Boy Meets Boy

Truly, we're living in a historic moment -- and by this, I'm not referencing the nomination of Barack Obama, the world records broken by Michael Phelps, or the recent calendar-passage of  08-08-08, among other heady global events.  I'm musing on how it is that A Love That Formerly Dared Not Speak Its Name is so ubiquitous on our nation's movie screens that it threatens to eclipse all other loves: this is our Summer of Bromance.

Make no mistake: despite all their guns, car chases and explosions, both of this summer's big comedies, Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express, are boy meets boy, boy loses boy, boy gets boy movies at their warm-and-fuzzy cores (the same is also true of the recent Stepbrothers).  The "it's really a love story between two guys" theme has long been sounded in the buddy movie genre, and you don't have to stretch too far to find homoerotic subtext in such genre far-afield examples as The Dark Knight (Batman meets Joker, Batman loses Joker...).  But how exactly did the line "I love you, bro!" become the accepted climactic cry-of-love norm for American movies?

Assuredly I have no readymade answer, only some brief observations.  One is that in the past decade or so, men have invaded the formerly female-driven realm of romantic comedy and more or less transformed it, from the boundary-busting salvo of There's Something About Mary back in in '98 to 2008's Forgetting Sarah Marshall -- the former a movie that was really Mostly About Ben, and the latter one that could've been called Remembering Us Guys.

I've termed such male-driven rom-coms Macho-Chick Flicks (see The 40 Year-Old Virgin, and for that matter, pretty much any movie in the Apatow-and-his-imitators oeuvre), while others have called them Slacker-Striver  and Raunch-Coms.  But these are romantic comedies which, while piloted by male protagonists, are nonetheless ostensibly focused on a traditional male-female love story. 

Let's say they paved the way.  One could theorize that once the American audience had happily accepted love stories told from a male point of view, it was only a matter of time before we'd be ready to embrace -- say, with a manly hug that includes the requisite "but I'm not gay" pat on the back -- love stories between two firmly straight guys.  Women have been all over this for centuries, movies portraying non-Sapphic girls-with-girls stories long a cinematic staple.  What are Sex and the City and the Traveling Pants franchise other than celebrations of women loving women -- only, y' know, not in That Way?

Men, on the other hand, have always tended to like their manly love stories tacit rather than overt. Sure Midnight Cowboy and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were "I love you, man!" movies, but yeesh! -- that was the last thing in the world you'd want to hear one of their male stars actually uttering out loud. 

Apparently the time has come, though -- when Pineapple blubbers it, prior to a kind of Tristan and Isolde walk through fire for ya, man climax, we're hearing the echo of a now-established credo.  "I love you, man," became the official verbal genre-badge in last summer's seminal Superbad, which actually had the balls to feature that declaration of love (exchanged by Michael Sera and Jonah Hill) in its trailer.

Don't get me wrong, I think all of this is great (men -- owning up to their, like, feelings about men? sometimes to other men? -- woa, dude, it's deep).  I'm just surprised that it's happening in a country that's been so famously puritanical and squeamish about all things homosexual.

That squeamishness is undoubtedly what's responsible for an absolute requirement in these bromantic comedies: their staunchly hetero heroes have to make it clear (repeatedly) that their affections are in no way about the sex, but about the love.  Hence the strangely schizophrenic nature of last year's Adam Sandler bromantic comedy, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, which was an odd melange of the pro-gay and the homophobic, its message "We love homos, who are just like you and me, although weird and absolutely terrifying."

However compromised or edge-cutting, bromantic comedy is hot this summer, and lest you think it's a passing fad, look out: next up of a series of brom-coms that may represent the peak or the saturation point of this sub-genre is Universal's Role Models, with brom-com staple Paul Rudd uttering That Line to Sean Scott Williams; currently in development are the inevitable Adam Sandler & Seth Rogen pairing (Apatow's Funny People), the return of fabulous Russell Brand in a kind of rock star My Favorite Year relationship with Jonah Hill (Get Him to the Greek).  And before those guys have all met, broken up, and hugged it out in the end, expect John Hamburg's I Love You, Man (The Movie) to make you tear up as you guffaw, via Jason Segal -- cute kids! -- and Mr. Rudd again.

Apparently the bromantics are here to stay, at least into next year some time.  But now that we've crossed a gender barrier and truly entered the current century, here's the final frontier for these boy-meets-boy movies: I know I'm talking pipe dreams here, but maybe -- just maybe, someday, when all these movie men have declared their clean-and-manly-but-not-physical love for one another, they might be ready to take on compelling three-dimensional, credible, even powerful... females? 

Sounds like science fiction, yes, but given the promise of America and all that, let's see what happens next.

Comments

[Christian M. Howell]

I guess it's OK as long as they don't start "boy-on-boy."

Jim Carrey's next movie actually involves a long-lasting homoerotic relationship.

I'd rather see a movie where men and women can be friends without the prerequisite romantic entanglements. Perhaps one day "men" will be able to look at women as people thereby negating the need for "bromances."

Though I think it's partly that we're so hung up on breasts. They do strap down pretty nice so they don't have to bounce around during action scenes.

[christopher]

in this interview ( http://www.gointothestory.com/2008/08/video-interview-john-hamburg-zoolander.html ), screenwriter john hamburg discusses his process and concludes (around the 9min mark), that 'zoolander' is a love-story between two guys.

[E.C. Henry]

Didn't they used to call them "buddy comedies?" "Bromantic" sounds more chic, though. So if you're calling for a change, if you can explain it a little better, I'm on board.

"Tropic Thunder" was very funny, but at NO TIME did I think what I was watching was somehow belonging to the broad, rainbow spectrum belonging to the romantic comedy genre.

Overall interesting, thought provoking post, Mr. Billy Mernit, the great defender of the romantic comedy genre.

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

[christopher]

just saw 'tropic thunder' tonight. i have to say, putting this and 'dark knight' in the boy meets boy category is really stretching it.

[mernitman]

Christian: Breasts are definitely a factor.

Just to clarify: I'd never say DARK KNIGHT was a bromance (if you check the post, the context for my reference is pretty clear). But I'm sticking to my story re: TROPIC; I'd call it a brom-com hybrid. Yes, of course it's an action comedy where the central question is, "Will these actors survive their jungle crisis?" but its character driven through-line (exemplified by where the story begins and ends --see photo at top of post) is about "will downey and stiller become true friends?"

EC: The point I'm making about the difference between Buddy and Bromance is that in the former, "man love" was tacit and subtext; in the latter, it's overt and specifically articulated, complete with by-now cliched tag (I love you, man).

Christopher: Thanks for the neat link. Hamburg oughta know...

[Elizabeth Ditty]

As for female buddy comedies, I think "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" tackles the issue quite nicely. It was the first movie that came to mind when I read your post, and, after catching it on DVD again tonight, I think the most potent "love story" in the film is definitely between Delysia and Miss Pettigrew.

Delysia even offers the all-important "I love you" a couple of times, once flippantly and once after having learned what love truly is. I was actually a little disappointed to hear Ms. McDormand call it a buddy comedy in the extra features, having briefly entertained the notion that perhaps my insight was unique. Alas, it's certainly worth checking out for some insight into how a non-romantic female love story works.

[Anna]

Hey Billy, Anna from Sweden here. I actually first thought of this new Line between two male buddies when I saw Wedding Crashers the second time on dvd. Guess that it might be a result of the romcom-genre getting more and more raw and "cold": this explicit lines' function is to add maximum heart and warmth to the recipe. If you understand what I mean?
Talking about male characters, here in Sweden a new rom-com is coming up soon: "Patrik 1,5", the story of a gay couple (two men) who adopt a little 18-months-old boy. They think. But the boy turns out to be 15 and homophobic, and the couple suddenly has to deal with a new situation. This is actually a rom-com with tree men instead of boy meets girl. (Directed by a woman.)

[Anna]

Sorry, not "tree" - should be "three" of course... My English sure sucks, but not THAT much...
Anna

[christopher]

lol anna. don't worry, i'm sure your english is infinitely better than 99% of american's swedish. hell, it's probably better than most of their english! you've certainly got me beat on both counts.

[Stephanie]

Maybe this is just the cynic in me coming out to play, but I'm wondering if one of the reasons that the bromantic comedy is on the rise is because people simply don't believe in happily ever after anymore. With the divorce rate being what it is, I imagine a lot of people are finding that the relationships in their lives that are lasting are the relationships with their same sex friends. So maybe it's easier for us all to believe a happily ever after between two buddies than between a couple.

Just a thought anyhow.

[Judith Duncan]

Another thought provoking blog Billy.Stephanie,I think that you've hit on one of the reasons why the bromantic comedy is happening.I think the other reason is that now that homosexuality is out of the closet so to speak.That these stories give straight guys a chance to find where the line is in the sand.As long as you add Dude or Man after the 'I love you',then you're safe.It defines the boundaries of the relationship.
Cheers,
Judith

[Anna]

Thank you, Christopher :-) I think both Stephanie and Judith have a point, but I also think that nothing ever will take away the fact that we all as human beings are longing for True Love as well as True Friendship, no matter how many divorces there are in reality, and we like to watch it on screen. I guess it simply has to be showed in different ways so we won't get bored (and to follow the evaluation in society); and one tool is to honestly talk about feelings straight out, and if it's a little bit shocking and tickling you get a effective joke at the same time. The result: a feelgood comedy.
Anna

[mernitman]

Elisabeth: I'm curious to see PETTIGREW. Sounds... do we say, 'bo-mantic when it's two women?

Anna: I think you're right -- you need the warm-and-fuzzy "heart" line to offset all the raunchy stuff (that's been Apatow's successful formula). And I can't wait to see PATRIK.

(...What Christopher said.)

Stephanie: I think that's a very smart thought!

Judith: Agree with you there as well.

Anna: Amen.