Films/books that portray the male ideal fantasy?

Independent-Mail-227 · 2024-01-14T12:53:35+00:00

To better understand what the male ideal looks like in this regard - can you recommend some films or books?

Romantically speaking? You're not going to get this on the west, with the culture starting to go full korea/japan maybe in the next years we will have something like this.

The only place that come closer is japan but even the harem power fantasy is very much misunderstand, as is never about the guy having a lot of girls but the fact that a lot of different girls can fill any niche liking the audience have.

The male power fantasy come from ideals like honor, power or the discovery of new lands, the struggle to overcome, the living for a purpose greater than himself. The "save the princess" is just an artifice, the closure of the plot where's the climax come from defeating the dragon.

tired_hillbilly · 2024-01-14T17:07:56+00:00

If we're talking the male ideal fantasy in general, the answer is pretty clearly any story that tells The Hero's Journey, even ones that end badly for the Hero. Lord of the Rings is my favorite example; so many great displays of masculinity. Theoden, Frodo, Sam, Faramir.

If we're talking romance, gotta agree with other commenters about Jay from Modern Family. Going to add Bob from Bob's Burgers.

Lift_and_Lurk · 2024-01-14T14:41:06+00:00

The Grandpa/dad in modern family. No matter all the things he says, does or agrees/disagrees with: everything he does is for his family

GhettoJamesBond · 2024-01-14T12:32:27+00:00

The original Rocky movie. She was with him when he was nothing and supported him. Or James Bond and Californication that has girls throwing themselves at him.

wtknight · 2024-01-14T15:08:39+00:00

Lots of porn

Anything Japanese involving a harem of women, although these stories are sometimes less sexual than what men would prefer

Nothing that is going to be shown as some mainstream movie or television show because, while at worst men will laugh at the ideal female fantasy, women will be super critical of the ideal male fantasy.

It would also be great if you could explain in a few words, what makes the pictured so appealing.

Men like knowing that they are sexually appealing to a lot of women. This is pretty much it. The ideal male sexual strategy for passing on one's genes is to have sex with many women, but to commit to providing resources to a favored woman's offspring.

KayRay1994 · 2024-01-14T16:20:35+00:00

all the porn answers are straight up sad - somehow i didn’t expect it out of this sub.

That being said, I’d lean towards the archetype of either the successful older man with a strong linage/family, or a young successful man enjoying being “high value” - pretty much anyone from Jay in modern family (saw one comment bring it up and i couldn’t agree more) all the way to james bond

odd_cloud · 2024-01-14T13:07:57+00:00

Difficult question. The closest thing is probably James Bond.

purplish_possum · 2024-01-14T16:42:38+00:00

Shrek. Unfortunately it's a fairytale

VTHokie2020 · 2024-01-14T19:09:42+00:00

A non-porn example is How I Met Your Mother.

An adorable nerdy guy (Ted Mosby) can walk into a dive bar and just approach a hot woman
(who is there alone) who will enthusiastically go on a few dates if not a ONS after a few lines of chit chat.

Men love relationships with attractive women but desire an easier entry into them. That’s the male fantasy.

PowerGlove-it-so-bad · 2024-01-15T00:29:24+00:00

Gladiator

his_purple_majesty · 2024-01-15T01:15:28+00:00

Blade Runner 2049

Atrass · 2024-01-14T13:33:09+00:00

what are the books portraying the ideal partner for a woman OP ??

Im curious now

abaxeron · 2024-01-14T18:54:15+00:00

"The Little Mermaid"; Andersen's version, not Disney's. Wonderful brief retelling with amazing voice work was done by the Little Platoon on Youtube as part of his critique of Disney's live-action remake.

https://youtu.be/hkfGh5FJ4Fs?si=k-rIHzp3CU_cXFar&t=5094

I have nothing to add to this retelling mixed-in with a commentary; it's as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face.

Not as good as a film, but got stuck in my head as an over-the-top love story - is 1998 What Dreams May Come. Her children die. Then her husband dies. She never lets go of her feelings for him, she never replaces him, she never wanted anything else but him and their children; despite being an artist, nothing else but her family ever made her life full of meaning. And her grief is so strong it's causing her soul to literally go to hell, which finally makes her actually lose memories of him. And when he goes down to hell for her, for his Eurydice, and chooses her over heaven, she appreciates it accordingly, rather than... falling out of love with him for being too clingy, or something.

AlmostKindaGreat · 2024-01-14T22:12:21+00:00

Some boxing movies are close. Rocky and Cinderella Man. Maybe the latter more for me, though I've only seen it once, a while ago.

In Cinderella Man you see a man who has passions and ambitions, but most of all is driven by a sense of honor and duty to do whatever he can to create a happy life with his wife.

My fantasy is to have a woman who is devoted to me, faithful, who cares about my wellbeing above all else, is in love and sexual with me, wants me to achieve my dream but does not only love me for my status. If I recall correctly, the movie roughly shows this. She is supportive of his ambitions, though justifiably very afraid for his safety. She does not love him because he's a successful boxer. He is nothing at the beginning of the movie and it appears his career is over and she is sad for him but relieved that it seems he'll at least be safe. She loves him just because he is him, no other reason.

The most important part of the fantasy is to have the love of a woman without having to perform every day until I die to keep her interested, in love, and desiring to be sexual with me. To be loved "for just being me". Which doesn't really happen because unconditional romantic love does not exist. I can still fantasize, though. So that's my fantasy.

I should note that, of course, I also like the idea of lots of sex with lots of different women and there are media that portray this type of fantasy. But attractive men can attain this. To be frank, I've made myself quite attractive and I've lived out most of my sexual fantasies. What I've not lived out is a relationship as described above, so I still need escapist entertainment to imagine it.

operatowers · 2024-01-15T01:23:41+00:00

IMO, the most romantic film for men would be 'Leaving Las Vegas'. Nic Cage plays a troubled, depressed, unemployed, addicted man who Elisabeth Shue's character (the trope of a "prostitute with a heart of gold") picks to support and love. It's important though that even in this story Cage isn't "below" her - he was once a successful Hollywood executive, he drives a BMW, he still wears a suit jacket, his addiction is alcohol - often higher-end (vs. street drugs), and their relationship starts off with him paying her. Yet it's not a female fantasy because she picks him when he's still a depressed loser who has literally lost the will to live - not when he's a handsome, powerful/wealthy or exciting/dynamic person who can save her.

Can't really think of any other examples. Like others said, romantic fantasies aren't as common or as in-demand for men. Mostly it's just porn.

AfterDarkOpinions · 2024-01-14T15:58:15+00:00

Pornography is pretty much the main thing--particularly if it involves multiple women.

I'd add hip-hop videos in there as well, at least the ones which feature multiple women with large butts.

I think harem anime or any anime in which the female character actively pursues and dates a man who is beneath her socially counts, too. "My Dress-up Darling" is one which comes to mind, though it's written by a woman, interestingly enough.

babazuki · 2024-01-14T13:08:30+00:00

Porn. It's porn. Porn is the male fantasy. That's the male analogue for female romance novels.

Men are the top consumers of porn. And their tastes range from normal naked ladies to weird tentacle stuff.

Crimson-Pilled · 2024-01-14T14:38:41+00:00

Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven

Bikerbats · 2024-01-14T19:45:00+00:00

Not my cup of tea, but I'd bet money a lot of the guys here who identify strongly with the red pill would love John Norman, and the Gor series especially. I can see them eating the idea that men are meant to rule and women to be enslaved up.

MikeArrow · 2024-01-14T19:42:18+00:00

I'm saying this unironically, but growing up the relationship that formed the blueprint for romance for me was in a Star Wars book.

In Star Wars: X-Wing: Wraith Squadron, Kell Tainer is a model recruit. Handsome, well built, a brilliant pilot but only in simulators. In real combat he becomes overwhelmed with anxiety and locks up, unable to move. Tyria Sarkin is a fellow pilot, a beautiful, tall, blonde haired blue eyed farmgirl type. She's an average pilot at best, and carries trauma from being propositioned by a previous instructor from her training unit.

The author shows several interactions between Kell and Tyria over the course of the book, where Kell is hopelessly in love with her and she gently, but firmly rejects him. She tells Kell that he's fallen in love with a fantasy and that he doesn't really know her at all. He goes off and reflects on this and admits that she's right. Meanwhile, his anxiety in combat worsens to the point that the rest of the squadron have to intervene. Tyria plays on Kell's love for her to get him to snap out of it and he's finally able to get past his mental block. Afterwards, they reconcile and Tyria admits that she was in love with him too, but she was waiting for him to fall in love with the real her, not the fantasy version. They have a cute moment where they re-introduce themselves and reset back to square one.

In the later books they're married and work together as pilots.

That's the kind of romance that resonated with me, because I had such intense crushes on girls my age but never actually interacted with them. I was in love with a fantasy too. But I never got the second part, where the fantasy loved me back and became real.

EsotericRonin · 2024-01-15T10:55:14+00:00

The porn answer just shows you most of the male users here are degenerate virgins. The real answer is anything that shows the hero's journey.

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Savings_Builder_8449 · 2024-01-15T11:42:49+00:00

red dwarf better than life:

Goal!'

Creature polo was the Cat's favourite game. Unnecessary cruelty to small, furry animals was very much part of his psychological make-up. Plus, he got to dress up in some really neat duds. A huge-bosomed Valkyrie dressed in scanty armour reined in her triceratops and patted the Cat on the back.

'Nice goal! Great stick work.'

The Cat flashed his perfect teeth and wiggled an eyebrow. 'Baby, my stick work is always great.'

The Valkyrie's eyes narrowed seductively, and she growled with lust. 'Get off me!' the Cat grinned. 'Can't I keep my trousers on for five seconds? We're in the middle of a match here.'

The ball untangled itself wearily from the net, stretched its tiny limbs and gulped several times in a vain attempt to clear its head.

A whistle blew, a voice cried: 'Mirror break!' and two more scantily clad Valkyrie sex-slaves raced on to the field, carrying an elaborate six-foot-long gilt-framed mirror.

For a full ten minutes the Cat stared gooey-eyed at his reflection, transfixed, as ever, by his own incredible good looks.

There was good-looking, there was great-looking and then there was him. God, it was cruel to have been born a male, and have a reflection that was also male, forcing him into a platonic relationship with his own image.

CryptoThroway8205 · 2024-01-15T14:10:42+00:00

The lost bladesman because honor, loyalty, and slicing muthafuckas with a longsword

Title	Films/books that portray the male ideal fantasy?
Author	desert_fly
Upvotes	5
Comments	125
Date	January 14, 2024 12:13 PM UTC (2 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/196ekl0/filmsbooks_that_portray_the_male_ideal_fantasy/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/filmsbooks-that-portray-the-male-ideal-fantasy.1242937 https://theredarchive.com/post/1242937

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