When did traditional masculinity become toxic?
There's nothing more elitist than knocking men
It’s hard for privileged white men to stay relevant in this age of identity politics but a number of fail-safe strategies have begun to emerge. Prince Harry and, to a lesser extent his older brother, have captured the mental health market by publicly discussing their issues. William’s school pal Eddie Redmayne, and pretty much the entire cast of the Harry Potter films, have spoken out in defence of the transgender community. Benedict Cumberbatch is going down the feminist route.
Cumberbatch is calling time on ‘toxic masculinity’. Interviewed by Sky News ahead of the release of his latest film, a Netflix Western in which he plays the part of a rancher, Cumberbatch took the opportunity to chastise men. ‘We need to fix male behaviour,’ he implored viewers, and the first step is for men to ‘shut up and listen’.
I don’t know what budding actors are taught in drama schools today but the line between fact and fiction doesn’t appear to be high on the list. Redmayne has just this week apologised for playing a transgender woman in the 2015 film The Danish Girl. The part should have gone to a transgender actor, he has said. But isn’t the whole skill of acting to portray someone you are not?