Members Max Posted October 31, 2011 Members Share Posted October 31, 2011 When it comes to beta males--i.e., those who are portrayed as weak and subservient to their woman--certain characters really stand out. In particular, I am thinking of Jackson Montgomery and Eric Forrester. In Montgomery's case, the writers seem to always have him take a back seat to Saint Erica Kane. He's just there to support her in her endeavors, and she'll just assume that he'll always be there. This is why I was so thrilled that Jackson finally dumped Erica in the television finale (although we all know that he'll eventually come crawling back to her). With Forrester, the preception that the writers have been promoting is that he is a lightweight when compared to Stephanie Douglas. In fact, she's the real brains behind the family business, and Eric is shown to be some little man who just coasted along her coattails. Stephanie's only intellectual equal is the ruthless Massimo Marone. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other beta male examples as glaring as the two mentioned above. However, I think a case could be made that Mac Cory was somewhat of a beta male himself. While Cory was always portrayed as a strong business leader and man of morals, he would often be bossed around by Rachel, Iris, and sometimes even Amanda, and do anything to accommodate these ladies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cheap21 Posted October 31, 2011 Members Share Posted October 31, 2011 Soaps are misogynistic. You cant think of many examples bc things tend to work the other way around. Nowadays if a man is going to be portrayed like that, its to prop up the woman he's acting against and/or new pairing. GH's Lucky (under GV) and Jax recently with Carly come to mind. AJ from GH is a perfect example of someone who's constantly been portrayed as some week loser compared to Carly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaytimeFan Posted October 31, 2011 Members Share Posted October 31, 2011 CASS WINTHROP owns this this thread. Another World wrote such a great relationship between him and Felicia...but he was a beta male. Doug Williams on DAYS is sort of one as well, always a step behind Julie. Dex Dexter on DYNASTY, definitely a beta male to Alexis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cheap21 Posted October 31, 2011 Members Share Posted October 31, 2011 I never considered Dex to be weak though. Clearly, he was underneath Alexis shadow, but I never felt he was her personal bitch. He was a strong male capable of standing on his own and the show wasnt constantly cutting him down to prove how awesome she was. The same cant be said for some of the other men mentioned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BingCherry Posted October 31, 2011 Members Share Posted October 31, 2011 I know there might be some dispute with my assertion, but I'd definitely consider Josh Lewis (GL) as a beta male, especially in the second half of his run with Reva. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SFK Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 Joey Buchanan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 [Hogan Sheffer] TOM HUGHES HAS NO BALLS! BALLS BALLS BALLS MEN WITH BALLS!!!!!!!![/Hogan Sheffer] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaytimeFan Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 Right, but I also don't believe a beta male in daytime has to be cut down to prove how awesome the woman is. In fact, I think it does the opposite, the man comes off as a loser and the woman looks like she's slumming. I think there's absolutely a place for a beta male in soaps. They often add to the fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members remos Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 <p> </p> <p>These are glaring examples because B&B and AMC have definite Female Leads on their show, so the men have no choice but to be Beta (like the Queen's consort). OLTL's Viki has the same deal with her pairings - Betas all. While on GH where the show is definitely Male Lead Driven the women are all weaklings - even the powerful ones - and none of the women are truly written as Leads, regardless of what actors and pundits want to claim.</p> <p> </p> <p>It's been years since I've been able to sit through anything Y&R offered, but it is the only show I can recall where the men and women where both given the option to co-lead the show.</p> <div id="myEventWatcherDiv" style="display:none;"> </div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Soapsuds Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 LOL...was thinking the same thing...actually Scott Holmes in the role ...Tom was a wimp..sexy one though..lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 remos, unfortunately those days are long gone for Y&R. It's now full of women so helpless they cannot even open a box without calling a man for help, or they sit in prison waiting for men to save them. The closest to a beta male is Aunt Jack, who cries during sex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members juniorz1 Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 Gosh, I would have never thought of him and I quoted you fully intending to disagree but holy smokes! You may be right! Here's who springs to mind from each show for me, if we're talking subservient to their women: AMC- Jackson Montgomery Jamie Martin AW- Jamie Frame John Hudson Sam Fowler (post-RKK) Matt Cory ATWT- Tom Hughes Jack Snyder (kinda sorta- I always felt Carly, Janet, Katie, Julia 1&2, and all the rest easily manipulated him and led him around by the nose- it was only Carly, his true love-of course- that he argued the point with) Dusty Donovan (pretty much with Jennifer & Janet) B&B- Thorne Forrester DAYS- Lucas Roberts Austin Reed OLTL- Cord Roberts PAS- Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald Ethan Crane SB- Ted Capwell Craig Hunt SUN- Tim Casey Y&R- Cain Ashby Jack Abbott (only with women, oddly enough) Neil Winters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRW50 Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 Jack's that way with men too - he all but weeps as "men with balls" Victor and Billy trample over him. It's a shame what he has become. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Days22 Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 Jack Deveraux is Jennifers bitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members yr9190 Posted November 1, 2011 Members Share Posted November 1, 2011 Rex Sterling on Y&R was one i would say.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.