Great show. I love the nonlinear storytelling, it’s such a great narrative device. The deep exploration of male relationships outside of what’s considered “normal” or “masculine” is refreshing. I hope show runners for new series learn from DTF.
Dag-nabit! Yet another thing to add to my list to absorb. Thank goodness it’s a high quality problem. We are so fuckin lucky that we have an abundance of great art during the worst of times. Well…that’s actually nothing new. If people would just fuckin pay attention to history maybe we could break this ceaseless cycle and move forward, onward, and upward. Just sayin.
LOVE ALWAYS WINS. WE THE PEOPLE, WE ARE THE POWER!!!
Definitely adding it to my list. This same concept is why I Love You, Man will always be one of my favorite movies. Paul Rudd and Jason Segel's friendship in that brings me so much joy!
Maybe it was my lack of perception, but HBO promoted this incorrectly. Based on the promos the series is far from what I had believed it would be. It is amazing and the entire cast is great.
I LOVE all of Steve Conrad's shows for exactly this reason. His male friendships are wonderfully done. If you haven't seen it, you should definitely check out his show Patriot. I think the title scared a lot of people off, but it's 100% worth a watch.
Women want to see that for men too Michael. Desperately. I think women have done better because a) most are more inclined to it from a very young age, and b) women evolve. The “trend” for men now is to devolve…and as someone said (a science mind but I’ve forgotten who) “every living thing must evolve or die.” And what are we witnessing?
"Men are struggling." -- as a woman, I don't think men as a whole are actually struggling. Young men? I think they're being manipulated by grown men to blame all of their problems on women, which in turn creates their struggles.
Reminds me of a conversation with a woman talking to a MRA:
Man: Men commit suicide at higher rates, we are more likely to be victims of gun violence, we get drafted to war...
Woman: And who created the system that these things happen in?
Thank you for the recommendation. As a man in my mid-fifties, I am living everything you wrote about dysfunctional friendships with my straight, male peers. Women? Gay men? Fairly easy to have deep and meaningful relationships with.
I sympathize with single (and married) women who bemoan the lack of emotional intimacy in the straight men around them. Those men may at least be interested in feigning it for sex, but what hope do those of us with a penis have?
Either I'm bored to tears talking to my fellow men who have the emotional depth of a tepid kiddie pool or they simply flake and put you on the calendar months from now or just ghost you. I'm willing to admit it's me, but it happens to too many men for me to be the sole cause.
So many men I know have only their wife's friends---and God help them if she goes first---they'll be hermits until they end up in a home. This is a true national crisis that's affecting our politics on a daily basis driving our country into a ditch.
So true. The show is sneakily poignant in ways I didn't expect and kudos to the creative team behind it.
I think you're right about the larger point and conversations about mens' struggles are a ways away, since the noisier voices on the matter seem to be absolute garbage people (your Tates and Pauls). I share your hunger for inspiration and continue to keep my guy-dar (not a thing) tuned to find it wherever I can. Your newsletter is not a bad place to start!
Great show. I love the nonlinear storytelling, it’s such a great narrative device. The deep exploration of male relationships outside of what’s considered “normal” or “masculine” is refreshing. I hope show runners for new series learn from DTF.
Dag-nabit! Yet another thing to add to my list to absorb. Thank goodness it’s a high quality problem. We are so fuckin lucky that we have an abundance of great art during the worst of times. Well…that’s actually nothing new. If people would just fuckin pay attention to history maybe we could break this ceaseless cycle and move forward, onward, and upward. Just sayin.
LOVE ALWAYS WINS. WE THE PEOPLE, WE ARE THE POWER!!!
Definitely adding it to my list. This same concept is why I Love You, Man will always be one of my favorite movies. Paul Rudd and Jason Segel's friendship in that brings me so much joy!
Bateman and Harbour are fantastic, but can we all agree that Linda Cardellini makes everything she's in a million times better?
Top notch. Wildly creative with no shortage of unexpected twists. Also, Sarsgaard's character needs his own spin-off.
Maybe it was my lack of perception, but HBO promoted this incorrectly. Based on the promos the series is far from what I had believed it would be. It is amazing and the entire cast is great.
I love this show, especially episode 4 but it keeps getting better!
I LOVE all of Steve Conrad's shows for exactly this reason. His male friendships are wonderfully done. If you haven't seen it, you should definitely check out his show Patriot. I think the title scared a lot of people off, but it's 100% worth a watch.
Great show, but as soon as I read that you haven’t seen Bad Boys, I stopped reading lol
Women want to see that for men too Michael. Desperately. I think women have done better because a) most are more inclined to it from a very young age, and b) women evolve. The “trend” for men now is to devolve…and as someone said (a science mind but I’ve forgotten who) “every living thing must evolve or die.” And what are we witnessing?
Men of a Certain Age, back in 2010, was so good. It sounds like a precursor to DTF. I was so sorry it didn't succeed.
I was gonna mention this, too. A great show about male friendship. It’s streaming on HBO Max now.
"Men are struggling." -- as a woman, I don't think men as a whole are actually struggling. Young men? I think they're being manipulated by grown men to blame all of their problems on women, which in turn creates their struggles.
Reminds me of a conversation with a woman talking to a MRA:
Man: Men commit suicide at higher rates, we are more likely to be victims of gun violence, we get drafted to war...
Woman: And who created the system that these things happen in?
I have yet to watch it- for the same reason as MIB hadn’t. Now I have to watch it. Great article, Mr. Black.
Thank you for the recommendation. As a man in my mid-fifties, I am living everything you wrote about dysfunctional friendships with my straight, male peers. Women? Gay men? Fairly easy to have deep and meaningful relationships with.
I sympathize with single (and married) women who bemoan the lack of emotional intimacy in the straight men around them. Those men may at least be interested in feigning it for sex, but what hope do those of us with a penis have?
Either I'm bored to tears talking to my fellow men who have the emotional depth of a tepid kiddie pool or they simply flake and put you on the calendar months from now or just ghost you. I'm willing to admit it's me, but it happens to too many men for me to be the sole cause.
So many men I know have only their wife's friends---and God help them if she goes first---they'll be hermits until they end up in a home. This is a true national crisis that's affecting our politics on a daily basis driving our country into a ditch.
Bad Boys II is a don’t-miss imho
So true. The show is sneakily poignant in ways I didn't expect and kudos to the creative team behind it.
I think you're right about the larger point and conversations about mens' struggles are a ways away, since the noisier voices on the matter seem to be absolute garbage people (your Tates and Pauls). I share your hunger for inspiration and continue to keep my guy-dar (not a thing) tuned to find it wherever I can. Your newsletter is not a bad place to start!