Males in Arrested Development

Arrested Development is probably my favorite television show ever. I became obsessed with it when it first came out on DVD and can quote far too many lines from the show. When we were talking about the masculinities and their portrayal in The OC in class, I thought of a show that portrayed men in a quite different light.

First there’s Michael, the character that all the others seem to center around and the most stereotypically male character. There’s his brother Gob, who is a crazy and dumb wannabe magician. Then there’s the father, Oscar, who is constantly avoiding his marital issues while hiding from the authorities who are trying to arrest him. There’s Buster, the younger brother, who, in his 30s is still a complete mama’s boy with absolutely no social awareness. Tobias is the husband of Michael’s sister Lindsey and self-proclaimed “analrapist” (pronounced “uh-nal-ruh-pist”), who is flamboyant and often the source of many jokes about his questionable sexuality. Finally there is George Michael, Michael’s son who wears khakis and Hawaiian shirts and screams and guards his face when a ball is thrown to him in catch.

What’s interesting to note is that although all of these male characters are portrayed as pretty out there and insane, the ones that have the least masculine characteristics are Tobias, Buster, and George Michael. Although Gob is absolutely ridiculous and embarrasses himself in situations, his overstated masculine qualities (his obsession with women and sex, for one), make him appear as a stronger character. Conversely, Tobias, George Michael, and Buster are all weak characters, often influenced and bullied by their more “masculine relatives.” It is also interesting to note that these three more effeminate males are all ruled by the women in their lives. Buster hangs on Lucille, his mother’s, every words and the majority of his actions are either to spite her or to win her approval. Tobias strives to prove to his wife that he is competent both in life and in the bedroom, and George Michael will do anything to try to win the affections of his cousin that he is secretly in love with. I put a YouTube video of a compilation of Tobias’s sexually questionable lines and actions. Watch it. And the show. It’s awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDSqcCPRsW0