I haven't seen "Wolfs," so can't comment on it -- although what you say has the ring of truth -- but this line resonated with me:
" ...the broad strokes of defining men lean toward the fact that they are, almost en masse, having a very difficult time skidding into the realization that they are not the center of the universe, not saviors, not leaders by default, not even exceptionally useful."
I think you're on to something. As the seminal line from Sebastian Junger's excellent book "Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging" says: "Humans don’t mind duress, in fact they thrive on it. What they mind is not feeling necessary."
So what happens to people when they no longer feel necessary?
This is something many people face in retirement -- and what career homemakers who've devoted their lives to the care and nurturing of their families must deal with once the kids leave the nest to fly on their own: suddenly not feeling necessary. I can speak from experience that it generates an odd, destabilizing state of mind, but beyond the personal challenges posed by no longer being a necessary part of a team -- something bigger than oneself -- I think our shared society is going through something similar in relation to men as technology in the workplace gradually, relentlessly renders men obsolete. Jobs requiring intense physicality were once the exclusive domain of men, but many of those jobs have been or are being replaced by robots and computer technology ... and what happens to a society when a large cohort of young and early middle-age men realize that they are no longer "necessary"?
Trouble, that's what -- which we see manifested in the highly polarized political divide these days. There are many other factors contributing to that mess, of course, but I think this is part of it.
Is "Wolfs" addressing this issue in its own oblique way? I dunno. Maybe I'll know once I see it.
I was lucky. I'd been writing for nearly 30 years in one form or another by the time I retired from the salt mines of Hollywood, so instead of being able to write only between jobs or on weekends, retiring allowed me to write whenever I wanted, which has definitely helped keep me from staring too long and hard into the existential abyss.
You seem irrationally obsessed with women in this piece. I do like my wife more than my boys. LOLOL
Just noted it and had a theory...
It was exactly a column like this that had me check out Mad Men and enjoy it for seven seasons! Too bad I don't have Apple+.
Excellent, Michael. As I say, I wish this film was more aware of a bigger picture that its most subtle vibes are giving off.
I haven't seen "Wolfs," so can't comment on it -- although what you say has the ring of truth -- but this line resonated with me:
" ...the broad strokes of defining men lean toward the fact that they are, almost en masse, having a very difficult time skidding into the realization that they are not the center of the universe, not saviors, not leaders by default, not even exceptionally useful."
I think you're on to something. As the seminal line from Sebastian Junger's excellent book "Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging" says: "Humans don’t mind duress, in fact they thrive on it. What they mind is not feeling necessary."
So what happens to people when they no longer feel necessary?
This is something many people face in retirement -- and what career homemakers who've devoted their lives to the care and nurturing of their families must deal with once the kids leave the nest to fly on their own: suddenly not feeling necessary. I can speak from experience that it generates an odd, destabilizing state of mind, but beyond the personal challenges posed by no longer being a necessary part of a team -- something bigger than oneself -- I think our shared society is going through something similar in relation to men as technology in the workplace gradually, relentlessly renders men obsolete. Jobs requiring intense physicality were once the exclusive domain of men, but many of those jobs have been or are being replaced by robots and computer technology ... and what happens to a society when a large cohort of young and early middle-age men realize that they are no longer "necessary"?
Trouble, that's what -- which we see manifested in the highly polarized political divide these days. There are many other factors contributing to that mess, of course, but I think this is part of it.
Is "Wolfs" addressing this issue in its own oblique way? I dunno. Maybe I'll know once I see it.
I was lucky. I'd been writing for nearly 30 years in one form or another by the time I retired from the salt mines of Hollywood, so instead of being able to write only between jobs or on weekends, retiring allowed me to write whenever I wanted, which has definitely helped keep me from staring too long and hard into the existential abyss.
So, onward, into the mist...