#goddamn I can write a whole essay about masculinity in Metalocalypse

[galactic-murmaider]

Y’know I think something finally clicked about Charles’s character development:

As far as the fatherhood metaphor is concerned his arc in Seasons 2 and 3 are essentially about him learning to be a father figure that isn’t just about being a “provider” since men are often socialized to think of that as the end-all be-all of fatherhood, since prior to about roughly the halfway point of Season 2 he wasn’t super emotionally attached to the band. That isn’t to say he didn’t have his moments, notice how he was the one to accompany Toki to the Los Niños Favorticos Awards in “Dethkids” for example; but for the most part he only really viewed them as his bread and butter and it took awhile for him to have anything more than a workplace relationship.

Although as the series progresses while he is pretty well-known for being a rather stoic individual, he at least tries to emotionally connect with them such as offering to let Nathan vent about his girl troubles in “Klokblocked” or trying to get the band to empathize with Skwisgaar over his lack of father in “Fatherklok” (to say nothing of his actual conversation with Skwisgaar), these didn’t exactly work but that’s more because the band has the toxic masculinity mindset of viewing vulnerability and emotional attachment as a weakness. I wouldn’t call Offdensen a paragon of positive masculinity per say since he’s willing to do all kinds of 🎸ked up shit in the name of power and financial status (even if to be fair he’s fine with being in the background) and still having a tendency to resolve situations with violence, but at least in the latter case that at least has the internal logic of trying to protect “his boys” rather than violence for the sake of it and there are just as many moments where he doesn’t inflict physical or emotional violence to gain a desired outcome. If nothing else though, he’s arguably had the most stable/confident sense of masculinity out of any of the male characters in Metalocalypse and his more toxic traits subside with character development especially in “Doublebookedklok”, “Dethdinner”, and Doomstar Requiem where we see him in a much more vulnerable light. Who cries every time they watch the “you’re all important to me” speech not this gal no sirre!

And while I usually try to keep authorial intent to a minimum, I do recommend listening to Brendon Small’s “Worst Gig” interview where he puts a particular emphasis on vulnerability and how that influences his work. God knows that helped after losing my dream job opportunity.