Mr. Good Enough or a Few Good Men

Suzanne Fields, in an article titled "Looking for Mr. Good Enough," wrote that some women with professional careers are having difficulty finding the man of their dreams. As they get older, "They feel a mild panic that motherhood might pass them by."

Fields says they have "put careers first," and "while seeking the passionate Mr. Perfect, they've overlooked Mr. Good Enough." Their quest becomes ever more difficult as the single men they encounter are not interested in marriage, they're "having too much fun to give up their freedom."

My dilemma is somewhat different. Ms. Fields concludes her article by defining "The Playboy of today" as "a bit of a beast. He's a young man in his 20s, refusing to grow up, with access to ATMs for instant money to spend on himself. You typically find him in the pages of Maxim magazine with movie heroes such as Ben Stiller, Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell, indulging in grossed-out adolescent humor. He's uncultured, uncouth and unkempt, preferring beer to fine wine, skateboards to sports cars and teenage toys to higher status symbols of maturity."

That's quite an indictment but from my observation I'd say at least a portion of it would hold up in court.

Here's my gripe and it's related to what Ms. Fields was saying: Male actors, have for some years, too often been exemplified by the Ben Stillers, Jim Carreys and Will Ferrells of the world - "uncultured, uncouth and unkempt, indulging in grossed-out adolescent humor." Now, these types can be funny, and engaging, and young women want to take them home and "mother" them, but ...

... where are the real men? Where are the Clark Gables [pictured above], the Cary Grants, the Gregory Pecks, the Audie Murphys, the Spencer Tracys, the Humphrey Bogarts, The James Cagneys, the Richard Burtons, the Gary Coopers, the Clint Eastwoods, the Henry Fondas, the Burt Lancasters, the Robert Mitchums, the James Stewarts, even the John Waynes?

Some would argue that they are out there and point to George Clooney, or Michael Douglas, or Sean Connery, or Kevin Costner, or Robert De Niro as examples. And they would be right.

The problem is we're inundated with adolescent junk featuring Ashton Kutcher, or Owen Wilson or Vince Vaughn, et. al. And while I may on occasion enjoy their pictures, there are simply not enough movies featuring real grownups playing real people.

We have a few good men and that's not good enough.