Photos
Bromance makes me wish that I was smarter. I know that Liz Lemon and Jack Donaghy say that graduate students are the worst, but if I was better at critical thinking and dialectical argumentation, I would totally go back to school just in order to write a PhD thesis about this show and its incredibly complicated treatment of modern American masculinity.
I am not joking.
The premise, of course, is that Brody Jenner is looking for a new best friend. So nine dudes from around the country have flown to LA to live in a rundown frat-party-styled house to compete for his platonic affection. In the first episode, the one gay contestant left because he didn’t really want to meet Brody so much as be on an episode of The Hills, and then a particular conversation in the kitchen about how much pussy everyone enjoyed getting seemed to be too much for him, which is sort of fair enough, except that I find it hard to believe that a 20-something homosexual on an MTV reality show is actually that put off by what seems to be a typically inane hyper-sexualized conversation among a group of nine dudes trying desperately to ward off any questions of their own orientation/preference considering they’re on national television basically trying to win the love of a man. But what was obviously the most ingenious and mind-blowing moment of the episode and probably the entire season was the elimination ceremony which took place in a hot tub, with Brody Jenner sitting on one side of the hot tub facing a line of shirtless men sitting knee-to-knee on the other side of the hot tub. Everyone who was safe from elimination was asked to leave the hot tub, upping the tension by putting Brody in a hot tub facing just three shirtless men, debating who he liked the best, and when the elimination occurred he then asked all the other boys to get BACK IN the hot tub to quote-unquote “party,” for a moment that was basically 100 times more homoerotic and complicated and confusing than anything that’s been on Bravo ever.
Please watch this highlight reel from last night’s episode to get a sense of what I’m talking about:
Do you see what I’m talking about? The show is basically the gayest thing ever, made more gay by everyone’s desperate attempts to provide chest-bumping proof of their heterosexuality, which chest-bumping proof of their heterosexuality is constantly called into question when they’re actually forced to answer the question “why are you here in the first place?” The obvious response that no one is willing to give, because to do so would be to sacrifice any hope at “winning,” is that these guys just want to be on TV. But that’s not actually sufficient as an answer because there is an over-abundance of reality TV these days. Why this show? What’s perhaps strangest is that despite the underlying current (even from Mr. Jenner himself) of just being happy to have a way to be on TV, everyone is constantly forced into thinking about what it means to have friends, and what friendship means, and the fact that those are actually very emotional issues since friendship has almost usurped the family in modern relationships, what with everyone having the mobility and independence to move hundreds of miles away from where they were born. But very emotional issues are anti-masculine, and you can start to see how the complications pile up.
Even more interesting is how “on-board” Brody seems to be with the whole thing. Obviously his straight-to-camera stuff is written for him, and he gladly delivers all these lines full of double entendres and winking homo-erotic suggestions. Which sort of goes to a very new tendency in modern masculinity in which it’s OK and even GOOD to have a certain playfulness about your sexuality, but it’s an incredibly fine line, and one that you have to constantly be looking at while you walk it in case you accidentally step over. Everyone on this show is just dancing all over this line all the time, flop sweat all over their exhausted gay faces.
Bromance blows (wink) my mind.
I am not joking.
 |
 |
You Might Also Like
 A Note On The Modern Family Gay Kiss |  Duh Aficionado Magazine: Elisabeth Hasselbeck Is An Idiot |  The Videogum “Louis C.K. Promise”: The Poker Scene From… |  This Is Just Some Very Good Homophobic Slam Poetry |
Leave a Reply
Sign inSign in with FacebookYou must be logged in to post, reply to, or rate a comment.
I see exactally where you’re comming from Gabe. For a while I was wondering what the term “Bromance” actually ment, but after watching this show I thing I have a concrete idea. It’s a term invented by straight men to describe their love for each other without saying they actually LOVE each other, cuz thats gay. Like with most displays of hyper masculinity, it comes off more homosexual than tough or manly.
This is fantastic.
Though I can’t believe how uncomfortable that clip made me feel?
I was so uncomfortable with that clip, and I’m a woman. Although I can not and WILL not stop watching.
The toast segement from the first show was almost as bad. No one could outwardly announce their love in front a room of lingerie models, so everyone just mumbled about living the good life and other such nonsense.
Best quote:
“to show my genuine stuff – er – self”
Hey Gabe. Do you think that line play is a good thing or a bad thing?
It’s interesting to see how masculinity is being addressed recently, and even as far as being defined. One can say that over coming the fear that men have of being close and showing affection is progress, but the way it is presented in the show (I just watched one episode) and in the media (annoying mashed-up words with a male prefix or suffix) i think is detrimental to progress. The presentation still seems like a false sense of self. Even though “being yourself” seems to be encouraged in the show, there is not a broad range of personalities on the show. They all just seem to be Brody emulators. So instead of being comfortable with themselves and defining their own boundaries, they just follow. Masculinity (as well as femininity) should have certain traits, that probably fluctuate with time and space, but it seems it should not have some form of dogmatic definition, which, as a society, we seem to want. Balance seems to be a good solution, but because there always is this thin line, it’s hard to achieve.
this really is amazing.do you think people watching it all realize how gay it is? they must! i mean, its always been more or less clear to perceptive people that overt displays of “hetereosexuality” are often masks for self-perceived inadequacies or insecurities or even masochistic punishments for drives felt to be “wrong.” but this show seems to strangely have embraced those displays to the point where they no longer even signify “hetero” or “masculine,” but actually signify the mask itself. what I can’t figure out is how much of this is performance by the participants in the show and how much of it is manipulation of the participants by the show’s creators/directors/producers. I also don’t know anything about Brody Jenner so it’s hard for me to contextualize this based on a short clip, but regardless, its still very, very interesting. thanks for posting.
Bromance Season 2 premier Tuesday at 8 on Logo.
This is the future, and that is your closeted boyfriend.
I’d be more comfortable with this show if the dudes were cuter. Seriously, a ten-man show and not one of them is remotely attractive? Way to suck, MTV.
I caught a clip of a replay of this show last night and I had to stay throughout the commercials just to see what would happen. This is at one time the worst and best show on TV. Yet, it is utterly confusing. I’m almost as confused with this show its stars’ are about their respective sexualities.
In the 15 minute bloc that I watched, EVERYONE CRIED, except for Brody Jenner. They addressed eachother with Dr. Phil-like patience, respect, and understanding. I was dumbfounded. I’ve been to frat parties where these sort of emotions come out when someone is wasted/ going through a breakup/ last call but I had no idea they could be sustained for such a long time.
I wanted to say they were acting so “gay”, but they weren’t. They were acting like homosexuals but not like gay men (does that make any sense?). No one was catty but everyone was really emotional and…uhhhh. It was awesome and horrifying. I don’t know if I can take much more of this, but it’s sooo fun to watch.
I agree. The show is also very funny. There is a lot going on in this little MTV show and Brody is a total surprise. I have never seen contestants on a reality show behave like this. Set your Tivo.
Great, now I have to watch this show.
I can understand why someone would want to be Paris Hilton’s BFF. Why would anybody want to be pals with someone who’s only talent is appearing on lame Reality shows? (4 shows listed on his imdb)
Careful, he’s made a lot of money being the son and stepson of someone who’s earned a lot of money.
At first I thought The PIck-Up Artist was the most simultaneously intriguing and hilarious thing on TV. Then I caught the finale of Paris Hilton’s new BFF. That show was as worthless as the titular fameball, but the final 2 contestants were polar opposites of the Reality TV spectrum. The showdown between the manipulative girl with the unhealthy obsession with becoming famous vs. the crazy girl with the unhealthy obsession with Paris Hilton. In the end it was easy to write them both off because everyone knows girls are insane.
Now Bromance has to come along and confuse (wink) me further. These guys are incredibly shallow, but somehow thoughtful and insightful.
Also, Luke seems like a nice guy. I want Luke to be my friend. Team Luke!
I laughed, I cried, I felt like Brody’s eyes peered right into my soul through my television screen.
Brody Jenner is the Socrates of the 2009s?
I didn’t see that one coming. (nullus)
Brody Jenner is really attractive, and it’s REALLY annoying that he is.
I think the clip Rich posted about Masculinity defined in 14 second sums up Bromance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV4j-t8TLJY
Hmm. Is this the beginning of the lesbian backlash? Think about it. Madonna kisses Brit-brit on TV, Rosanne Barr smooches some woman on her show. There is this whole hyper-sexualized lesbian innuendo undercurrent to modern culture for the last 10 years or so, while male homosexuality is still a niche market thing. Perhaps “Bromance” is the first show where gay innuendo takes as prominent a role as lesbian innuendo already has.
Damn, that Brody Jenner is a revolutionary!
that’s your boyfriend’s boyfriend.
The idea is that you’re supposed to be able to act as gay as possible without actually being gay. Think how hilarious that “Iran so far” song is to frat boys. The joke is that Ahmadinejad is humiliated by the suggestion that he’s gay because he’s so in denial of the existence of gays in his country. This, the modern alpha male or wanna-be understands, suggests he’s not comfortable in his masculinity. This is the revelation that drives the current “playfulness” about one’s male heterosexuality. It’s actually just the newest hurdle to jump in order to prove one’s alpha-hetero status.
Yes, you can engage in this playfulness, but only if you’re able to compensate with hyper-masculinity. That’s the whole trick. Only the most “inherently” straight and masculine can play gay at the highest level.
Which means bromance (and perhaps Bromance, i’m not watching) is all just another alpha dog competition, albeit performed in gay-face. Nothing revolutionary here — strictly evolutionary, bros. Go back to your “subversive” crotch-level beer bottle blowjobs.
Man hilarious blog along with clip. More funny is how true the title goes with what is actually going on. We have changed a lot as men.
I couldn?t agree with you more. lol Actually I wrote a letter to Ryan S. yesterday and told him the exact same thing. But you know what people won’t stop watching because Brody is gorgeous and somehow deep down we hope they’ll inject more testosterone in the episodes. I thought they were going to highlight Brody’s image because we “viewers” thought -well still think, although the editing room shows us otherwise that Brody is a man’s man, the kind of guy that guys want to be and girls want to be around. You know? I just think it gets a little too gay sometimes that even he laughs.
I?m hoping to see him be a bro minus the male romance. I thought they would show Brody hanging out with his friends joking, hanging out, and picking up on girls. Its kind of a turn off when they do the one on one by the fire romantic fire. I feel like its… too sensitive. lol Nothing against it but if he’s not gay don?t mess with his image. Not his fault at all it?s the producers.
I couldn?t agree with you more. lol Actually I wrote a letter to Ryan S. yesterday and told him the exact same thing. But you know what people won’t stop watching because Brody is gorgeous and somehow deep down we hope they’ll inject more testosterone in the episodes. I thought they were going to highlight Brody’s image because we “viewers” thought -well still think, although the editing room shows us otherwise that Brody is a man’s man, the kind of guy that guys want to be and girls want to be around. You know? I just think it gets a little too gay sometimes that even he laughs.
I?m hoping to see him be a bro minus the male romance. I thought they would show Brody hanging out with his friends joking, hanging out, and picking up on girls. Its kind of a turn off when they do the one on one by the fire romantic fire. I feel like its… too sensitive. lol Nothing against it but if he’s not gay don?t mess with his image. Not his fault at all it?s the producers.
“We got candles, fire pit…it’s getting pretty bromantic around here.”
i’m a fan of brody but not the show. i think last thing we need is another show like paris hilton’s my new bff….this is simply the guy version
how does one become a fan of brody jenner?
like, a fan of what?
his body of work?
i’m a fan of brody but not the show. i think last thing we need is another show like paris hilton’s my new bff….this is simply the guy version
it’s important to realize that the show is targeted towards females. females like brody to be half naked in the hot tub.
I can’t wait for the finale, when Brody inevitably picks Jered as his bro, Jered gets carried away and totally leans in for a tongue kiss, and Brody is all… “Dude, bro… not cool.”
I don’t know why but that clip made me so tense. Does that mean that I might be…you know, gay? Bro?
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see
Did you send in this comment from your Razr phone? You did, didn’t you!
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see
Dude Nevaeh relax they are called comments and reviews for a reason. Not everyone has the same point of view and for the sake of the show and a second season these type of reviews help. So be honest, come one! Brody isn’t going to get offended, admit that the show is a little gay. lol
I agree with the post about the homoeroticism of the show Bromance; I just wanted to also point out that it has about the same “storyline” as Paris Hilton’s BFF show. That show was also rife with homoeroticism; we just didn’t make that big a deal about it because it was a woman “looking for friendship” from other women (and some gay men), and not a man from other men (and for some reason, no women). But yeah, a reality show to find a friend is pathetic in and of itself; added to it the emotional aspect mentioned in the post and it all gets a little murky.
i love u so much brody and ur show is very entertaining. i wish to be ur friend. luv u brody
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ANALOGY. PLEASE, WOULD SOMEONE POST THIS TO MTV’S SITE!!! THEN THERE WILL FINALLY BE SOMETHING INTELLIGENT WRITTEN ABOUT THIS AMAZINGLY INTERESTING REALITY SHOW – BEFORE IT GETS CANCELLED
Elizabeth, I saw your 360 page on yahoo, you are the hottest girl ever please e-mail me forget about that gay ass brody girl e-mail me soon Hoekstra_ryan@yahoo.com There all gay anyway
Well for one thing my crush on brody is gone like forever, I have no doubt in my mind that he’s a switch hitter, normal guys just don’t act that way do they?? Here’s an idea why don’t Brody and Paris just become plantonic best friends (quietly) and spare us all of this,, Elizabethpopma@yahool.com I think they all need to get laid,,Seriously,, Brody your making spencer look like a man omg ,,,Why Brody would you even do this to yourself?????????
Well for one thing my crush on brody is gone like forever, I have no doubt in my mind that he’s a switch hitter, normal guys just don’t act that way do they?? Here’s an idea why don’t Brody and Paris just become plantonic best friends (quietly) and spare us all of this,, Elizabethpopma@yahool.com I think they all need to get laid,,Seriously,, Brody your making spencer look like a man omg ,,,Why Brody would you even do this to yourself?????????
Elizabeth, I saw your 360 page on yahoo, you are the hottest girl ever please e-mail me forget about that gay ass brody girl e-mail me soon Hoekstra_ryan@yahoo.com There all gay anyway
Elizabeth, I saw your 360 page on yahoo, you are the hottest girl ever please e-mail me forget about that gay ass brody girl e-mail me soon Hoekstra_ryan@yahoo.com There all gay anyway
Elizabeth, I saw your 360 page on yahoo, you are the hottest girl ever please e-mail me forget about that gay ass brody girl e-mail me soon Hoekstra_ryan@yahoo.com There all gay anyway
Elizabeth, I saw your 360 page on yahoo, you are the hottest girl ever please e-mail me forget about that gay ass brody girl e-mail me soon Hoekstra_ryan@yahoo.com There all gay anyway
Something terrible has happened here.
Obviously, I’m referring to the misuse of homonyms. [nullus]
This show is full of uncomfortable moments. I find myself cringing and changing the channel constantly… I am a 23 year old male, and I cannot believe there are straight males out there who behave like these guys.
I think it would be interesting if one contestant admits that “I’m here to win a condo, meet celebrities and be on TV”, to which Jenner would reply, “So shines a good deed in a weary world. Charlie? My boy. You’ve won! You did it! You did it! I knew you would! I just knew you would! Oh, Charlie, forgive me for putting you through this. Please, forgive me.”
WOW I’d pay to watch that.
I think this show is great, yeah it can be a bit akward at times but this is fairly unchartered territory boys and girls. It amazes me how freely my son (23) and his friends are with playing grab ass and fooling around. I think it’s great, may the uber hetero caveman persona rest in peace, I for one wouldn’t miss it!!
I think this show is amazing. It explores male friendships in a way that they have never been explored before. We already knew that male friendships are important for personal growth, and yet society sometimes seems to discourage us from investing time and effort in finding and nurturing those kinds of friendships. Brody breaks new ground by being unashamed to invest his time and energy in finding and nurturing male friendships. His TV show is going to have a ripple effect on society, and give confidence to other males to also be unashamed to invest time and energy in those sorts of activities. I’ve just learned about the program, but I really like the idea of having friends that can be your “wing man”, who can share their insights and opinions, and who can hang out with you from time to time. I wish I had more of that sort of thing in my life. Maybe I’ll try harder to nurture my male friendships, or — if not — I’ll have vicarious fun watching Brody pal around with his buddies.
“let’s make a gay show, without it being ‘gay’”
I have nothing against gays, I believe they deserve the same rights we all have, but the show runs on a network owned by people that own other networks and are tied in with world affairs…
this show is a ploy to do what mtv does best, keep youth from paying attention to what’s going on in their countries and communities and keep them mindless.
Secondly, the show is created to show that nowadays it’s ok to be in touch with your feminine side, and what’s crazy is that it now plans to flip the entire heterosecual logic around and make men who are uncomfortable with gay situations question themselves and force themselves to accept homosexuality behaviours… in essence to weed out male aggression… this is the next step in creating a complacent population that is preoccupied with tv shows, fashion, hair, the every detail of a life of some nobody on a reality show… again the perfect scenerio when you plan to take the rights and freedoms that the forefathers and hard working men and women of your countries fought to gain and protect. They fought with blood and sweat and were fuelled by their anger of beind denied what they deserve… this is a condition tomorrow’s man will lose if we don’t realize what is happening.
As well, the media is starting to be largely run by gays.. so they are furthering their own agenda of complete acceptance in society by having a homosexual show consisting of straight men.
Think it’s just a lame reality show? tv tells us what is okay, what isn’t, how to act and how to think… remember when the iraq war happened? did you think it was necessary then? How about now? the same tv networks that told us we had to back it back then are now boasting slogans like “no bias no bull” and all has been forgotten.
Ask most any american about why the iraq was started most will say “oil” (I believe… call my bluff and see for yourself)… so if a large portion, if not the majority believe this, how come nothing can be done? In a age where news can be leaked and broken through technology to more and more people, the only solutions by the powers we don’t see is so change the people themselves.
To be insightful about shallow matters makes you less then worthless.
I have nothing against gays, I believe they deserve the same rights we all have, but the show runs on a network owned by people that own other networks and are tied in with world affairs…
this show is a ploy to do what mtv does best, keep youth from paying attention to what’s going on in their countries and communities and keep them mindless.
Secondly, the show is created to show that nowadays it’s ok to be in touch with your feminine side, and what’s crazy is that it now plans to flip the entire heterosexual logic around and make men who are uncomfortable with gay situations question themselves and force themselves to accept homosexuality behaviours… in essence to weed out male aggression… this is the next step in creating a complacent population that is preoccupied with tv shows, fashion, hair, the every detail of a life of some nobody on a reality show… again the perfect scenerio when you plan to take the rights and freedoms that the forefathers and hard working men and women of your countries fought to gain and protect. They fought with blood and sweat and were fuelled by their anger of beind denied what they deserve… this is a condition tomorrow’s man will lose if we don’t realize what is happening.
As well, the media is starting to be largely run by gays.. so they are furthering their own agenda of complete acceptance in society by having a homosexual show consisting of straight men.
Think it’s just a lame reality show? tv tells us what is okay, what isn’t, how to act and how to think… remember when the iraq war happened? did you think it was necessary then? How about now? the same tv networks that told us we had to back it back then are now boasting slogans like “no bias no bull” and all has been forgotten.
Ask most any american about why the iraq was started most will say “oil” (I believe… call my bluff and see for yourself)… so if a large portion, if not the majority believe this, how come nothing can be done? In an age where news can be leaked and broken through technology to more and more people, the only solutions by the powers we don’t see is to change people themselves.
To be insightful about shallow matters makes you less then worthless.
How is saying that he wants a new bromance or has a bromance already make him not masculine? he has a girlfriend and he dated that lauren girl form the hills he obviously just considers his friendship with frankie sleazy and now luke a bromance because they are there for eachother like bestfriends should be and it sounds like her considers them brothers too so until you actually listen to what he says a “bromance” really is just stop talking about how gay it sounds most of you people are prolly just jealous because you cant have true good friends like he does.
I have a life. It’s a fairly interesting life and there are good relationships in it and stuff. Not a lot of time spent watching television over the past couple of decades largely because of the extremely poor signal-to-noise ratio of ad-driven television. That and I like somewhat more interactive fare. When people talk about this or that celebrity and I don’t know who it is people seem to be shocked, like I crawled out from under a rock or something. I find the sexual dynamics of this show as described in this article to be fascinating in an abstract sense, but you don’t seriously expect me to watch more than that clip do you?