This is a guest post by Jared Trueheart of Legends Of Men a blog where he writes about masculine, literature, and art. Jared is a much needed voice on this topic as it’s very important yet very are addressing it. In this article Jared talks about how masculine characters in art improve your own self-improvement. Enjoy.
It’s common knowledge in the book market that men overwhelmingly prefer non-fiction books while women and children prefer fiction. Non-fiction is a big category. Men read guides to get better at a certain skill, self-help books to personally improve, history to see the bigger picture, biographies to be inspired, and many other non-fiction books just to see the world from a new perspective. But there are no non-fiction books that can put all of this together. To do that you need a story. Stories, fiction, in particular, can combine everything that makes a man a better man and demonstrate how it is used in action.
Show, Don’t Tell
There is a maxim that good authors live by; show, don’t tell. Good authors do not write what a character is going to do, they just write what a character does. For those who want to convey any sort of message to a receptive party, they have to show that message in action, not tell it. This is why leaders who lead by example make the best leaders. They don’t tell their followers what to do, they show them.
This is a critical element lacking from most self-help books. The most knowledgeable subject matter experts in any field can tell you how to change to improve, but until you have a good vision of how to integrate those changes in your life you’ll struggle to make them.
If, for example, you want to bulk up with lean muscle you’re going to have to make some changes. You’ll need to eat more protein and BCAAs. You’ll need to eat early and often. So you buy a guide and read the expert advice which will probably work. Day one of your meal plan says to wake up, eat four eggs, and train for an hour. You wake up to do it but you forget that getting dressed, making eggs, eating them, and driving to the gym all takes time out of your morning. So now instead of an hour to work out you only have 20 min, so you don’t even bother. Day one is already wasted because you didn’t envision what these changes would be like because no manual can completely explain that.
Contrast that day wasted with the fictional experience of Rocky (it’s not a book but the concept is the same). In the famous egg drinking scene, Rocky wakes up before the sun has risen. He’s already in his sweatsuit when he groggily cracks four eggs into a glass and drinks them. He then leaves his home to train, still half-asleep. That’s what it takes. A guide will tell you what it takes, a narrative will show you.
People Let You Down, Heroes Never Disappoint
Good fiction is always grounded in reality but is not real. Character’s motivations, conflicts, traits and qualities all need to be realistic. Character’s actions, when consistent with their motivations, conflicts, traits and qualities, do not need to be real so long as they can be believable.
James Bond is a great character because his motivation (his duty to his mission and country) drives him to resolve his conflicts (hunt spies and stop espionage). It’s not very realistic that he could shoot a man running serpentine 100 meters away with a pistol but it’s believable because he’s had marksmanship training. It’s because James Bond is grounded in reality but ultimately fictional that he makes a great role model.
Bond is an ideal figure. He’s so charming, debonair, fit, and stylish that gorgeous women will want to sleep with him before they kill him. This is not realistic, it’s an exaggeration of reality. When you aspire to be, and eventually become, as charming and handsome as Bond more gorgeous women will want to sleep with you. You won’t reach Bond’s impossible level, but you will see many benefits as you aspire to be more like Bond.
People are often too flawed for our aspirations. Even the real people we admire are not perfect enough to idolize. Instead, we project a fantasy of those people when we think of them. Fiction cuts all of that out. It gives you the perfect role models for aspiration. When you attempt to live and act like those masculine characters your life will improve.
Purpose
What is the purpose of those muscles you spent so much time building? If your answer is to better bone sluts it’s time to rethink your life. If it’s for vanity it’s time to get your priorities straight. If it’s to protect your loved ones or provide for them or to make significant accomplishments you’re doing something right.
Fiction will show and clarify the purposes that have meaning in your life. You’ll quickly find that stories in which gym-bros flex their muscles to attract loose women are garbage. That’s why Tucker Max and Jersey Shore are so easily forgotten. But when Conan The Barbarian raises his axe to defend the loyal friends who supported him in hard times you instinctively know that his strength is being put to good use. When Achilles raises his spear to kill Hector and avenge his best friend you know his purpose is noble.
It’s not just your muscle. Why do you improve your ability to navigate the social landscape? Sam Spade (the detective from The Maltese Falcon) shows you that a noble purpose is to discern who’s being honest with you and who’s trying to manipulate you.
You absolutely need to know how to better yourself in no-nonsense terms. But you also need to see how to live better. Great masculine characters will show you how to do that.
For more on masculinity in literature and film check out www.legendsofmen.com
