A MANLY Comeback

I'd like to first apologize for the lack of gentlemanliness on the interwebs for the last few months.  If it is any type of consolation, trust that the absence was in many ways due to a gentlemanly pursuit: I was working and studying. 

 

However, something happened this week that made me feel the need to write another post.  Something so manly inspired me to once again write, despite my crazy schedule.  "What is insanely manly topic?" you ask inside my mind.  Could it be the NFL Playoffs?  Well, since Tom Brady is out and Peyton Manning is in, we know the NFL hasn't been very manly.  Maybe it was the violence around the world.  Simply...No.  Most violence, not all, but most, is cowardice portrayed as manliness.  Was it the manliness of the Pro Bowl, what with the best NFL players battling on the grid iron for dominance?

 

Manly?

 

No, ladies and gentlemen, it was none of these.  So what monumentally manly event occurred that broke my writers block (laziness)?

 

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Of course!  I'm talking about seeing a Disney movie about two princesses.

 

Manly!!

 

Believe me.  I hear all of you out there "harrumph"ing in your best GK Chesterton voice.  But let me explain.

 

I had heard really good things from some of my lady-type friends. (Sidenote: I originally typed that as lazy-type and seriously considered leaving it in, even if I was the only person who woulda known the joke and laughed.)  I trusted their opinion, if for no other reason than they liked the Disney movie Tangled and got me hooked on that.

 

One of two Disney CG animated non-talking animals who deserve Oscar nominations



 

They were right.  But not just because the movie was good.  What really made it gentleMANLY is a few things.

 

1: The portrayal of the men.  The movie had three male characters that aren't soft spoken trading post highway robbers.

 

Christophe and the other CG Animal who got snubbed by the Academy

 

Christophe is the only real man in the movie.  He isn't intimated by a powerful woman, but yet also sacrifices his own safety as soon as his unrequited(or so he thought) love was in danger.  This is the penultimate call for men.  We need to have the courage to be willing to sacrifice ourselves for women and children, always.  We are called to be superheroes even if we don't have powers.  And yes, we are even called to sacrifice ourselves, even if, unlike Superman and Lois Lane/Spiderman and Mary Jane/Batman and a new love interest every movie, we don't get the girl.  Manliness isn't about getting the girl.  Its about being a man.

 

The next man in the movie is Prince Hans.

Prince Hans is the antithesis of manliness.  The sad part though is that he is all too often, the most common archetype we see.  Hans is charming, heroic, and compassionate.  At least he seems that way.  He tells Anna exactly what she wants to hear.  Just to get what he wants from her.  Remind you of anyone, or any type of man you know?

NPH?

Yes.  I honestly believe that Hans was supposed to be analogous to guys who use girls and abuse their emotions for sex.  Even if he isn't the analogy is still perfect.  Men! We need to never use women for our own gains.  It sickens me how often I see it.

 

The 3rd guy is this guy.

I really just added this guy for this picture.

 

 

Spoilers from here on out.

 

 

The other thing I really liked about the movie was the Christian message it had.  Although I don't think it was intentional, the movie did have a strong message.  The end scene had Anna sacrifice herself to save Elsa.  In a way, Anna gave her life by accepting the punishment that Elsa more or less deserved.  That is what Christ did for all us.  Hell, that's what Christ still does for all of us everyday.  It really made me think.

 

And that is how a Disney movie about two Princesses was so manly it broke my writer's block.

 

Also: this guy

 

fought this guy

so you know? Kudos.

 

 

FYI: Disney owns Frozen and all its images, Disney owns the Tangled image and its references.  I just used them because I love them.  Also the NFL owns the Pro-Bowl uniforms, although I cant imagine they'd wanna take credit for them.