One show that I particularly like is the old Charlie Sheen version of Two And A Half Men.
It’s the classic juxtaposition of the baby bull (Alan, the live-in brother who has a son) and the jerk, Charlie.
Now, there are certain things that are not “jerkish” but which are actually Papa Bull. As a whole, though, Charlie tends to leave the women worse off after he finds them, and while it’s great for laughs, in real life he’d be considered an a-hole.
In fact, that’s a recurring theme that Alan likes to bring up, that Charlie is a vile, despicable, evil person.
So instead of focusing on Charlie, I think it makes more sense to look at Alan as a comedic representation of just how pathetic the baby bull really is. Because he epitomizes the adult baby bull.
I watched 3 or 4 episodes on a recent flight, once I’d tapped out all the movies I thought looked interesting. And in all of them, Alan made me laugh and cringe with his baby bull antics. Without getting into details, here are the overall themes that get woven into the show for Alan:
– he is desperate and would practically hook up with a blow up doll for some romantic pleasure
– he is pathetic and walked on by all women
– his ex can manipulate him effortlessly; actually, all women can, as he seeks their approval
I looked on Wikipedia for more information, and while the character is more complex and slightly unrealistic (to make the show work) the threads of baby bull run through everything.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Harper_%28Two_and_a_Half_Men%29
It’s an interesting read – even the kind of women he gets involved with speak to his ineptitude as a total baby bull.
