Action and the Impossible White Man Trope 

I like how every time you mention Tom Cruise he ages a decade

You can actually kinda see a comedic deconstruction of this trope in Kung-Fu Hustle, where EVERYONE in the movie initially looks unassuming but turns out to be a stone-cold badass. And it's funny every time.

One thing I appreciate about Die Hard is how they physically display every injury John McLane takes throughout the film. The guy can barely walk by the end. It very much goes against the tendency for most action heroes to go through everything with only a few scratches.

I loved that Washington was 5' 9" and his love interest is like 6' 3". Different height love doesnt get it's fair share in story telling imo.

Almost every single Nolan protagonist is a stand-in for Nolan himself. He casts the best-looking white dudes of approximately the same age, and they are all, as you said, hyper focused and extraordinarily skilled at their job. And their wives are all dead. Someone should check on Emma.

I’m disappointed that you didn’t mention Uma Thurman from Kill Bill. She’s my favorite impossible white woman. Most female action heroes are fem fatales, which isn’t bad, but I like seeing female characters who kick ass while keeping all their clothes on. Plus, the cameras frame her in an un-sexual way.

"you kind of start to get concerned when you think about... why your fantasies are what they are?" I think that's one of the most important questions in this contemporary age at least, where our desires are being constantly managed and manipulated. We really need to question desire and start contemplating the idea that maybe just because we desire something, doesn't mean it's okay.

Heightism definitely is a factor in "manliness," and Tom Cruise only avoided the stigma/typecasting of having to be either the funny short guy or the evil short guy because studios have used Hollywood "magic" to make him seem taller.

Can't help but work through my own negative emotions as you break down the trope for white men pushing 40. I was a soldier and a combat veteran, so I know exactly how fragile my life is, having seen my friends (who all thought they were invincible) get blown up and shot. But I had to put that aside when I was asked to things that put me in danger. Seeing the impossible white man, as you describe it, made me feel better about my decisions. Like, I had training and I hadn't died yet, so maybe I'm like those action stars. Now, even though I'm getting older and out of shape, I still draw on the trope to feel strong and masculine. You made an amazing point about the topic of white masculinity, I don't even know what to say about it other than you're right. I'm not even sure how to describe my own thoughts on masculinity. I appreciate your clear delivery and for making me really think about this.

Man you cant blame J.D Washington for sounding like his dad. You can tell hes trying to annunciate the words in a more distinct manner with his lips but thats his pops vocal chords straight up in his chest man lol

The Liam Nieson thing started around the time his wife died. She died in a skiing accident if i remember correctly. And he just wanted to be in action/ darker films from that point on

Die Hard was offered to Sinatra because he was the star of The Detective (1968). Die Hard is based on the novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp which is his sequel to the novel The Detective, the basis for the Sinatra film. Because Die Hard was technically a sequel (despite the main character's changed name), the studio were contractually required to offer the role to Sinatra first. In some alternate universe he said yes and there's a Die Hard with a 72-year-old McClane.

Still laughing about you saying "Liam Neeson is like I'm Irish and I want to fight." I can't stop laughing.

The impossible white boomer was the most interesting part of this video for me. There’s something fascinating about action movie wish fulfillment for people who can’t say “I could do that if I tried” because it becomes “I could have done that if I HAD tried”, which brings in feelings of regret and nostalgia and binds it to the fantasy in a cathartic manner. My favorite example is RED, which was just The Expendables for action stars without muscles

A fun bit of trivia is that Die Hard was based on a novel called Nothing Lasts Forever, which itself was a sequel to The Detective, and Frank Sinatra played the title character (Joe Leland, NOT John McClain) in 1968. In the sequel, the Joe Leland was retired, around 70 and visiting his daughter in LA rather than his estranged wife. Sinatra was offered the role because the studio was contractually obligated to do so, but had expected him to turn it down. They ultimately changed a LOT about the story in order to have a much younger protagonist. Anyway, TL:DR, what's funny to me is that the protagonist in the novel was much closer to our current (aging) impossible white men trope than it was to the one that Die Hard kicked off.

I never would have framed an Impossible White Man as an isekai trope, but I’ll be damned it fits. Love these analyses!

You missed one Latina actress that plays the same role, that being Michelle Rodriguez. She has played the badass fighter type in every movie she has been in but she has stated that it's a role she does it because of how uncommon it is

"The Rock is just special." Yes, yes he is. "Wesley is complicated." Yes, yes he is.

I loved Nobody mostly because it was Bob Odenkirk, one of my formative comedy influences, but also because it came from his real-life experience with a home invasion and him exploring his masculinity and coming to terms with age because of it. I wish a lot more of that had gotten into the film, but it was pretty fun for what it was

I'm so happy you mentioned Demolition Man because, to me, Simon was the best antagonist for a movie during that time. I feel like that movie gets slept on hard, and Snipes killed it.

"Low volume dialogue running a hundred miles per hour" I swear every f*cking action movie is like this nowadays

I like that casual swing at Isekai. It is the most over done genre in anime and it's getting old lol.

I love the intersection between this and my favorite action movie trope of the "retired vet" or the "one last job" trope.

One piece of nuance, John wick only killed one guy over the dog, one he killed for blowing up his house, and mostly everyone else for trying to stop or punish him.

You could argue that part of the success of the Expendables was that the main characters' advancing ages made them vulnerable, and therefore more relatable -allowing them to do a sideways shimmy into the impossible white man trope, because you don't expect older people to be kicking ass. Similar with Red and Red2.

So the impossible white man is basically a “Mary Sue” which is what they started calling female versions of this character.

You are good at this, particularly. You have a mind to account for those of us who aren't familiar with black communities, but would like to learn. You teach us, obviously, both about the topic at hand and about the people involved with it. Very well done.

I'm so glad you mentioned Gina Davis, she is extremely underrated because of that movie, overshadowed by Linda Hamilton and Signourey Weaver in SciFi. Although I am surprised you didn't mention Sam Jackson alongside Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes.

it's worth noting that rambo in first blood was actually sorta in the same space as john mcclane; first blood was about how the trauma of war and weaponization of human beings makes men ruthlessly efficient at the cost of their humanity, and rambo himself was meant to be a brutal and frightening example of this. He was literally just doing what he was trained to, the victim of a war that cared nothing about him. It's a shame the later films stripped that vulnerability and humanity away from him like the original was trying to criticize.

I’m surprised you didn’t talk about indiana jones, an everyday man who white men looked up to because of his improvisation and cleverness instead of his muscles. Cinema therapy did an episode on him and healthy masculinity

You are the only person I have heard from in my life who shares my love for both Wyclef's "The Carnival" and "The Long Kiss Goodnight". No one commenting on media has ever felt as close to my cultural touchstones as you do, and I appreciate you for that.

testament to my young age; when you were initially outlying the trope, i was like "arent you just like... describing what action movies are?" and it wasnt until you brought up the contrast to classic 80s action men where it clicked 'OH RIGHT, movies have not always been like they are now' lmao

I would argue Steven Segal started that mess. Breaking bones with his pinky, dodging automatic weapons, and such.

Odysseus was the original impossible white man!

Man, you are easily becoming one of my favorite media analysis channels on youtube, great work

"Men aren't men anymore." I stopped trying to be a "Man" when I learned that it was a lie. It's just an image we are inspired to look up to and aspire to with zero critical judgement and a severe chronic fear that you will be taken advantage of in society if you can't prove yourself to be a "Man." Once I realized that no one is "broken" just for having a penis and being vulnerable, I took it as an opportunity to stand by my principles of integrity and true strength. I accept objective truth and I face my fears. So, I tried crossdressing and makeup just to ask myself, "how much is masculinity actually who I am and what could I have missed out on from femininity for being afraid of touching it up to this point?" It was enlightening. I found that those things are fun but a lot of work. I now appreciate women more for what they do to look good and have the perspective of how they can be engaged in an artform that is separate from the obvious origins of attracting a mate. I also realized that there is an aspect of human sexuality that reflects how you want to present yourself as attractive in a certain way which is separate from the kind of presentation of a mate that we are attracted to. It's not a "Here's what you want to catch, now learn how to hunt it," development that we go through. These systems in our brains are compartmentalized. We are, however, induced to associate cultural gender norms to help us decide what we are looking for and what we present as. How we identify those details is not determined by our genitals. It's way more complicated than that.

I never comment on anyone's RU-vid videos...until now. You do GREAT work. Even though I don't always agree with your points, I am always appreciative of the perspective. They say "Eat the meat and spit out the bones". Your videos are guaranteed to give me something to chew on. Keep doing you bro!

Frank Sinatra was a candidate for McClane because the book Die Hard was based on, Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp, was itself a sequel to Thorp’s novel The Detective. The movie version of The Detective starred Frank Sinatra. So he actually originated the character on film. It was changed a lot from the book, and i actually like the book better: it both more believable, and more emotionally devastating.

I’m genuinely confused about the confusion around white masculinity. Haven’t the movies shown us a million times what the ideal white man is? The square jawed, handsome badass that answers the call of duty even when he doesn’t want to, protects the defenseless, defies the corrupt, fucks the baddest bitch(or is married to her), and never gives up even when the odds are stacked against him? My perfect characterization of white masculinity that is positive and heroic, is Aragorn from Lord of the Rings. He’s wise but not infallible, he’s confident but not egotistical, he’s brave but not fearless, he’s attractive to women but faithful to HIS woman, and he’s the guy that wants to just live quietly in the woods with his buddies but rises to all challenge of evil and becomes the leader he was born to be. If you ever are confused again about what a positive representation of white masculinity is, go watch LotR, Aragorn is the one. Also I’m not white, so don’t flame me.

really love how, although this video is definitely written planned out it really gives a conversational feel of talking your smart friend about movies you've seen. great stuff

Really loving these videos. I wanted to add that in Western movies, Jackie Chan strikes me as an every man who is also Impossible. Growing up his roles in Rush Hour, Shanghai, and others were grounded in premise but he had other worldly moves. As a kid he was who I wanted to watch. His personality in films tended to be “culturally unaware but always willing to do the right thing.” His Western counterparts like Tucker and Wilson exemplified the impossibility of his moves. Idk man I just really love Jackie Chan and his performances have fueled my love for action films.

In real life, assassins look like accountants. I like this channel, glad I found it.👍🏾

So basically I stumbled/algorithm made me "stumbled" on your video about Bo Borham. I paused, went to watch the Netflix special and THEN I went to watch your take on it. It was super! Like I understood it from a different legit lens. And then I subscribed and binged your videos the whole of my Sunday. In short, your content is great! And its so refreshing to see the comments here from people who are equally as insightful and thought provoking. I feel like you created a great platform for people to deconstruct/discourse the media/pop culture and how it influences/impact our lives. I feel like I learnt a lot! Thanks! And keep up the great work. Much love!

I just came across this video and I thought it was really put together. I basically agree with all of your examples, points and just kind of your laid back delivery. Subbed

"John Wick killed 200 people...about a dog!" LOL! He really liked that dog! He could be Dr. Doolittle with an arsenal, lol!

What I find funny about the stereotypical action hero physique is that the people closest to real life action heroes look nothing like that. Like the impossible white man archetype, they look normal. There’s a Navy vet on RU-vid that describes his first time seeing Navy SEALS as “I would’ve thought they were accountants if it weren’t for the pin.” It’s just funny how people with that classic Stallone-type physique are the last people that would save the world because, though it looks good, it’s not functional.

Thank you for reminding me of The Long kiss Goodnight! I stumbled upon that movie when I was probably a bit too young to be watching it..😅 but it always really stuck with me. Really enjoying your videos and channel btw, and very excited to see your channel's growth in such a short time, especially after the Inside video (which yes, was the first video I watched on the channel, but it was before the Green brother posted about it 😂)

Love to see how much the channel has grown since this video came out :) Keep up the great work F.D!

You should listen to 'Why are Dads?' in one of the recent episodes they talk about The Dark Knight and evaluate who's the daddy of the film. It's just really funny and a great way to dissect C. Nolan's films Edit: Great to see you btw!!

Liam Neeson when offered the role for Taken did say, "Do you know how old I am?"

Also the impossible old Asian, Martial arts master. The 60-70 year old just dominating a 25 year old who is also highly trained. 🤦 As I’ve gotten older it’s harder and harder to suspend disbelief with these movies having 60+ people running, jumping, getting blown up and living, being able to make hard shots at distance with no glasses etc etc. I’m 51 and have to think hard about whether I want to jump down from a 4ft ledge….lol

I love that you bookmark your episodes. You're a lifesaver for someone like me who zones out a lot. I can quickly find where I was or jump to specific topic within a video.

Bruh! How do you leave out Kate Beckinsale and Milla Jovovich? They held down an action franchise for years

Can we all simply acknowledge that we need some 30 year old action heroes? Looking at 50, 60 and 70 year olds trying to be the tough guy is laughable. Turning to AARP members to save the day is truly unrealistic, unless you want to borrow some money.

If you compare Nolan's leading men to Michael Mann's leading men, your description applies to both: "super serious, hyperfocused, Stoic, unemotional men with an extreme, almost psychotic dedication to their job". But for Mann's men, this is much less of a problem because he's a much better filmmaker who makes these men interesting (in my opinion). Also, his characters die, constantly.

Watched four of your vids now; my new favorite media analysis channel. Subscribed.

best female "everyday person" action star in any movie: Angela Bassett's Mace in Strange Days

Comments are acting funny yall... (as in some are just disappearing for no reason) sorry I'll see if I can figure it out. In the meantime PLEASE KEEP COMMENTING lol. I love and appreciate all of you and the discussions we have.

Keep making long videos. Love your train of thought and depth of knowledge.

I'm on my 5th ish video of yours and I fully fell in love with you when you said your hot take on Nolan. Thank you for all your great work, stoked for the weekend and the deep dive into your stuff that's incoming.

I think white masculinity is difficult if damn near impossible to define on purpose. By always setting itself up in opposition to some "other" white masculinity does its best to fly under the radar as some sort of nebulous default state. Even in situations where an impossible white man's primary antagonist is another white man, that villain still tends to be painted as an other either because they're foreign (as in Die Hard or John Wick) or because they're either implicitly/explicitly coded as queer or non-neurotypical, or at the very least they subscribe to some sort of radical ideology that doesn't have mainstream acceptance in general white society (and usually a ridiculous strawman version of that ideology). This is done so that a white male impossible white man can be seen as "pure" by juxtaposition. Trouble is, pure can really only describe what something isn't, not what it is. And I think that's kind of the point, it gives white men the sense that they can be anything, as long as they aren't [insert example here]. In reality, they're just making the box for themselves smaller and smaller with everything they label as "other."

the scene at 23:50 killed me. you explained the male gaze really well as it applies to women who are action movie heroines

very interesting video! when you mentioned Liam Neeson at the end I low-key thought of that key & peele skit with the valets gushing over action stars. Good stuff man.

Awesome discussion. You nailed the points solidly without claiming to be all knowing. Most importantly, I learnt something today! Well done 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

The Equalizer is a pretty good show. Queen Latifa is believable in the role and the supporting characters add to the show. I also appreciate her family being fleshed out allowing her character to be more than her job.

Also I like this format better, it's a little longer than I normally like in my RU-vid videos but it was a really enjoyable watch.

Yo this guy's perspective is wild. New to his content. He's explaining concepts in a way that I never thought of or even new that they could be explored in such a way. Wow

Just found your channel, binging it so hard my eyeballs are on fire and my neck is melting. Lol Thank you for this kickass .. everything.

The Commando guy was called John Matrix, which is just too funny to take seriously, much like the entire movie. Great video!

You are very listenable (Yeah, I'm making up words). I listened for 30 minutes before I realized I had things to do and I wasn't bored, or distracted. You have a great point of view. Yours is a great voice in this space. Thanks for the organization and well researched content.

"The Grey" (Liam Neeson fighting wolves) is actually a terrific existential film that transcends the genre, far superior to all the others.

I really appreciate your videos and channel as a long time cinephile. Very knowledgeable and insightful.

I love the bromance action movies. My current fave is "The Assassin's Bodyguard'. Samuel Jackson coaching Ryan Reynolds in love is so much fun.

First thought, your on-screen setup is great! It's nice to see a real person up here, and you did great!

Oh man! 🤯 I love your work. This is so great. Thanks for posting it.

Big fan of your content. I started combing your catalogue in early February and I am hooked at this point

Strange Days starting Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett is such an underrated film, plz watch it( black female action star, who by the way saves Ralph Fiennes character, kicking so much ass but also is super vulnerable when it comes to her friendship and romantic attraction to his broken character) it’s directed by Kathryn bigelow. And it’s a Y2K cyber punk murder mystery. It’s soooo good

I have been binging these videos all day and I am trying to wrap my head around how all of these are this good. This level of consistent top tier quality is is so rare on most other video essays channels. I seriously feel like I hit pay dirt.

Since I watched your Bo Burnham video, I've been watching so many of your other videos. Honestly I love the way you dissect things!

A Low Down Dirty Shame and The Long Kiss Goodnight references in the same video? Sir, you are a man of culture 👏 🙌🏼 🔥

Denzel's history of that trop goes back further than you think. He was in Virtuosity back in the 90's, I can't remember it terribly well, but he was in the manchurian candidate, he was in The Siege (though I don't really remember it), and my FAVORITE, though not of this trope exactly since it was horror and his survival is a technicality, was Fallen. I mean I guess he was more the stereotypical angry black man more than anything else - usually highly educated, typically ex military, always has a chip on his shoulder, regardless of his current job/role... Of those though, Virtuosity was probably the one he most played this action archetype, and it was well before his Training Days days, which is when he went full on into that weird Denzel thing mentioned. EDIT: for women you missed Michelle Rodriguez, and what's her name from Fifth Element? Both of them do primarily action, Michelle being one of the few non-white women in that sort of role.

34:05 - you forgot to mention Liam Neeson fighting a fence in 35 cuts

Giving this a rewatch because it popped back up in my feed. 🙂 18:05 definitely interested in a Wayans family video. Thank you for all the analytical/educational content you make. Your videos are full of perfectly obvious ideas that I've always managed never to have considered.

Fictional assassins look like Agent 47 or James Bond, or if they're nameless villains, like ninjas (dressed in a black kabuki suit). Real assassins go out of their way to look ordinary and blend into the background. They actively anticipate what the modal member of the public will look like at their target venue, and will look like that. In the early days of the CIA, there was a concept, _the gray man._ A person so unremarkable he struggles to get service in a cafe. This notion was the model for how CIA operatives were supposed to conduct themselves out on the field: Blend in. Don't stand out.

The RU-vid algorithm did me a solid finding your channel. I love the takes you gave. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Phenomenal job! I feel like I walked away learning so much! I’m definitely going to turn on post notifications. You have legendary potential. Keep up the great work, young legend!

Finally started watching your videos, and I'm not disappointed. Great stuff so far. Dylan Moran has a great bit satirising this topic and why men are attracted to it as they age. In all honesty I can't say I enjoy these films for the most part, so I can't speak from personal experience. But one thing that's really interesting about that is I quite like a lot of video games that would probably fit this trope, at least somewhat. The thing is, it's more about the gameplay for me than the story, and when I started to develop one of my own, I was conscious of the message this trope sends, so I've been trying to subvert it as much as possible, and although I eventually managed to determine how I'd want to do that, I have to admit it was extraordinarily difficult to do.

I just found your channel and I'm loving it man! Great work!

This video was fantastic. I like youtube, but I tend to watch some pretty superficial things. Video game content, clothing content.. And there's definitely the occasional thought-provoking discussion there, this was really a refreshing mental exercise. In grad school, there's all these little committees you can serve on to hear and listen to socially progressive things within the relatively safe bounds of academia where statements need to have a logical or data-driven backing. This felt a lot like that. So many damn knowledge nuggets. One after the other, throughout the whole video. Seriously enjoyed this video man, watched the whole thing and went back to several parts several times to listen again. Thanks for making this video.

Lol I love this video. I’ve been following Rod and Karen’s TBGWT podcast for years now (they my cousins in my head lol). I’m so happy to see the Impossible White Man concept examined in this long format!!

I just stumbled on to your channel and it is amazing! I saw Westley Snipes coming. I remember when I was younger and I saw his character Simon in Demolition Man. I thought he was the coolest character ever. Your channel is awesome! Thanks for the great content.

You know that feeling when you've found a channel that you immediately know "oh yeah, ima watch every video on this channel today". I have that feeling. It's a good feeling.

Holy shit the Long Kiss Goodnight is such an unsung classic! That ending is so satisfying!

I've seen a couple episodes of The Equalizer and my (white) dad loves it. It's like early-casebooks Dresden Files + female, empathy-focused lens. Definitely an evolution in the superhero/vigilante/private detective genre.

Love your content. Thank you for giving me things to think about as I consume media.

The reason they approached Frank Sinatra is that die-hard is based on a novel called "Nothing lasts forever" where John McClean is a retired officer in his 70's, who the book describes as looking like an older Frank Sinatra.

Honor, strength, courage, and mastery. These are the things that are attractive to white males in these films. Seeing these traits in the a person that could be themselves is the draw. They don't have to built like an ox, they don't have to be the smartest, they just have to rise to the challenge and endure the consequences of the event. The reward is that they protected their family, or addressed a perceived injustice. It's the dragon slayer myth brought down to human scales. It's not a racial thing for white people because they don't have to think about things in racial ways explicitly. That itself has racial consequences, and should not be down played in my mind, but from the white perspective white masculinity isn't a thing, it's just masculinity. White people recognize these traits in people regardless of race and feel uncomfortable when race is brought into the equation because it forces them to confront their privileges. They don't want to belive that someone's skin tone can effect their lived experiences negatively or positively, because they want to belive we live in a meritocracy. This allows them to justify how, and why things are the way they are. Ironically this also leads to the listed representation issues brought up in the video disproving their own narrative. In all honestly I think this video was really well done. As a white male I can only really speak for how I see these films, and the effects they have had on me and those around me who I have talked about this with. That being said I can also recognize and appreciate the critique from other perspectives. One thing that might increase the popularity of none white males in this type of role is considering the above. If someone's identity is focused on rather then treated as mater of fact it makes white audiences are forced to confront their biases rather then escape to a fantasy world, and that last part is why they go to the movies, they want escape the mundane (making it clear I'm not advocating this position, only addressing it to point out its visible flaw). Like it or not, they are the ones who pay to see these movies. However, that might not be the best approach to take either, and I can recognize that. This allows complacency, it allows people to belive we live in that imagined meritocracy and reinforces the consequences that come from that. I wish with all of my heart we lived in a world where everyone was as equally as privileged as I have been, but that's just not the case and learning that broke my heart. I don't have any answers to the problem, all I can do is listen, learn, try to be humble, and try to help in my own limited way how I can, when I am able.

Great Video Fiq I cant tell you how many conversations I have had about John wicks dog and sheer number of people who have go on and on about how they would do the same thing. I would always be stunned because they put a lot thought into this fantasy and have a whole justification for mowing down tons of people. By the way check out Willy's wonderland with Nicolas cage I think that might also fit your impossible white man Trope its a little more on the black comedy/horror and maybe self aware a bit.

I saw one of your other videos before this and after seeing this I subscribed. Great content.

Wow, first time running across this critique...F.D. I'm hooked, I subscribed and rang the bell, so I always get notified. I can't wait...I am wowed