The next step is to “build life skills,” which involves a series of intense training with his powerful coach. Under her special care, “there’s going to be blood, there’s going to be sweat…there will hopefully be some tears.” The word “tears” probably has two implications. It first suggests that the training will be so strenuous that these men will cave under the pressure, but the other connotation is that they will finally be in touch with their feelings and express openly – the point is to make them to cry.
To further exercise this skill, the coach forces them to watch a romantic comedy movie, because women “eat” this type of genre “up” and find it emotionally satisfying. As the coach states, “if you’re not crying, you’re not trying.” Crying is a physical sign of emotional outlet and often seen as a sign of weakness for males in general; hence, the men in “Men Anonymous” need to be comfortable with expressing themselves in this way to further connect with the ways that females are.
Step 3 is basically an emotions boot camp to further know the proper ways of behavior when dealing with a female. They taught to reform basic daily routines, such as how to go to the restroom, what to do with the toilet seat, how to say "I love you" out loud, how to deal with eating tofu, and how to order from a menu. The men do pushups while repeatedly saying “flush seat flush” to implant the foreign idea into their heads. They are even being prepared to overcome the embarrassment of buying pads.
To quote Mike about his training after he throws up after trying desperately to eat tofu, “it’s too much man; it’s too much.” It truly must be difficult to learn to behave and communicate a different way. It is as if the two sexes are two different species.
However, as we approach the finale of Step 3, Mike makes visible improvements. We see that he is the one who has “damp” eyes when watching a movie, and he knows how to order from a menu “properly” (although I still think he failed the tofu test – Is tofu really that bad? I love tofu! Is it because I’m a female? =O) Mike hugs the coach as he surpasses each harsh obstacles and even says aloud “love you coach” quite comfortably as a sign of gratitude. Mike is slowly having a breakthrough, and in the video’s sense, he is finally getting control and power over his life.
I feel that “Men Anonymous” illustrates the general and base stereotypes for both males and females in a funny, inoffensive way (at least that was not my intention.) Am I sadistic to say that I found Mike’s training pretty hilarious? I am actually finding myself laughing more and more as I rewatch and analyze his training. =D
I am so curious to know how you feel about Mike and "Men Anonymous!" The catch phrase for the program is “You’re a man. We can help.” Is Mike making improvement? Is the coach good? I think she's amazing now after the nth viewing of this video.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
A Bootcamp for Emotions
Last time in Step 2, Mike in “Men Anonymous” learned the valuable lesson on “How to Communicate.” He learned how to express or at least seem like he is expressing “genuine” emotion and “feeling real.”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The video is pretty amusing, and it raised a question I have always had: why are men suppose to put the toilet seat down, but not the lid? I know this seems like a silly and minute difference, but think about the connotations. With the seat down & lip up, the bathroom is perpetually in a prepared state for the woman in the relationship. It seems to me that closing the toilet completely would, at a minimum, allow the bathroom to be neutral ground (as well as present other olfactory advantages).
ReplyDeleteBut that wasn’t my real question. It is apparent that many couples have a difficult time communicating, especially when the relationship is between a man and a woman, yet our culture seems to focus on the man needing to reform. Why do you think that is? Why is it more often the man who must go through “emotional bootcamp” or, to steal from Mel Gibson, learn “what women want” and not the other way around?
That is so funny! On a personal note, my family makes it a habit to put the lid down no matter who uses it last. So, no matter what sex you are, you better learn to put the lid down if you don’t want to get yelled at!
ReplyDeleteNow, my guess to your question is that we’ve held on, for a very long time, to the idea that women are more sensitive and more emotional while men do not need to express themselves so openly to uphold a “manly” and strong image.
Under such circumstances, females already are in touched with their emotions and know how to communicate a.k.a. talk things out while revealing genuine emotions.
It is the men who lack these skills, so it is only logical for them to change if they want to improve and be in a well communicated relationship. If women were to adopt the typical communication style of men, the talk wouldn’t go anywhere (as seen in Step 2 of Men Anonymous.)
Stereotypically speaking, women know what men want – sex and women. How many times have you heard a man on TV say something along the lines of “why are women so complicated? I just want a simple life! Where did my food go?” It is the men who are too simple. We, as humans, want to improve ourselves, so it is only logical for the men to go through the emotional bootcamp.
Sorry for the male bashing! Haha I just think logically speaking, that is how I’d answer that question. I know I'm probably being really general here.