Saturday.

I went to the movies today. I was fortunate enough to see Steve Carell, Emma Stone, Julianne Moore and Ryan Gosling's most recent work of art: Crazy, Stupid, Love. It was a decent film, with Steve's usual self-pity humor taking its toll on the viewers of his film. Similar to He's Just Not That In To You, it is a story of everyone's experience with love and heart break. Holding a theme of a connection between two people as soul mates, there is an unusual enigma that seems to seep its way into the message of the film. While I don't plan to review or explain the film in any way, I instead wanted to focus on a theme that the film plays on wonderfully. Ryan Gosling plays a playboy character that knows his way around a night club. Having perfected the 'art of the man,' he embodies what any single man wants to be. Having the classic Bruce Wayne superpowers, he has the ability to: indecently wild charisma, incredible fashion sense, the body of Shawn T and a good Old Fashioned in his hand. While Ryan's always been a charmer, he seems to take it to a new level in this film. Contrasted with the dorky, swank-less Carell, Gosling shines with his ability to get what he wants, when he wants. While he's no Sean Connery, his womanizing skills would make him a stark competitor. This really makes me curious as to what it is that it takes to get to this level of he-man so as to be able to 'pick up' women.

Ryan Gosling
All credit due to the owners of this photo.

If you've seen the preview for the film, you'd quickly notice that Ryan Gosling's character is the single man's dream. It is a character like this that can pump up a single guy before going out on the town. It's a character like this that makes men actually care about what they wear, or how they look. There's a bit of Dave Chapelle philosophy that comes clear here. I used to hear women speak a lot about how they want men to just 'be themselves.' I'm not sure if that still takes precedence, but it certainly can't be true, no matter it's popularity. A man who is himself is often overpowered by a man who is not. By now, men have discovered what it takes to make themselves more appealing to women. While making one's body perfect is beneficial to himself, the obsession on rock hard abs, or bulging biceps comes from a woman's love for them. While fashion is something that a lot of men have a genuine love for, a lot of it comes from expressing themselves to people, including the women that they want to approach. This makes me question the true individuality of many men. Are we nothing more than what women have molded us into becoming? While Chapelle claims that we are the hunters, using bait to lure our prey into our cast, I might have to disagree. Instead of working out to attract women, I would suggest that women make us work out so that we can attract them. Are characters like Gosling created by women to make men fear for their ability to attract a woman? Possibly. Probably.

Either way, everyone benefits.