Rebuilding Rob

Yesterday was the 35th anniversary of the theatrical release of the Transformers: the movie. While it was far from a cinematic blockbuster, became something with a cult classic among transformer fans.

I saw this reel pop up on my instagram and it really resonated with me on several levels.

As social media, and the Internet become more and more intertwined, I’ve been doing a deeper dive recently on peoples opinions of what a man should be. I’ve read text and listen to the videos for men, speaking about how men should be. Likewise, I’ve read and listen to women talking about what men should be. More to the point, I’ve been listening to enlightened women speaking about the conflicting, sometimes hypocritical expectations that women have for men.

If this sounds confusing, it should; because being a man in the 21st-century, is conflicting, a, confusing and hypocritical. Let’s face it, if I had it all figured out, I wouldn’t be on here blogging; nor would anybody be looking to my blog at some sort of support, information or even affirmation.

But today, here, now, at this moment, I can tell you that I believe that women, children, other men, and society in general want men to be like Optimus Prime.

Let me explain…

Optimus prime is, of course, the leader of the Autobots– the good guys – from the Transformers franchise. For those of you who were living under a rock, or too young to remember the 80s, The Transformers were one of the most popular toy lines of the 1908s. The came along at a time when the FCC loosened restrictions on animated children’s television; thus allowing it and several other intellectual properties (IPs) to take on toy, comic book and tv adaptations. The strength of The Transformers franchise, I think, can be directly attributed to the Optimus Prime character. He is what The Fonz was to Happy Days; what Wolverine is to the X-Men. Optimus Prime is the linchpin around which the entire concept ofThe Transformers rotates.

But for my explanation, I want to go even further back. I want to go back to the very first season of the Transformers animated series, which Transformers fans refer to know as “generation one” or G1. Optimus Prime is voiced by Peter Cullen. If you are a child of the 80s, chances are you probably heard Peter Cullen’s voice on at least one cartoon from your childhood. So iconic is Cullen’s performance as Optimus Prime, that he went on to voice the character in numerous animated incarnations of the franchise, as well as all seven live-action Transformers movies

I wasn’t a massive Transformers fan growing up. I was more of a G.I., Joe guy myself. But I did enjoy the Transformers cartoon; more so than the toys, or even the comic book. I was knew that Optimus Prime was my favorite character. As a kid, there’s a lot of surface level reasons to like him. He’s a good guy. He’s their leader, and he’s a really cool looking truck. But even as a young as I was, I knew there was something more to it. I knew there was – and is – something much deeper that I couldn’t really articulate as to why I liked this character so much. I knew that he was a role model. I knew that he was a character that I still wanted to emulate years later . Yet, even as an adult, I still couldn’t explain why. Then a few years ago, I saw this video where Cullen credits his brother as the inspiration for the voice of Optimus Prime.

In the video, Larry tells Peter to “be a real hero”. This is what people expect men to be in the 21st-century. Be strong enough to be gentle. Be brave, but not reckless. Be wise, but not arrogant. Be a protector, but be nurturing.

Men are expected to be all of these things. Sadly, too many men fall into the expectation of the “typical Hollywood action, hero“ that Larry describes. Too many men try to do the “strong” without the “gentle”. I think this is while heart disease is the leading cause of death for men in America. Most men don’t allow themselves to show too much emotion. It is engrained in us that to show emotion is to be weak.

Be strong enough to be gentle.

Of course, it’s good to be sympathetic and empathetic and emotional. But our cultural paradigm often ships like the pendulum on a clock. It swings from one extreme to the next. For a long time I think men were encouraged to “get in touch with their feelings“ and it got to a point where many men were just left feeling emasculated.

For years now, men have been expected to fall into one of two extremes. Be a man or be a mouse. Be a bitch, or be a bull. This has left pretty much all of us confused. But the truth is, it is the balance that we men have to find. Be strong enough to be gentle.

Just like Optimus Prime.

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, follow and comment below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts below…

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The article “Being Optimus Prime” originally appeared on Rebuilding Rob.