Lately, I’ve been doing things like reading “Wild At Heart” by John Eldredge and reviewing through various books, from the Bible to blogs to devotionals to books.
Why!?
To get a firm grip on understanding this matter called “manhood” and “masculinity.”
It’s really been quite a wild ride for me as I take time to really consider what kind of a man I am becoming and what the days ahead look like.
My father couldn’t really “tell” me what a man was. Seriously, he couldn’t, he told me “I don’t know” when I asked him, and I’m not even going to get into what he sent me off with when I left for college. It’s better left unsaid until I publish a book about it.
But in animation and cartooning, what about male role models!? We know that we are lacking a LOT of good ones in the world, but is the slack being picked up in animation, cartoons and comics or placated as a cheap joke in the world of moving animated pictures.
Take Dipper Pines, for instance. And remember, just for this moment, I’m talking MALE role models, NOT adults.
Dipper is a great kid. He’s not afraid of getting into a mystery and can often voice his thoughts and opinions quickly. But he’s not entirely outgoing. Over the last few episodes of “Gravity Falls” on Disney Channel, we’ve seen Dipper in positions that challenged his very core…his identity has in fact been challenged multiple times. His moments of awkwardness from time to time place him in a predicament of almost being played the victim.
In other words, he has potential to get ran over and picked on all the time in spite of the inner potential within his character. He’s often ignored in spite of his deep understanding of certain things and plays the role of the nice guy trying to get the girl. Classic Dipper Pines and it might very well be you.
Use it as a conversation piece. Think of how many boys and young men who may watch this series that relate to some of the characters.
You’ll find that the weaknesses in a character in a cartoon, TV show or movie could very well make for a beginning conversation that results in something greater than what you just saw on the TV or read in a comic…something greater than ourselves.
