If there’s one thing I write a lot about in this blog, it’s celebrities and handsome fellers, and while I’ve thirsted a thirst only Tom Hardy can quell since seeing Inception, I’ve noticed a trend in leading men lately that the ladies are seeming to go fer- the Daffy Dude.
The Daffy Dude is naïve, he is winsome and childish, he is unafraid of being uncool, girly or inexperienced, and he is often a hopeless, adorable, mess. He is a crayon drawing of himself, wearing a jumper knitted by his Nanna, writing a love song about his girlfriend. He is the Daffy Dude.
The best example of the Daffy Dude is Michael Cera in EVERY MOVIE HE HAS EVER MADE.
There’s also Brett Mackenzie’s character in Flight of the Conchords, and Jospeh Gordon Levitt in 500 Days of Summer. Comedian Josh Thomas seems to fit the bill as well as Zach Braff as JD in Scrubs. These are guys who get carried away by their feelings, be they romantic, fanciful, or childishly silly.
They are not simply nerds or geeks. Nerds and geeks fulfil a very specific role in pop culture. Nerds and geeks are underdogs. The Daffy Dude isn’t really an underdog but neither is he an overdog. More of a quietly besidedog, sniffing a tree. Neither are they SNAGs. The Daffy Dude isn’t necessarily sensitive to others’ needs. The Daffy Dude is often far too childishly preoccupied with his own affairs to even realise what’s going on around him or to read any signals of any kind. In the 90’s men were under pressure to be SNAGs and to be perfect in every way, like this guy:
But now with the Daffy Dude archetype, Gen Y’s perpetual adolescence is validated. We don’t have to be adults and wear hard soled shoes and go to work with a briefcase. We are free to dream and muck around and make mistakes.
Another thing. The Daffy Dude doesn’t drink or smoke. He’s clean, pure even. In Scott Pilgrim vs the World Michael Cera’s character has one mixed drink in reaction to an upsetting event an falls adorably tipsy. Same in the Flight of the Conchords where the only thing attracting the boys to social events is a free cheese platter. The Daffy Dude doesn’t need to drink because he is not yet world weary. He is optimistic as a spring lamb gambolling across a meadow. JD is Scrubs may be the exception but he drinks apple-tinis, a shamelessly naff beverage.
As for love, the Daffy Dude makes the perfect romantic lead because he is open to it, which is wonderful for us lady-people to watch because I think we were all getting a bit sick of movies about men with commitment problems. Of course, the Daffy Dude has his own problems when it comes to romance- if anything he loves too much, but it isn’t a grand, sweeping, poetic love. He doesn’t rock your world. He merely agitates it lightly, like cooking a good risotto.
So the Daffy Dude is the new leading man. We have done away with tough, suave, and dynamic, and replaced it with something much more realistic and attainable, but the thing is, while they’re undeniably cute and attractive to many, I’m not sure who the Daffy Dude functions as a romantic torch for. I have a suspicion he isn’t there primarily to be attracted
to. I think the Daffy Dude is probably more attractive to other dudes, as he alleviates the pressure to be perfect. We seem to have come to an agreement as a culture that men don’t need to be hyper masculine and mature to be a romantic lead. They don’t need to be Mc Dreamy. And I think this is something the lady-people are becoming accustomed to as well. In my search for love, I never have come across my ideal. I always wanted a man with a lion’s mane and a smile so bright it can be traded for goods and services, who can dip me in a tango on top of a cliff with an ocean of scotch whiskey crashing below us on the jagged rocks. Maybe, just maybe, this is… unattainable. The new kind of leading man is attainable, and he’s lovely. Let’s all go and find Daffy boyfriend’s today shall we?