TheGeoffRe(y)port

There are few more stereotypically masculine films than “The Godfather”. It stands out as an all time classic, and it has so innumerable timeless quotes spread throughout (”and may their first child be a masculine child”). So this evening I watched “The Godfather” with two girls. Hmmm, not quite sure how that one happened.

It’s hard not to see the underlying references to what it means to be a man throughout. From the beginning, when Johnny Fontaine starts crying and Don Corleone gets mad at him - “You can be a man!” the film makes a number of points about the role of men in that society. Men don’t cry. There is no doubt that the film glorifies the pro-active model in Vito Corleone, versus the sit there and cry model of Johnny Fontaine.

The pivotal example of what it means to be a man is held in who Vito Corleone is. When Sonny is killed, he has to first ensure that his wife does not have to see her son in that state, and he must also do whatever is necessary to protect the rest of his family. The over-arching push is that the man of the house must always take the initiative. That being a great man is about assessing the situation and acting - not dilly-dallying, nor acting foolishly like the hot-headed Sonny, but to make the right decision at the right time.

And there’s something in that. As much as you don’t want to be a late 1940s mafia boss, there is something innate in being a man that makes you want to take ownership for circumstances, to get out there and be the one that can be relied on. I guess the hard part is trying to sort out the cultural context from the meaty self-evident truths. But there’s no doubt in my mind about one thing - being a man must be about taking action, not despite circumstances, but because of them.