Return of the Tough Guy
January 14, 2008
The New York Times ran an interesting article yesterday about the resurgence of tough guy icons from the 1980s. Action stars like Sylvester Stallone and Chuck Norris are returning to prominence in pop culture. The author of the article suggests the reason for the return of the action hero the need of American men “to revel in the vestigial pleasures of older times and seemingly simpler ways.”
I think the author is on to something. That’s one of the reasons I started The Art of Manliness. With all the problems we’re facing today, real men are needed more than ever. Sure, some of the stuff I write one here is tongue-in-cheek. However, I do hope the blog will inspire young men to put down the X-Box controller and start doing something with their lives.
I hope that men expand who they include as role models beyond action stars. As much as I love Rambo, Sylvester Stallone isn’t what I would call the paragon of manliness. Would a manly man inject their face with Botox? Hell no. I’d love to see a resurgence in interest in great men from history like Teddy Roosevelt or Horatio Nelson. One of my goals with this blog is to reintroduce men to these great individuals.
What do you all think? Is it good that these action heroes are making a comeback? Drop a line in the comment box and add to the conversation!
Diversification of role models is definitely a good thing, and I must congratulate you on this blog because I too have really felt the lack of good mens’ journalism. But like you said, action heroes are a little limited in how much we can take from them.
Nothing beats finding a real life mentor of manliness. I mean traditionally, you learned the Art from your father, uncles etc.. but people of our generation and younger go through that rite of passage a lot less, what with changing job timings etc.
People are really missing out on that apprenticeship, so screen and historical models of manliness are becoming increasingly important.
Rahul-
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I agree with you 100% that men today have few real life mentors and few rites of passage to manhood. I hope The Art of Manliness can encourage men to recapture this lost tradition of passing along manly wisdom to others and encourage men to seek real life role models to emulate.
Take care,
Brett
I sat down to think about, and I couldn’t come up with a “man’s man” of an actor for this generation. the fact that Rambo has to be resurrected doesn’t bode well for originality and that they couldn’t find anyone besides the 70 year old stallone to play him.
hopefully someone hard core will come on the scene. russell crowe is about as close as it gets these days. or christian bale.
@ the scam-
I agree. How about Matt Damon? His role as Jason Bourne has definitely made him an action star.
Hell no, botox is bad for women, nevermind men. That’s just plain bad - you only need to look at Sly’s mother to understand why.
Matt Damon - no, I don’t think so. He’s too clean-cut. He’s hardly got the same look as Al Pacino (albeit, he’s a bit too short), or Sam L Jackson who could kill you with a single blow, by the looks of it.
Christian Bale is the same - too clean-cut.
It’s maybe a Hollywood thing now, because when you think back 20-30 years most of the actors were real men’s men. Now they’re all a bit soft
Brad Pitt is the #1 candidate I would say, from the Hollywood circuit. He plays rough looking parts just the same as the clean-cut Ocean look. I can’t imagine Matt Damon or Christian Bale playing the pyscho in Kalifornia like Pitt did.
Got to go - I’m having a facial in half an hour
@ Paul-
I’ll agree with you on Brad Pitt. I thought he was just a pretty boy, but Fight Club definitely earned him some street cred in my book.
I’m still going to stand by Matt Damon. Yeah he’s clean cut, but come, Jason Bourne will chase you down on roof tops, take a few bullets, and then kill you with a towel. All without saying a word. That’s pretty bad ass.
A facial? Are you asking me to put you on the commentor black list?
Where have all the tough guys gone? A few years ago there was an article about the resurgence of the action hero, and it mentioned Vin Diesel and The Rock as examples. But they both fizzled out.
Now leading men are effeminate types like Orlando Bloom. Who makes a lot of ladies swoon, but not this one.
I think Damon and Bale come close. I also nominate Daniel Day-Lewis as a manly leading man. He doesn’t play tough guys or role models per se, but he exudes a manly, smoldering ferocity in all his roles.
@ Kate
Daniel Day-Lewis….. good choice! He was brilliant in that IRA movie he did and exceptional as Bill The Butcher in Gangs Of New York.
@ Brett
Tomorrow I’ll shave with a cut-throat razor and do a few press-ups on my knuckles to make up for pandering to my feminine side today
the rock? - i used to respect him until he started doing kid movies. same with vin diesel, but i think his best movie was saving private ryan.
brad pitt is as much a pretty boy as they come. his early stuff, maybe. now he’s too concerned about his cuticles. did you see him in troy? it was like they took every opportunity possible to have him look longingly into the distance while the wind blew his beautiful blonde locks. please.
daniel day-lewis is pretty hardcore. gangs of new york, last of the mohicans. he gets my vote.
i watched the godfather last week. i wish they would make movies like that more often. nowadays i just feel exploited and that hollywood doesn’t give my intelligence enough credit to follow a compelling story that doesn’t involve multiple explosions.
@ The Scam
If you like Daniel Day Lewis’s movies and the Godfather, you should check out some of the British cinema releases from the last couple of years.
Films like….
Green Street
The Football Factory
(both soccer related, but good all the same)
A Very British Gangster
(film of the year in my opinion)
And….
This Is England
(officially the #1 film of the year)
There’s none of the Hollywood girly type actors or scripts here - just proper hardcore man’s stuff.
The latter two are amazing films!
~ Paul
I think the most recent Bond movie bears this out… the series kept getting more and more ridiculous and the character became more of a characterization. But Casino Royale got it right and reintroduced Bond as a man’s man.
So, Daniel Craig is the actor I would offer, not only as Bond, but in movies like Layer Cake as well.
Say what you will, I like Antonio Banderas. I hope he’s not too old for consideration here. Liked him in The Mark of Zorro, and Desperado, and The 13th Warrior. There’s a great sequence in TMOZ where Anthony Hopkins (the original Zorro) is breaking Banderas (the new Zorro) of the cocky habits of his drunken youth, and teaching him to fight and to master the sword. And, even more importantly, mastery of self.
Like a grown-up version of The Karate Kid. 8^)
BTW the Vikings in The 13th Warrior are hilarious.
@ Larryedit- Antonio Banderas was pretty awesome in Desperado and 13th Warrior. I think he did lose some tough guy cred after staring in Spy Kids, though.
I like the analogy of The Mask of Zoro as the grown up version of the Karate Kid.
I know I might get knocked around for this a little, but what about Jason Statham, Clive Owen, or Vinnie Jones. Not that I’m a huge fan of British actors, but these guys all immeidately jump to mind when I think of a “Man’s man”. Especially Owen after seeing “Shoot Em Up”, and catching a short film he shot for BMW awhile back where he drives Madonna around and generally treats her like a primadonna whore shoulkd be treated.
I would agree with Jason Statham 100%. He’s purely badass. I can’t help think we’re working at cross purposes as we complain about the lack of “manly” actors and include smiley faces in our posts……..yes?
I Second Vinnie Jones. If you need proof, watch Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Right on. I’m tired of men being portrayed as being whimpy, easy to manipulate, pussi-whipped, in the movies. We need more Rocky, Rambo, Vin Diesel, types.
Tony jaa. we need more of him
Who needs role models? Movies are art, not reality.
All these people, actors and historical figures alike, were just working and doing what they were moved to do.
Know yourself and give yourself credit for whatever you can do well, and know that you can surprise yourself more than you realize.
This is why:
The thing inside you that makes you enjoy watching these actors’ films is the same thing that is trying to drive you to become able to rely on yourself and defend yourself and, most of all, become what you wish you were as the person you are now.
It doesn’t matter what your limitations are, or what you think they are. Every person has something that gives them an advantage, and it may be obvious, or it may be subtle.
Some people seem to live their whole lives never knowing just how it is that they get it right or wrong. This is found by knowing yourself with brutal honesty. The opposite of it is reliance on your own ego, and it will stop you from finding the answer because your ego says you already have it. Wrong. It has to be found and held onto every day, and it pays off, every day of your life.
As for Brad Bitt. I don’t think that flaking out on your wife to trapse around the world adopting babies is very manly.
@Vern Fronk-
I agree with you that Brad is not a great example of true manliness. A true man is faithful to his wife and doesn’t shirk responsibility. The point of the post was not to hold up Pitt as a example of manliness, but to simply use him to make the point that if a girl is into you, she will say yes. You can subsitute any man in there-Russell Crowe, Tom Cruise, ect.
Just found your blog a week ago. I love it and wanted to weigh in on this discussion. For convenience I’ll just list my favorites and what I think are their best movies.
Sean Connery - I’m surprised no one has mentioned him yet. He set the example for clean-cut dangerous men, and has aged better than most. Besides ‘Goldfinger’ my favorites are ‘The Rock’ and ‘The Presidio’. In ‘The Presidio’ he’s an army Provost Marshal and when a big guy in a bar picks a fight with him he puts the clown in his place just using thumb strikes to vulnerable areas.
I hated that his character got killed in ‘The Untouchables’.
He has had some stinkers. ‘Zardoz’ and ‘Family Business’ spring to mind. And in ‘Finding Forrester’ he played a reclusive author with agoraphobia. At one point he was cowering in a closet.
Clint Eastwood - At his best in ‘Two Mules for Sister Sara’ and the first two ‘Dirty Harry’ movies.
Daniel Craig - Best Bond ever. And that’s from someone who thought no one was as good as Connery. I agree with LP, the Bond series was getting ridiculous.
Chuck Norris - I like him because in real life he’s a genuine, decent type of guy. He just can’t act that well.
Russell Crowe - Great in ‘Proof of Life’.
Jason Statham - ‘The Transporter’ (I and II, although II was more comic-book like.)
Honorable Mention:
Tony Jaa - Good, but needs some age and seasoning. Maybe I’m prejudiced because I’m 55.
Jet Li - Great in ‘Lethal Weapon IV’. He’s had other good movies, but I think his best was ‘Unleashed’. Even though he wasn’t the lone take-charge type of manly man in it, he showed great strength of spirit in it.
Charles Bronson - ‘The Mechanic’.