Wednesday, December 14, 2005

The Death of Male Friendship?

What does Brokeback Mountain have to do with the death of male friendship? Al Mohler has some interesting thoughts on this as he discusses the change in friendship among American men.

4 comments:

Teresa said...

wow. I don't know that I'd thought of it that way before, but I think he's hit the proverbial nail on the head. Might I suggest that this is not merely confined to male friendships? Just a thought.

Kevin said...

Perhaps, but I would venture to say it is more kosher for females to be more relational and physical. For instance, when one sees a girl playing with another girl's hair, one doesn't think, "those two must be lesbians." Am I right??

Teresa said...

Oh, you're right - I meant to say something like, not nearly to the extent as the male friendship, but I forgot that part, sorry :).

J. Smith said...

True Friendship (spelled with necessary capitalization) is horrendously absent from modern society. While I agree with Teresa to a point, male friendships nowadays are grotesque in their puerility. There is no discussion of what Aristotle called "the Good Life," meaning those things that lead men toward God. Men who are friends today keep their friendships on such a base level - they do not help each other to strive for Heaven. Virtue, decency, and fraternal correction are seen as the ultimate taboos - to be religiously avoided lest a man infringe on his "friend's" lifestyle. This reveals that love (in a completely anti-homosexual sense) is glaringly absent from modern male friendships. Being at a secular law school and around obviously secular men, I have felt the absence of True Friendship in a big way. Thanks for bringing this travesty (the movie) to my attention, Kevin. I'll be sure to spit on any posters I see. *chuckles*