The Destruction of Male Characters needs to stop

Ok, rant time. After writing my review for the Obi-Wan TV series I sat back and had a think and came to the realisation that it was yet another example of male characters being treated like absolute garbage.

 At first, I thought it was just down to the shitty writing, but then I realized that no, it was clearly deliberate and was part of this bizarre need in the movie and to a growing extent book industry to shit on male characters.

Destroying Male Characters is not equality

Star Wars is probably one of the most obvious franchises where this occurs. I mean they totally ruined Luke Skywalker's character and even seemed to relish destroying a character beloved by millions and most importantly me, all in the name of some poorly thought out and frankly vindictive form of feminism. There are many that deny this trend is even happening or just tell those of us angered by it to shut up. No. I will no longer be silent in the face of this blatant male-bashing, this blatant sexism.

They whine that there have always been male heroes, well, I argue back that there have been female leads and heroes for decades, they’re nothing new! The major difference from then to now, however, is that the male characters were treated with some respect as well. Oh, and the characters themselves had to earn their title of badass, not just have everything be handed to them on a plate just because they were women.

In Star Wars case, the cancerous Kathleen Kennedy took George Lucas’s creation and set about destroying it with apparent glee. She replaced Luke with a non-entity female in the form of Rey and made her better than a man in every way. The funny thing is, only utter morons bought it. The rest of us who have been forced to watch these attacks on not just entertainment, but I’d argue western culture and masculinity in general in silence can see this bullshit for what it really is. The media seem to be on the side of it too, which only alienates people further. Just look at the disparity of the media critics scores compared to the general public on Rotten Tomatoes for The Last Jedi.

Just look at female characters such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was put through harsh training, saw people she loved die or injured and struggled to become the hero that she became. Now let’s look at Rey from Star Wars. From the first moment we meet her, she is great at everything she touches, from flying, to engineering, to sword fighting. The lazy writing of the movies brushes this aside as ‘she’s strong in the Force’. Bullshit. Luke was strong in the Force, but he got his ass kicked, he suffered, he earns his power.

What sort of lesson are they teaching to girls? That men are stupid and aren’t needed, that girls get everything handed to them on a plate without having to earn it? It’s terrible values and doesn’t promote equality at all.

John Conner

And then there’s the best example of this happening of the lot.

Terminator: Dark Fate at first looked promising and then I watched the first ten minutes. I don’t care if this spoils that trash movie for you, but here it is. JOHN CONNER DIES. The whole point of the first two movies, the saviour of humanity, the man who unites humanity in its darkest hour is murdered right at the start making the first two movies completely and utterly pointless. The decision to do this is not just hugely disrespectful of the franchise, but to the millions of fans who love these movies.

Since when did movie makers decide to piss off the people that pay to see movies? Are they deliberately trying to destroy cultural icons? It’s certainly starting to feel that way.

What’s worse is the way the movies and books treat men in general (an ever-common theme recently). Men are shown to be disposable, that they can’t be special in any way, that men are pointless. In Dark Fate’s case the movie does this by side-lining Arnold Schwarzenegger to basically a comedy sidekick role and making some tiny girl (who we're supposed to believe will become some bad-ass military leader) the new John Conner and hero. It’s an insult to our intelligence that they expect us to just accept this shit and still spend our hard-earned cash on such tripe.

In my writing, I make men and women equal. Both sexes have strengths and weaknesses, which is why the heroes of both genders in my stories always work together. Unity of male and female makes a powerful combination. When one is dismissed or placed in a box; such as women are ditsy or weak, or men are stupid and savage, a story just becomes a chore.

I’ve seen it happening more and more in the fantasy genre in recent years as authors jump on the bandwagon. It stifles creativity, it causes division and it makes for often shit storytelling.

Terminator: Dark Fate tanked at the box office and I for one am glad. Perhaps studios and publishers will now wake up and realise that people don’t want this crap forced upon us. Make decent storylines, not ones with blatant agendas and biased messages.

I long for the day when men can be men in our culture again and not be attacked for it. Sure, we can be jerks and some of us are vile, but I’d argue that describes women just as aptly. Both sides have negatives as well as positives.  I just want to go back to when writing for movies was just that and not some agenda. I want men and women alike to be treated with respect, not one side constantly denigrating the other. I’ll probably get abuse for even expressing this viewpoint but sadly I’m kind used to it.

Do you agree or do you think I’m talking nonsense? Either way let me know in the comments, and if you really want to argue the opposing side why not write an article about it? All views are welcome on EPIC. Just use the contact button and get in touch.