Name me a single TV show where the man isn’t a moron, and where the woman is not the only functional adult in the relationship, and I could likely show you 100 shows where the man is portrayed as a moron and where the woman is the only functional adult.
Colour me naïve, but this narrative has got to be seriously f**king with gender relations, and how women are now overwhelmingly disrespecting men and what they bring to the table.
And this brainwashing starts in childhood, with shows like Peppa Pig laying the foundation for that life-long disrespect.
It also shows men how little they are actually valued long before they can bring anything of value to the table. It’s certainly been a factor of why other men around me have been disengaging from society and going their own way. Why bother if you are the pre-ordained baddie, and have zero ability to counter that messaging without being called a misogynist?
Name me a single TV show where the man isn’t a moron, and where the woman is not the only functional adult in the relationship, and I could likely show you 100 shows where the man is portrayed as a moron and where the woman is the only functional adult.
You appear to be characterising all TV shows as being family sitcoms with the “dumb husband” and “smart wife” dichotomy. You do realise this isn’t the only formula on TV, and is even less common than it’s ever been in terms of being made right?
Okay, so I was not specific enough. Let me rephrase:
“Name me any popular media that centres around a husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend dynamic, where the man isn’t a moron…”
There we go. Happy?
And notice the term “likely” in my prior comment. Don’t ask me to pick grains of sand off of a beach when you have the entire beach in the first place. I’ve got better things to do with my life than working through Brandolini’s Law; gesturing to that beach is as far as I am going to go.
Aside from distressingly rare well-written examples of healthy relationships such as Babylon 5, the “foolish husband, responsible wife” trope is almost everywhere. It even figures prominently in a majority of advertising that features couples interacting with each other.
“Name me any popular media that centres around a husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend dynamic, where the man isn’t a moron…”
I don’t know. I don’t watch that type of show personally. I honestly couldn’t comment. I know that it’s a trope, I also know that it’s a dated trope and that shows like that aren’t made that much these days. It’s a 90s/00s media trope.
Aside from distressingly rare well-written examples of healthy relationships such as Babylon 5, the “foolish husband, responsible wife” trope is almost everywhere. It even figures prominently in a majority of advertising that features couples interacting with each other.
Oh no, not advertising! Woe is me!
I will never understand this obsession and crying about how random couples are depicted in 30 second advertisement clips. I live with adblock so I genuinely never see any of this. It’s honestly such a laughable thing to cry about.
As for TV, since you’ve bought up Babylon 5 let me cycle through shows I’ve seen on the matter where this dichotomy is not true in regards to man-woman relationships: Turk and Carla in Scrubs, Jack and Anne Bonny in Black Sails, Flint and Miranda in Black Sails, John Silver and Madi in Black Sails, John and Aeryn in Farscape, Holden and Naomi in The Expanse, Ed Baldwin and Karen in For All Mankind, James and Cassandra in 12 Monkeys, Rick/Michonne in TWD, The relationship between the leads in Twisted Metal, The relationship between the older couple in Night Sky (unfortunately cancelled). It’s even true in the poorly-written Witcher (Geralt and Yennefer). Now are many of these setups strictly “husband and wife”? No. I don’t watch shows focused around those themes generally. But these are equal relationship setups where the man is not depicted as an idiot, and the woman not a genius.
Name me a single TV show where the man isn’t a moron, and where the woman is not the only functional adult in the relationship, and I could likely show you 100 shows where the man is portrayed as a moron and where the woman is the only functional adult.
The Good Place
Babylon 5
Star Trek (OS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT)
Stranger Things
Firefly
Sevrence
The Black List
Breaking Bad
Gravity Falls…
And this is far from an exhaustive list. But it’s telling that this is a widely-known and ubiquitous trope, whereas its flip-side opposite is pretty much nonexistent.
In fact, the only references I could find were on the “foolish husband” tropes:
OS did not include explicit relationships between main characters
TNG series had only two historical relationships, neither of which were “active”.
DS9 had Rom (last season), O’Bryan, and (in the early seasons as a bumbling romantic) Bashir. To a certain extent the trope even existed between Quark and his mother, in terms of her being financially successful and smart in ways Quark never was, although this was shown in just a handful of episodes and so doesn’t really count.
Voyager had Paris, Neelix, and - to a painfully awkward extent - Kim. Plus, poor dude spent the entire voyage home as a f**king ensign.
Technically Enterprise had Trip, who as a human was very emotionally foolish next to T’Pol.
Plus, the argument can be made that a few of your other choices don’t have a husband/wife relationship as a central/recurring feature between main characters, and as such are also ineligible.
The only solid mark that I see in your favour is Babylon 5, with Sheraton’s relationship with Delenne and Ivanova’s tragic relationship with Cole being exemplary examples that are shockingly rare in media.
Calvin and Hobbes: While Calvin’s dad isn’t exactly foolish (he’s a patent attorney) and just as irritated by Calvin’s antics as Calvin’s mom, there’s also plenty of strips showing him trolling Calvin by telling him outrageous lies about how the world works (such as the world being black and white until the '60s, or wind being caused by trees sneezing, or Calvin not being brought by a stork but a pterodactyl, etc.).
Which is notably not what you were complaining about.
there’s a difference between it existing in some shows throughout the history of mankind and it being the overwhelming majority of television like you implied. Every show I listed was popular and well recieved. Your list includes Fan Fiction which isn’t even television.
Yeah, you are not wrong. The content of media has radically changed from where it was a generation or two ago.
It also happens with class. Working-class people are no longer allowed to have any dignity or success in media. Everything is now upper middle class people or wealthy people and their emotional drama.
It’s not at all. A lot of modern TV is actually sci-fi/fantasy/dystopian that has nothing to do with specifically orientating itself around “wealthy people”. At least that is what I watch.
Society is even worse.
Name me a single TV show where the man isn’t a moron, and where the woman is not the only functional adult in the relationship, and I could likely show you 100 shows where the man is portrayed as a moron and where the woman is the only functional adult.
Colour me naïve, but this narrative has got to be seriously f**king with gender relations, and how women are now overwhelmingly disrespecting men and what they bring to the table.
And this brainwashing starts in childhood, with shows like Peppa Pig laying the foundation for that life-long disrespect.
It also shows men how little they are actually valued long before they can bring anything of value to the table. It’s certainly been a factor of why other men around me have been disengaging from society and going their own way. Why bother if you are the pre-ordained baddie, and have zero ability to counter that messaging without being called a misogynist?
You appear to be characterising all TV shows as being family sitcoms with the “dumb husband” and “smart wife” dichotomy. You do realise this isn’t the only formula on TV, and is even less common than it’s ever been in terms of being made right?
Okay, so I was not specific enough. Let me rephrase:
“Name me any popular media that centres around a husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend dynamic, where the man isn’t a moron…”
There we go. Happy?
And notice the term “likely” in my prior comment. Don’t ask me to pick grains of sand off of a beach when you have the entire beach in the first place. I’ve got better things to do with my life than working through Brandolini’s Law; gesturing to that beach is as far as I am going to go.
Aside from distressingly rare well-written examples of healthy relationships such as Babylon 5, the “foolish husband, responsible wife” trope is almost everywhere. It even figures prominently in a majority of advertising that features couples interacting with each other.
I don’t know. I don’t watch that type of show personally. I honestly couldn’t comment. I know that it’s a trope, I also know that it’s a dated trope and that shows like that aren’t made that much these days. It’s a 90s/00s media trope.
Oh no, not advertising! Woe is me!
I will never understand this obsession and crying about how random couples are depicted in 30 second advertisement clips. I live with adblock so I genuinely never see any of this. It’s honestly such a laughable thing to cry about.
As for TV, since you’ve bought up Babylon 5 let me cycle through shows I’ve seen on the matter where this dichotomy is not true in regards to man-woman relationships: Turk and Carla in Scrubs, Jack and Anne Bonny in Black Sails, Flint and Miranda in Black Sails, John Silver and Madi in Black Sails, John and Aeryn in Farscape, Holden and Naomi in The Expanse, Ed Baldwin and Karen in For All Mankind, James and Cassandra in 12 Monkeys, Rick/Michonne in TWD, The relationship between the leads in Twisted Metal, The relationship between the older couple in Night Sky (unfortunately cancelled). It’s even true in the poorly-written Witcher (Geralt and Yennefer). Now are many of these setups strictly “husband and wife”? No. I don’t watch shows focused around those themes generally. But these are equal relationship setups where the man is not depicted as an idiot, and the woman not a genius.
The Good Place
Babylon 5
Star Trek (OS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT)
Stranger Things
Firefly
Sevrence
The Black List
Breaking Bad
Gravity Falls…
You owe me 900 shows.
And this is far from an exhaustive list. But it’s telling that this is a widely-known and ubiquitous trope, whereas its flip-side opposite is pretty much nonexistent.
In fact, the only references I could find were on the “foolish husband” tropes:
And Star Trek should not be on your list:
Plus, the argument can be made that a few of your other choices don’t have a husband/wife relationship as a central/recurring feature between main characters, and as such are also ineligible.
The only solid mark that I see in your favour is Babylon 5, with Sheraton’s relationship with Delenne and Ivanova’s tragic relationship with Cole being exemplary examples that are shockingly rare in media.
that’s not 900 shows
your list includes things like;
Which is notably not what you were complaining about.
Yeah, you are not wrong. The content of media has radically changed from where it was a generation or two ago.
It also happens with class. Working-class people are no longer allowed to have any dignity or success in media. Everything is now upper middle class people or wealthy people and their emotional drama.
It’s not at all. A lot of modern TV is actually sci-fi/fantasy/dystopian that has nothing to do with specifically orientating itself around “wealthy people”. At least that is what I watch.