Hey there, fellow movie enthusiasts! I’m on the hunt for films that portray positive masculinity. We often see movies with traditional, stereotypical portrayals of masculinity, but I believe there’s a world of cinema out there that can challenge these norms and offer a fresh perspective.
So, I’m turning to you, the experts of Lemmy, to help me discover hidden gems and well-known classics that showcase men in a positive light, breaking free from the clichés. Positive masculinity can encompass a wide range of qualities such as empathy, vulnerability, strength in character, and emotional intelligence. I’m interested in any genre – from drama and comedy to action and sci-fi – as long as the films make us question what it means to be a man.
Let’s curate a list of films that define positive masculinity in cinema.
Lord of the Rings trilogy.
There’s so much to it, the relationship between Frodo and Sam, Gimli and Legolas, the kindness and openness of Aragorn, the everlasting joyfulness of Merry and Pippin, Boromir who stood by his brother and Faramir who saw the good in people.There’s so much to love in lotr
I have never thought about the Lord of the Rings in that light before. Thank you for this.
Solid, yeah.
I can start with two exemples:
“Dead Poets Society” (1989)
Robin Williams inspires a group of students to embrace their individuality and challenge societal expectations.
Good Will Hunting" (1997)
Matt Damon’s character, Will Hunting, learns to open up emotionally and seek help, displaying positive growth.
If you’re interested in animated shows, Avatar: The Last Airbender’s uncle Iroh is a really solid depiction of healthy masculinity.
He’s kind and gentle, but has a tremendous amount of strength both emotionally and physically. He’s empathetic and loving, diplomatic and wise, but very humble and doesn’t take himself too seriously. He loves tea and flowers, and doesn’t get bothered or embarrassed when other male characters tease or mock him for his hobbies.
From the world of animation princess mononoke and for a very direct approach Vinland saga ( you have to be ok with ultra violence, but in this case it’s a clever device to lure in a specific target audience that actually needs to hear the message).
I’ll have to check those out.
Uncle Iroh may be my favorite character ever. Across all media. There’s an impossible amount to love about his story and arc
Yeah, he’s great for sure!
Dune. Maybe it doesn’t focus enough on what you’re looking for, but I was happy to see Paul so readily showing affection for his friends (like Duncan and Hawat), receiving affection in return, and the genuinely loving relationship between Paul and his father.
I especially liked how Paul’s father reacted when Paul said he wasn’t sure he could be Duke: “You’ll still be the only thing I ever needed you to be - my son.”
It’s worth noting that I genuinely liked Duncan, not because he was tough, “cool”, or a good fighter (although he was all of those things), but because he was a good person. I was actually sad when he died. By contrast, a lot of movies make you root for a character because they’re a badass who cracks jokes, and leave it at that.
I also appreciate that positive masculinity is normalized in several brief scenes, rather than an obvious, clumsy, heavy-handed delivery.
For TV shows, Ted Lasso is so good at this. So good. At first, it seems like the show will be a caricature of real life kind of like It’s always sunny (but less criminal and more quirky), but then it reels it back in to real life again.
For movies maybe these:
But I’m a Cheerleader
The Sandlot
The Addams Family
A Goofy Movie
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
Forrest GumpSecond for Ted Lasso! It shows the “alpha male” side to be fairly ridiculous and not necessary, and shows that positive support, honesty, acceptance, and communication are keys to building better relationships, for both men and women, I might add.
Don’t forget forgiveness. The way they made every single character have real humanity in that show. Honestly I might comfort watch it tonight. Been a hard day.
I think The Martian fits these criteria.
I thought the Barbie movie did a pretty good job of showing negative and, in the end, positive masculinity.
Yeah, that’s right. I had a good conversation with my girlfriend afterwards.
TV shows again, but very notable and important examples I think are Star Trek: TNG and DS9
- dingleberry ( @dingleberry@discuss.tchncs.de ) 8•1 year ago
Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Lord of the Rings. Cinema Therapy did a whole video on why it’s positive masculinity.
I haven’t seen these movies myself, but the YouTube channel Cinema Therapy showcased the Rocky franchise as an example of healthy masculinity
Lots of good stuff here. I really like Master and Commander. Aubreys relationship with the doctor, and the challenges of friendship while isolated on a ship really shaped me and my perception of friendship as not simply being with people you never argue with.
I would also add Newt Scamander in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Field of Dreams, Enemy Mine, History of Future Folk
What do you guys think of Les Miserables?
Specifically Jon Valjean’s ideals? Like, he has this bizarre stoic honor that is actually also quite toxic.
It’s hard for me to want to watch it again as everytime I consider it, my mind just thinks of when the biggest doofus in the business, Luis Carruthers, brought it up in deplorable shorthand, “les mis”. What a tumbling, tumbling dickweed.