Democrats don’t know what to do with young people—look no further than their disastrous efforts to take down Graham Platner for proof—but finding a figure who resonates with the guys isn’t that hard. In fact, there is a Hollywood star whose roles always seem to involve men. Of course it’s Ryan Gosling.
“The Hail Mary project, whose screen time was mainly occupied by Gosling and the puppeteer alien, received biggest opening weekend this year for a non-franchise film. Grossing $683.3 million worldwide, the film also received a 94% Rotten Tomatoes. The success of the film is largely due to Gosling, who became one of the most beloved and respected actors in Hollywood.
Back in 2023, Gosling stole the show in Barbie. Gosling’s Ken struck a chord with young people across America. Guys would dance and sing to the song “I’m Just Ken”, ironically or sincerely expressing the pressure and pent-up feelings that a feminized America has put on them over the years. lyrics for example: “It doesn’t seem to matter what I do, I’m always number two” and “Nobody knows how hard I tried.”
Songwriter Mark Ronson, who co-wrote the song “I’m Just Ken” with Gosling, said the song “helped the young boys emotionally.”
“This song tells boys that it’s okay to come in second place,” Ronson said. “The internet has caused a certain level of isolation for boys, and the idea of male camaraderie and the opportunity to share their feelings is a pleasant and unexpected result.”
Gosling’s good looks have also turned him into meme. IN 2018The “literally me” meme began with a Facebook post comparing a nerdy computer boy to five popular male characters of the “loner” archetype. “Wow, that’s literally me,” he thinks. It became wildly popular.
Gosling now appears frequently in variations of the meme. One person on Reddit explained it this way: “(He) plays a lot of bumbling, quiet, lonely/romantically struggling and/or depressed characters (notably the driver in Drive and Officer K in Blade Runner 2049, but Ken qualifies too), and considering he’s also pretty good looking, wears sharp suits and is portrayed as a badass despite these major flaws, he’s ready for disgruntled young men to semi-ironically say: I’m semi-not very fond of him.”
In the “literally me” trend, guys are posting jokes about their inability to speak with their female peers, lonelinessand lack compliments, with one comment: “Do you even get compliments???”
Thanks to internet culture, this loner archetype has become the “sigma male,” a romanticized version of the lone wolf. Alt-right writer Theodore Beal coined this term in 2010. “They are characterized by autonomy, self-sufficiency and a preference for solitude, which makes them intriguing figures who don’t quite fit into established social categories,” Beal said.
Young people contact Gosling so good because his characters in films like Drive and Blade Runner 2049 are lonely, unable to express their feelings and struggling to find love. This pain of inadequacy and isolation is romanticized. Gosling’s roles idealize loneliness, complete self-sufficiency and not “needing” for anything.
But this life is really tiring and youYou can see how this exhaustion shows. Gosling is the face of the “modern single” with a thousand-yard stare.
“He’s not just a guy,” presenter Reel of Emotions said. “It’s anyone who’s ever looked out a window and wondered if anyone cares.”
The pain of Gosling’s characters in these films is further amplified by the fact that they are left alone – the world reminds them that this is “not for them.”
“That’s why people keep editing Ryan Gosling into all these sad montages,” Reel Emotion said. “To represent what we all felt.”
Lately, Gosling’s films have gone from being merely enjoyable to being more inspiring. Gosling’s transition from single characters to men who find happiness in relationships occurred after his wedding in 2022. In an interviewAccording to Gosling, becoming a father changed his outlook on his career, making him want to create films in which he could include his entire family.
“The Hail Mary project,” he said in an interview, “is also very encouraging, and that’s what I think I really responded to. This idea: “Enough with dystopian ideas of the future that are so dark and offer no solutions.”
Journalist Anthony Breznican wrote for Esquire that “The Hail Mary Project is really about “male loneliness” Men especially struggle with forming and maintaining deep friendships with other men.
“We believe in that old maxim, ‘A friend in need is a friend indeed,’ and we’re 100 percent there – as long as we’re not the ones ‘in need,’” Breznican said.
In the film, Dr. Ryland Grace, played by Gosling, is like many lonely young people today.
“When everything was normal, I didn’t have much of a social life,” Grace says. “Sometimes I would have dinner with other faculty and staff at the school. Sometimes on Saturdays I would have a beer with old college friends.”
Grace then finds “Rocky”, an unlikely alien-like friend. They develop a deep connection that stems from the fact that each of them carries the burden of civilization on their shoulders. While completing a seemingly impossible task and sharing a mission, they grow closer.
The 2024 film The Fallen Boy, an action-packed comedy with a surprisingly well-crafted plot, is also based on relationships. Gosling’s character, Colt Seavers, starts off in a great relationship with Jodi Moreno, “the girl of his dreams,” until he has an accident that ruins his stunt career. He then hides and abandons her. When they are reintroduced, there is tension and great effort on Sievers’ part to repair the relationship, which is combined with great mistrust on Moreno’s part.
Sievers attempts to save her production and clear her name, culminating in confession of your feelings to her. This scene is the moment when he finally decides to become vulnerabledemonstrating how stuntmen are taught to be “invincible”, never admit to pain and always give a thumbs up.
Journalist Jeffrey Zaslow wrote in Wall Street Journal that guys tend to bond by doing things together. They don’t often share their emotions or insecurities with each other, but they do share with their wife or close friends. This dynamic is evident in The Fallen Boy and The Hail Mary Project. Sievers confesses his love for Jodie; Grace sacrifices her future for Rocky. One pours out his heart; the other shows through his actions that he cares.
“Researchers say that female friendships happen face to face: they talk, cry together, share secrets,” Zaslow writes. “Men’s friendship is inextricably linked: we play golf, go to football.”
This doesn’t mean guys don’t express emotions to each other. Grace, when the mission is completed and she and Rocky are separated, is sad in this joyful moment. When Rocky asks why, Grace – in the book on which the film is based – replies: “You’re my friend. Damn, you’re my best friend. And very soon we’re going to say goodbye forever.”
More and more boys and young men want to see male characters in caring and affectionate fatherly roles. “Today’s youth want to see boys and men on screen who demonstrate emotional connection and vulnerability and move away from isolation and other masculine stereotypes,” according to a UCLA study. They want masculinity to be defined by “emotional availability” and “joyful connection” rather than the lone wolf archetype. Between the ages of 15 and 24, men are looking for films with caring and emotionally available men who demonstrate “positive models of masculinity.”
In a culture that says holding the door open for a woman is “toxic masculinity,” young men are confused and frustrated. Gosling helps them understand their difficulties and shows them a better path. In his films, he provides an example of masculinity that is healthy, caring and vulnerable. No wonder so many guys say, “He’s literally me.”
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