In Albany, Ga., I was greeted by the hot Georgia weather and some alarming information about fatherhood. Because this production is about restoring the role of the father in the minds of a culture desperate for stability, I was given a packet on the subject.
In many homes, the father is not underperforming—he’s not performing at all. Almost 25 million American children live without their biological father, and a mere 60% of these children have seen him in the last year. Assuming that adoptions are accounted for in this statistics methodology, we should still be disturbed by this sad reality.
Furthermore, 63% of youth suicides, 90% of homeless and runaway children, 85% of all children with behavioral disorders, and 85% of juveniles in prisons come from fatherless homes.
There are several things to blame for this deprivation of the family, but television isn’t helping. The National Center for Public Policy Research found that of 102 prime-time shows in 1998, only 15 featured a father as a central character. 1998 is a bit outdated, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the statistics are not improving.
Could a true fatherhood initiative and a revamping of the culture’s mindset with regard to the vital role of the father, come at a better time? No.
Comments:
Be that as it may, when we hear of "gentleman" we don't just think "good" but of a certain kind of goodness. It has implications of courtesy and noblesse-oblige . The sergeant in Zulu was good but not gentlemanly and John Wayne sometimes played good characters but seldom gentlemanly ones. Farimir in Zulu, though, was definitely a gentleman.
Anyway, this topic is way to big to deal w/ via blog comments, but I thought this entry, the original article, and especially the comments (heh heh)are a good start.
http://stuartschneiderman.blogspot.com/2010/06/american-man-rip.html
Other examples can be found from fiction. Picture Jack Ryan saving the world while remembering his daughter's teddy bear. Or Simon Tam tenderly caring for his sister one moment ferociously standing up for him when she is endangered. Or Leroy Jethro Gibbs(not the meekest character, but still) acting as Abby's father figure.
Meekness is hard to visualize perhaps. But when you see it you can understand it.
You can't have good fathers w/o having men. You can't have good fathers w/o having leaders.
Feminism, in various appearal, has manifested itself throughout our culture. Gen 3:16 has always been true. It made great strides in the Victorian era, and has not receded. Its stench can be seen in most of the west's cultural institutions, and that includes the Christian church.
It's not uncommon for men to be instructed from the pulpit to be "meek" and "mild". It's not uncommon for masculine traits to be labeled as "wrong" (morally, psychologically, etc), and for them to receive reprimands in schools and churches.
Boys are driven away from manhood by schools. Men are driven out of the churches with these ironic scoldings. And fathers are driven out of their childrens lives from the courts.
Sure TV is a problem. Many father figures are caricatures at best. More often they (or any men) are the clowns, the comic relief of the show. They are parodied, laughed at, and ridiculed.
But, this is all a minor point, b/c men laugh at themselves and love to razz each other. The real problem is that men are laughing at the hyperbole of the situational comedy, while others are laughing at men, believing the exaggeration to be true.
And all too often, contemporary stories directed toward men are scoldings, a desire to control and shape them, not let them be men. I don't know if 'Courageous' will be courageous enough to deal with the true issue. I hope so.