What happened to “REAL” men in action movies?
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@synesthesia86
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
WITH THE BOZ CLIP?????
@jhudsu1
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
I don't think there's a direct throughline to contemporary Hollywood live action movies but the magical autist trope is FOUNDATIONAL to the Gundam anime franchise since 1979 (and has derivatives throughout anime since then in other series)
@Nate-er4pn
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
😊
@N7Engineer
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
I’m just here to say I love the hoodie 😂 Much love to all my Mass Effect brothers and sisters
@KatInTheCorner23
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
I'm way late to the party but I think Constantine deserves a mention. It was a few years after Jason Bourne, but he was closer to a genuine superhero than a spy.
@nobodiesfavorite1168
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
It was a better time. You showed mostly beta males. Sigma males are characters like wolverine, blade, John wick, Rambo ect. The only difference from an alpha and sigma is that sigmas run alone. The novacaine guy is a beta male just like his character in The Boys.
@PexTeeRex
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
I AM ZzzzYyyyNnnned
@sophist8399
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
0:37 explain this?
@MasonKuntz-e6u
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
i perfer the batman from the animated series who actually help his foes rather than beat them up and show care and compassion towards his fellow teammates over most modern batman that is all dark and realistic i.e. that Frank Millier semi fascist batman who was willing to beat up his foes, i think that image of batman has done more than good that the silver age adam west camp version of batman ever did.
@WhiskerDooz
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
The Accountant, Gemini Man, The Equalizer are three recent-ish movies/franchises that have their protagonist be on the spectrum, OCD, or otherwise "super" in a way that is different or, to us normies, "special". I think The Equalizer might be stretch tho because he's probsbly just a smart dude with OCD, and not actually a savant or anything like that. What yall think?
@Kokoamaya935
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
I think some of the change in action movie leads has to do with cynicism and a rise in what some would call irony poisoning. To be a Silvester Stalone and or Arnold Schwartz is to be passionate and earnest, almost by default. To have a build like that you need to CARE, you need to be passionate and dedicated. The appeal of cynicism is antithetical to that. To try too hard is to be lame, to give an impassioned speech is to be corny, to do pirouettes and backflips while in a fight is dumb. The language of this new era is much more lowkey, and more invested in finesse and economy of movement. I've seen this more in my personal favorite subgenre of action – martial arts movies, which, aren't even being made this days (marvel movies exempted here, I think those are good but the subgenre is superhero) I imagine because they are too sincere.
@Pieplup
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
I would not use the term magical auitst as a descriptor as it urthers the supression of more severely autistic people most autistic people would not even be close to that level of functioning. It would be much more accurate to paint it as social awkwardness not autism. it's based on autism being much more milder and watered down than ti is in 90% of cases. I fele the sigma thing is mcuh more a nerd power fantasy. thanit has anything to do with autims or teh reality of most people with autism.
@anthonyrichter1186
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
6:58 and 55 mph. That's the whole movie 😂
@adrianmercury6546
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
As someone grew up watching Hong Kong action movies of the 70's instead of Hollywood action movies of the 80's, it always confused me that those giant muscular guys would always use guns instead of any form martial arts or hand to hand combat.
I would always say : "this is stupid why are they using guns? They are huge they have a physical advantage."
@gabrielabdullah2475
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
When you find time to respond, I will resubscribe you.
@jennaebranch4293
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
TANGO & CASH.
FUBAR 4 Life❗️…"U Don't Kno 💩‼️."
2 Of My Fav Quotes‼️.
Watched It On You Tube but 2yrs Ago❗️.
@TheKinginMellow
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
I don't think there was a real change, there were always action movies with men who didn't look like bodybuilders. But because you grew up with Arnold and Sly as the faces of action, you ended up thinking that was the norm. If you look at real world soldiers and professional fighters, most of them are a lot closer to Jack Quaid then Arnold.
@rubyy.7374
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
I wonder how 70s films slot into this timeline, since many of those protagonists were also “sigma.” I suppose it was New Hollywood wanting to subvert more standard tropes.
@davidlee8555
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
I just watched The Accountant 2 and I think it does a pretty good job at flipping this trope on its head.
It makes it clear that despite the protagonist's social awkwardness, there are definitely some things he should be doing better.
So much violence but the speed dating scene is the most brutal in the movie
@MrKennethhaynie
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
He was a cop in speed
@mikea7732
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
Video Games in the 80s eventually made tech and those who made it cool and/interesting enough for teens and young 20s to pursue it. That led to smart/nerd types to not be as stigmatized and eventually to them becoming the heros. That's my theory anyways
@24JoeBro
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
Hey bro. This is one of my first comments. Can you please limit cursing so I can pass your teachings to children. Thanks.
@tewksbery
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
The Matrix came out around the same time as Bourne Identity and seems to participate in the same evolution
@osondiowendi
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
I noticed this!!!! I’ve always wondered. I have an idea why, but not one that I am yet able to flesh out enough to articulate it and not be misunderstood.
@zeible0248
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
4:40
Man, I don't know, I think The Terminator in T2 is kind of a prototype for this archetype actually, now that you're putting them together for me…
@Wonder2win
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
I think part of it was making a strong push for female-led action films. Having a 5'4" petite woman dominate big brawny men in physical fights can't really be paired next to a big brawny man doing the same thing because it shows the absurdity of it. So male action heroes have to look more accessible in order for them to be included.
@nikibronson133
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
I’m genuinely confused though on how you say there’s no cynicism during the late 80s and early 90s when that was literally when gangster rap and grunge was emerging right? 90s was dominated by angst and anger and then again I was born in 2000 so if this isn’t true, then that’s at least the way that history is kind of presented.
@ConerdFrederickson
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
I have no actual research behind it but a lot of my assumption around the development of the Sigma archetype is that a lot of the nerds who were developing the early incel/redpill alpha/beta stuff didn't want to be forever destined to be a beta but also didn't see becoming an alpha chad as either possible or desirable so they created a "new type of man" who was just as superior to betas as an alpha was but wasn't the dumb jock archetype they often derided alphas as. It allowed them to change their struggle with social situations from a detriment to their ability to rise out of betaness to a sign that they were actually superior the other betas all along.
@joshuafetter3831
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
Could you go back farther than Bourne and say that Neo was the start of Sigma coded action heroes?
@ebonymemoirs
August 13, 2026 at 6:24 am
Rise of sigma men = recession indicator (I’m joking lol)