In the Language of Men, by Norman Mailer, the main character, Carter, struggles with fitting in with the men he cooks for. You can tell he wants to understand and communicate with them like they do, but he cannot figure out why he cannot. In the song I Wanna Get Better, by Bleachers, the lead singer or protaganist sings about how he wants to in fact get better. I think in a lot of ways Carter could agree with Jack Antonoff.
Carter doesn't understand the language of men. The most apparent example is his interaction with Hobbes. The conversation is going well and Carter finds a way to mess it up. Now he and Hobbes can never be friends.
I don't think that the song above and this song go perfectly hand in hand, but the central idea of "getting better" is at the forefront of everybody's mind. Nobody wants to be the odd man out, everyone wants to fit in. Carter doesn't fit in with his men, and Jack Antonoff doesn't believe he can satisfy everyone around him. Everyone has something they are insecure about, but Antonoff sings about how we can all get better if we come to terms with ourselves and work to change for the better.
I don't know if Carter will ever learn the language of men or if Antonoff will ever get better, but if everyone tries then I think there will be some improvement.
Carter definitely tries to fit into the army man mold and he attempts to learn the "language of men", but I believe that even though that is what he wants, there isn't anything actually wrong with him. Rather, he is just different and doesn't fit the stereotypical guy mold, which isn't a bad thing. His predicament just exacerbates the gender roles people feel compelled to fulfill.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good connection. It's at least somewhat encouraging to see that Carter realized that he can't always get better to the point of perfection and thus avoided the suicidal ending suggested by Antanoff!
ReplyDeleteI love the song and agree that Carter wants to improve, but I don't necessarily think that he has to. He might need to get "better" at the language of men, but it's not necessarily a better option. There has to be a middle ground to strive for, and I'm not sure merely getting better at the language of men is the right approach, but it is an interesting connection since it follows how Carter believes he must act.
ReplyDeleteI think the beginning of the video is a pretty nice parallel to Carter's situation, even if the lyrics aren't quite in sync. When his girlfriend tells Jack he just doesn't get it, giving him one last chance to explain himself, he offers her espresso. When Carter is finally sort of accepted by the army men, he pretty much throws away his manliness even when he's given a chance to just pretend he illegally sold stuff like a lot of 'normal' army men would. They both just don't quite get it, and both lose really good opportunities for redemption. Not a perfect parallel, but there's definitely something there.
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