While in India, the alpha, hypermasculine heroes have been ruling the screens, the recent global phenomenon, American web series Off Campus gave an insight into a new kind of masculinity on screen that has resonated with the audience
Breaking the jocks stereotype
From as long as one can remember, jocks on American TV have always been shown as bullies, who all care about just making the lives of the non-popular kids miserable, despise education and just focus on dating the cheerleader. But all four men in Off Campus — Garrett (Belmont Cameli), Dean (Stephen Kalyn), Logan (Antonio Cipriano) and Tucker (Jalen Thomas Brooks) do not fall in either of these tropes. They are shown as fully developed human beings who care about their lives and others around them.
It’s okay to be vulnerable
Garrett Graham played by Belmont Cameli, the captain of the hockey team at Briar U, has all the makings of the self-centred, rude athlete, but he doesn’t identify with that. He is shown as someone who is focused on his studies, he is not dumb but wants more clarity. He is tortured by his childhood trauma and is open to talk about it with his partner. He makes Hannah (Ella Bright) comfortable after noticing she doesn’t drink at parties, and doesn’t force her to. There is an inherent understanding and he never crosses the line. He values her comfort over anything else, and even after learning of her past trauma, he doesn’t make her all about it.
Consent is key
Playboys in popular culture are shown as men who just want every woman in the world, without caring what they want. But Stephen Kalyn’s Dean Di Laurentis shows a more vulnerable side. In one particular scene in the show, he tells Garrett that the first step in pleasing a woman is making her comfortable, while mouthing his now infamous line ‘Consent is key’. He doesn’t treat women like objects but human beings.
Yearning doesn’t have to end with crossing the line
Being in love with your best friend’s girl is one of the oldest plot points in teen romances, and Antonio Cipriano’s John Logan also falls in that. But what he does next is what sets him apart. While he is in touch with his feelings, he doesn’t let it overpower his relationship with his best friend, Garrett or his girlfriend, Hannah. He yearns for her from afar but doesn’t make any move or try to sabotage their relationship. Irrespective of what’s going on in his family and in his life financially or otherwise, the maturity he shows is refreshing and cool.
Caring is for men too
Jalen Thomas Brooks as John Tucker is perhaps the least explored guy amongst the four men, but even then, the audience gets to see his caring side in the Thanksgiving episode when he cooks a whole meal for all of his friends. Cooking food and feeding people with love and care isn’t shown as feminine in Off Campus, but a normal behaviour. He is also the guy who is always beside his friends in good, bad and ugly, and doesn’t shy away from calling them out when needed too.