I'm going to start out completely honestly. I hate musicals. I do. When Chicago won the Academy Award for Best Picture I was livid. I couldn't believe it. I actually saw Chicago on stage once in London and was bored to tears. It was awful and annoying.
But more to the point is that musicals aren't very manly. Randomly breaking into song and dance just isn't for us. I've been to Broadway and for the most part I just don't get it. It's all so hokey and corny.
If you want to look at the perfect example of how musicals aren't manly, let's look at West Side Story. Let's forget for a second that it's Romeo and Juliet and just look on the fact on the ground.
There's gang violence. Sounds promising. Not really sure how you could screw up two rival gangs wanting to pummel each other. Sounds perfectly manly. Oh, wait, they're just snapping and twirling. If you want to go flamboyant with your gang violence, that's fine, but go the Warriors route. Don't have them doing ballet. These are the least manly gangs ever. No one would ever be afraid of them. Even the kids from Newsies could take them out (although they did have a young Batman with them so it's a little unfair to compare).
The interesting thing about the male aversion to musicals is that many of us were brought up on them. And by that I mean Disney movies. The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lion King, all musicals. We all sang "Under the Sea" and "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" as kids.
Still, there are plenty of musicals out there that are either made for guys or guys love. Usually its an appeal to humor. Movies like South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut and Broadway shows like Spamalot and Avenue Q are perfect examples of musicals that men love.
And then of course there is the most manly and awesome musical of them all: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. It was made by Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse - please watch Dollhouse and keep it alive!) along with his siblings and it stars Neil Patrick Harris as the titular Dr. Horrible and Nathan Fillion (Mal from Firefly) as his nemesis Captain Hammer. It is incredible and if you haven't seen it yet, go watch it on Hulu right now. Go! I'll wait ...
....
See? Fantastic! If you don't like it, NPH will totally beat you down. But is it really manly? Can any musical really be?
Can musicals be manly?
nprospect
Comments (41)
i suppose they could be, given the right director or something. it's just like you said. dancing and breaking out in song. i think i'd rather play some video games instead.
I want to see the Evil Dead musical, nothing is more manly than a chainsaw and the boomstick.
umm Rocky Horror Picture Show?
I think it depends what kinda musical it is. I actually liked Chicago and others like Moulin Rouge and Across The Universe, and even Hairspray had its funny moments. Although that might be bacuse I already love music in general. I never really thought of them as manly or not, as long as its not something like Mamma Mia. Even that was a bit much. But most of the time I think the music adds a whole different element to the movie that makes them great, and stick out more
But I might be biased a little because, like I said, I'm obsessed with music already.
Manly? What the hell kind of question is that? It's sad that ManCouch is operated under these ridiculous pretenses of "men" and "masculinity."
Yes, musicals can be "manly." The Producers and Spamalot, just to name 2 of many, are littered with jokes about all the things that men of the stereotype this site propagates find amazing: sex, violence, violent sex, etc.
I bet if Megan fucking Fox was in a musical you douche-bags would be all about singing its praises (pun totally fucking intended).
guys make great musics. i guess it can be manly with the right attitude. sing with some man power maybe?
I loved the shit out of Chicago and Mama Mia and I'm the poster boy for rugged masculinity.
Depends on the stories and actors. You should create the "The Guy Musical". I can see it now. Burlesque babes and a whole lot of manly stuff going on.
@beforedawn@xanga - Right who could forget Rocky Horror. I mean its about sex and people from outer space. Thats manly right?
What about Guys and Dolls from 1955? Its about gangsters and gambling and has Marlon Brando in it.
Sweeney Todd
definitelycounts as a guy musical, doesn't it?
I'm sorry, but this is somewhat of a dumb question, wtf is manly?
Musical is just another form of performance, and also one of the oldest traditions since the early times. The native tribes used to have their warriors come back from different parts of the land, and they would return with wonderful stories. To tell about the story, they would renact it by staging around the camp fire with other actors, and also by songs. Such tribes still is around today like in Hawaii and New Zealand.
If musicals don't fancy you, that is fine, but I don't think manliness has to do with anything.
@ElusiveSoul@xanga - sweeney todd, ughhh. terrible.
I absolutely loved Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog. And I agree, most musicals AREN'T manly. Even I cringe when midway through a movie they decide to make it part musical and break out in song and dance. It's awkward to watch and just makes me feel uncomfortable. But Dr. Horrible's is amazing. It never gets old. :D
king leonidas does them. i thought mancouch deemed 300 to be manly.
@MissPixieGlitter@xanga - Wait, King Leonidas does musicals? When did 300, the musical came out? ;)
Having to question if something is manly isn't very manly.
@Neowind@xanga - lol, gerard butler does them.
@MissPixieGlitter@xanga - Ahh, now I get what you're talking about. I was going to put on my Sparta cosplay costume and jump on a horse to see 300 The Musical. (Which would be a hilarious idea, actually haha)
@Kaythan@xanga - Amen brother, I mean, girl.
@Not_A_Marker@xanga - well if we ferget about tim curry being kinda cute as a transsexual...umm err i didnt say that k? IT HAS SUSAN SARANDON"S BARE YOUNG BREASTESTES... and true rock tunes so... manly yes and i quite like it too... err mans men man manly here too... durn... well its actualy a good show?
I actually saw Dr. Horrible's sing-a-long blog. It was awesome. I wouldn't really call it manly though. It was less feminine than most musicals but not exactly beating the heart of a lion.
I feel like Les Miserables is about as manly as musicals come. The French Revolution was all about men overcoming their Frenchness to be manly as fuck. And then some of them sang about it.
if you watch more classical ones; Cyrano, CATS or non Disney renditions... it's really not that bad. Les Mis is timeless.
it's not always about demonstrating manliness but how cultured you are. if it won't kill you, then it can't be as bad as you think.
I'd like to think that musicals are gender-neutral; there's just some that I dislike and won't see because I don't like the content. I know more women than men who like them, but I don't use gender as a determining factor in regards to musicals.
Yeah I dozed off during the second half of Chicago, but I saw Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express in London (which was sweet) and Phantom of the Opera which was absolutely fucking awesome.
There's nothing unmanly about patronizing the arts. Plenty of gentlemen did it back in the day. Then they'd unwind with a little billiards, a glass of sherry or brandy, and a cigar or two. All in a day's entertainment.
Dr. Horrible is truly fantastic. I was just watching it earlier today actually. Brilliance.
umm if they made that Mersonnaries Two commercial into a musical that would be cool.
here's a song from a father's day card i got my dad
some guys go to heaven from herethey may be lucky but they can't drink beerthat's why we're full of cheercuz we're not dead and still can drink beer.
Dr. Horrible is hella good. Love it.