Off-Topic: Ain’t Saying He’s A Gold Digger: Looking At Bromance & I Love You, Man

Whereas Bromance is cloying about the question about male sexuality vis-a-vis friendships, scheduling group talks in hot tubs and such, the trailer for the upcoming I Love You, Man goes the rom-com route. Paul Rudd and Jason Segel have a meet-cute. Rudd’s character, Peter, is immediately coded as being “not as manly” as Segel’s character, Sydney; Peter has no male friends (named on Bromance as a gay characteristic) and “loved” The Devil Wears Prada. He has a white-collar job and dresses well, though not “Metro”-well. In fact, after dinner with similarly clean-cut Doug (Thomas Lennon), Doug kisses Peter – after all, since they dress “alike,” it’s only right for Doug to assume Pete’s gay. Hilar! Meanwhile, Sydney dresses down and is kind of a dolt, reassuring the viewer that he’s “a bro.” One can only presume that hilarity will ensue.

It’s all rather innocuous, but the mention of the term “man-date” by Rashida Jones’ character, Zooey, threw me, in its’ teasing manner, as did the pressure for Sydney to immediately ascend to the rank of best man at Peter and Zooey’s wedding. If Peter’s best friend were a woman, or a gay man, would that “cheapen” the nuptials? Couldn’t Peter’s father or brother perform the same function? One can only presume such questions will be glossed over, if addressed at all.

In a post-Brokeback world, it seems the latest addition to the Battle of the Sexes tropes is the need to reassure audiences that depth in male friendships is strictly accidental – unless, of course, it’s forged while pursuing interests like military action or athletic competition. Then you can use phrases like “trust your life to another man” and not worry about, as the Ghostbusters might have put it, “crossing the streams.”

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