Phil Green
Phil Green is a comedian performing his show A Broken Man’s Guide to Fixing Others at EdFringe between August 2nd and 24th (not the 13th) at PBH’s Free Fringe @ Banshee Labyrinth – Cinema Room from 14:40 (60mins). The show is offered as ‘Free Non-Ticketed’ but more information is available on the EdFringe Website.
In an era of fragmented media consumption, with numerous steaming platforms, YouTube and social media competing for our attention, it was quite incredible to see one drama become both a cultural and political touchpoint earlier this year with Netflix’s superb Adolescence.
As a man rapidly approaching middle age, seeing a show become the subject of so many water cooler moments also felt quite nostalgic, a trip back to a time where at least half your workplace had watched the same thing, although back in the 90s many saw Heartbeat as the pinnacle of TV viewing so it’s fair to say the quality has improved (no disrespect to any devoted Heartbeatians). Adolescence seemed to resonate with all generations for a multitude of reasons. As a non-parent I can only imagine what it must be like trying to monitor and control the stuff your kid might be accessing online, yet Stephen Graham’s superb performance made me feel every emotion he was going through. To me the drama was also a reflection of how middle-aged men struggle to cope with the rapid acceleration of mental health awareness and an acceptance that many of us have, quite likely, a lovely cocktail of unprocessed grief, regret and undiagnosed neurodivergent conditions swirling around our balding old heads.
The middle-aged man is often a primitive and naive beast, believing they can stay up with the latest fashion trends by shopping primarily at Mountain Warehouse or TK Maxx. But when that cocktail of issues starts to rise up and become overwhelming, many of our generation seem to deal with it by, somewhat inexplicably, taking up activities where we feel the need to wear overly tight Lycra. We are a generation who, growing up, were largely told not to cry, not to complain, to ‘cheer up’ and just crack on. Many of us hang on to the ethos of a long-gone era, not because it was necessarily better, but because it was just simpler to understand. From what I see, it is the reluctance to let go of this ethos that causes the middle-aged man’s anger with society, or, to put it another way, change.
Dragging these ageing apes into the 21st century seems like a laborious effort because, quite simply, it is. But immediately jumping on them for often unknowingly saying the wrong thing isn’t going to bring them with us, and, in fact, often pushes them towards the Andrew Tate or Jordan Peterson cults of the world, sorry, ‘followings’, where they can get angry on mass with other red-faced beasts. Getting men of this generation to adapt to new socially progressive language is a long game, but one that, in my opinion, is worth playing. From what I’ve seen, it is the men who adapt, who embrace change, who talk about their feelings and who acknowledge that parts of their world view (formed 30 or 40yrs ago) no longer serve them well in the 2020s that seem to be happiest.
Calmly and patiently correcting these silver foxes over time when they misspeak seems to me to be the best way to tame them, and maybe, just maybe, keep them out of Lycra.
Image Credit: Swiss Chocolate Pictures
Jake Mace
