True Dudebro

Oh look, they’ve cast True Detective Season 2 and its…zzzzzz. Oh, sorry. Dozed off there. Because it was two utterly uninteresting straight white men and I could not muster enough of an iota of interest to stay conscious. Fine, it’s and Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn…zzzzz. Oops, lapsed into an apathy coma again.

There are only a handful of actors I can think of that I want to watch less in a serious “prestige” drama than Vince Vaughn. Maybe Rob Schneider? Or Justin Bieber? Vince’s screen persona is the physical manifestation of Dudebro Culture, a perpetual manchild whose emotional depth is as complex as a chest bump. But, by all means, cast him in a series that has already been heavily criticized for its machismo and misogyny.

Look, it’s not a crime to cast two white straight men as the leads in a high-profile series. But it’s boring. And it’s another missed opportunity to make the world a little less boring. (For reference, please see yesterday’s post.) But HBO with all its power and prestige, has decided that Colin and Vince are deserving of such a platform. (p.s. Yes, I know there might be one or two other leads cast who may or may not be a person of color or a female person. Or maybe a POC or woman will be the victim because we’ve never, ever seen that happen before on television ever.) I guess what irks me most is how many other actors deserve a chance to be great, but are simply never afforded the opportunity because we’re too busy giving second chances to boring straight white men.

Yawn. In the end, casting news like this reminds me that the echo chamber of pop culture loves to congratulate itself of rewarding the unextraordinary. Give me a “Top of the Lake.” Give me “The Fall.” Hell, give me “Sleepy Hallow” and “Elementary.” Anything that isn’t just an endless array of interchangeable guys. Because, dude, zzzzzzz.

p.s. Ray Velcoro is a terrible name. But no worse than Rust Cohle, so I don’t know why I would expect more.

p.p.s. I would watch the hell out of Bert and Ernie in True Detective Season 2, because we all know they’re not straight.