 AM PST by Monterrosa-24 (...even more American than a French bikini and a Russian AK-47.)
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To: Army Air Corps

I have a new found respect for classic Western movies (Glenn Ford, Clint Eastwood, Randolph Scott...); I’ve seen many such films in the last few months.


9 posted on 11/15/2007 9:09:21 AM PST by ConservativeStatement
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To: MassRepublicanFlyersFan

Ugh! Writers: Please stay on strike.


10 posted on 11/15/2007 9:09:51 AM PST by rhombus
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To: Monterrosa-24
Yep my wife and I are watching Perry Mason-1st season and its great.

I shudder to think what a new Perry Mason would look like.

11 posted on 11/15/2007 9:10:28 AM PST by AU72
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To: discostu

I watched the premiere episode and was entertained, so I tuned in the following week. After that, I couldn’t stomach it anymore. I didn’t find any of the characters compelling or appealing in any way. I want men to be MEN!


12 posted on 11/15/2007 9:13:06 AM PST by jnygrl (A big mouth coupled with a small mind is a dangerous combination)
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To: AU72

Perry Mason: Special Criminal Victim’s Unit, or something like that.


13 posted on 11/15/2007 9:13:33 AM PST by dr.zaeus
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To: MassRepublicanFlyersFan

IMO, one would have to have nothing going on in one’s life to be an avid watcher of network television....I watch Friday Night Lights but that’s about it. The Discovery channel gets the most airtime in my house.


14 posted on 11/15/2007 9:13:35 AM PST by GSWarrior
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To: Lexington Green
Many shows, esp. cop shows and "House," feature women giving orders to the men. Consider "Law and Order, SVU"---female (black) captain in many of the episodes; "NCIS," Lauren Holly plays the "Director" in charge of the outfit; "Shark" (first season)Jeri Ryan was Stark's boss; and on all these shows, the chics are gun-toting toughies---CSI, Criminal Minds, Numbers, and many others.

Only on "the Unit" are the men portrayed as real men and the women as strong women.

15 posted on 11/15/2007 9:14:31 AM PST by LS
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To: Lexington Green

“The white male shall always be portrayed as a dunce.”

A lot of people think this is a joke, but it’s not. White males will always be the brunt. It’s almost like a hierarchy. If you’re a member of one “protected” group, you may be the brunt, but only by one of similar status, or one who is the member of more than one protected group.

Take note one night of just the commercials and mark it down, you’ll be surprised....or not


16 posted on 11/15/2007 9:14:55 AM PST by bobd400
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To: MassRepublicanFlyersFan

I watch Supernatural on the CW. Don’t like the ads for most of their shows, but do like that. Sam and Dean do not seem at all weak.


17 posted on 11/15/2007 9:15:28 AM PST by HungarianGypsy
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To: jnygrl

They are men, habitually confused by the women in their lives and primarily driven by sex.


18 posted on 11/15/2007 9:15:34 AM PST by discostu (a mountain is something you don't want to %^&* with)
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To: MassRepublicanFlyersFan

I don’t watch the propaganda machine very much at all.


19 posted on 11/15/2007 9:15:54 AM PST by Leftism is Mentally Deranged
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To: MassRepublicanFlyersFan

To Hollywood:

Bite me!


20 posted on 11/15/2007 9:17:22 AM PST by sauropod ("Nobody has time for your priceless prose. Get to the point." - Jim Michaels RIP 2007)
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