10. Whiskey Is Masculinity Personified
Notable Offenders: Unforgiven, Gun Smoke, Back To The Future Part III Our stubbled and emotionally-crippled hero walks into a bar. (No punchline here folks). He wanders lazily to his stool as everyone around him acknowledges his presence, but then goes back to their tasks at hand. He sits and stares into space, with those eyes that are just full of pain. Eyes that tell the story of a thousand one night stands, yet only one real relationship that made him feel again. Joe the bartender, who has just been using a rag to wipe the inside of a glass, pours him a shot of bourbon without our hero even ordering. "On the house buddy" he says, as he places the liquid gold in front of our man, who then proceeds to neck it back in one. He will slam the glass down on the counter, clenching his teeth and making a low earthy sound of pure testosterone. This cliche proves that one drink can help sum up an entire character. If our lead man drinks whiskey neat and in one go, we know exactly what kind of man he is. He's the man women want to heal, and men want to be. And we also know just how far he has fallen in life. See pretty much every western for real en drinking the stuff. If it's a modern day movie, the drinking usually happens at the beginning of the story to define our man. He might even receive a call from his ex wife while at the bar, as she talks to him about their kid he hasn't seen in weeks. And for some reason, we still root for the guy. We want him to succeed, to have self esteem and to go through a journey and come out richer for the experience. And of course he will. And of course, we won't see him drink whiskey again.