The Difference Between Men and Boys
(The Dreamiest Leading Man)
by Denise Felt 2010
I love watching an ensemble cast in a TV show or movie! After all, I’m very much a team player myself (in spite of my small rebellions.) To me, the biggest problem with most shows that aren’t ensembles is that the entire series depends on one or two main leads – and what if they’re not likable?
Thankfully, the UFO TV show used an ensemble cast, and gave each of the separate characters enough definition that they didn’t all seem interchangeable. In fact, since they lost a few of the key members of that ensemble during the lull in production, we got to see what happened when they tried to put someone else in another one’s place. (It didn’t work.)
But UFO also had a stand-alone male lead that everyone else revolved around as do spokes in a wheel. And that leader was Straker. Without him, the group had no cohesiveness, no clear vision. Without him, the entire organization would have folded. So I guess it’s a good thing that he was there. And as their leader and the main man of the show, surely he was likable.
Wasn’t he?
Well, in the episode Survival we see the Moonbase astronauts throwing darts at a balloon with Straker’s face on it. Not a good sign. And in Exposed, the commander himself tells his second-in-command that the one who would use a stick to get things done would be Straker himself. So, even without the ample evidence of his irritability throughout the episodes, it should be fairly clear that Commander Straker was not a very likeable character. So why was he such a great leading man?
Since the advent of the anti-hero, literature, movies, and television have broadened their scope of the concept of what constitutes a leading man and hero. So now we have all sorts of sub-textures that can be added to our main man to make him more intriguing and interesting – and three-dimensional instead of the almost cardboard ‘white hat’ heroes of decades past. Because the thing about most anti-heroes is that they usually aren’t very likable. In fact, most of them are loners and a bit difficult to understand or know. Does that description sound a bit familiar? Yes, Straker is definitely an anti-hero.
But unlike most of that class of men, Commander Straker started out as a hero in the first place. As shown in the first episode, Identified, he was a Colonel in the Air Force (looking very sexy in his uniform) and shown from the beginning scenes as someone who would eventually be a force to be reckoned with in military circles. But as the episode continues, we find him ten years later a very different man. Colder, harder, and quite the enigma. Still a leader – and obviously a very good one who has prevailed against overwhelming odds to make something out of nothing [SHADO] in order to save his world. But the price of that fight is everywhere to be seen in his demeanor. Gone is the cordial but dedicated man we glimpsed in the limo, and in his place is a man whose fierce dedication to duty burns hauntingly in his eyes – and colors every harsh decision he makes. In the words of Richard Nixon, there was ‘no more Mr. Nice Guy.’
Later episodes explore the reasons behind the change in him (to the delight of the viewers, who couldn’t get enough of his biting sarcasm and rare warm smile), but it’s obvious by the end of the first episode that the main man wasn’t going to be someone likable and lovable. The hero of those first few minutes was firmly defined by the end of that hour as an anti-hero. Still a leader, yes. Still dedicated, yes. But definitely a pain in the ass. And that combination had (and still has) women drooling over him as their favorite leading man.
Why?
Dreamy leading men have innumerable characteristics that make them irresistible in the eyes of the women who adore them, and the men who admire them and wish they were like them. I would imagine every woman could give you a list of at least ten things she finds essential to any leading man before he can be exalted to the realm of dreamy. Most men could probably do the same, although they probably wouldn’t call them ‘dreamy.’ But those lists would vary as widely as the personalities of the people writing them down. However, there are a few key elements that every single list will include.
First, he has to be a leader. We’ve already talked about Straker’s leadership qualities, which tend to stand out more because he isn’t generally liked or understood. But his people would follow him into hell, if necessary – the mark of a true leader. Alec, his second-in-command, is not at all the leader his friend and commander is, nor does he always understand him. But his unswerving loyalty gives us a clue that there is definitely something worth following in this man – beyond the sarcasm, beyond the harshness of his words, beyond the pressures of his command. Paul, the fledgling recruit who is far too immature and brassy to even be considered as a leader, is nonetheless being groomed for that position by their fierce commander. By the end of the first (and only) season, we see that Paul has grown some and is much closer to the capability of command than was first evident, and we have to assume that Straker saw something in him that we didn’t.
Which leads us to our next key point. In order to be a perfect leading man and secure the adoration of the ladies for all eternity, it’s necessary for the main character to be intelligent. And more than just of average intelligence, too. He needs to be brilliant. Wise. And able to think on his feet in a crisis situation. Straker is assuredly all of these. Most episodes bring these qualities into play, since the show constantly put him into scenarios that were confusing, troubling, and sometimes downright inexplicable.
It is an undeniable fact that women are drawn to a brilliant man. Especially one who doesn’t flaunt that intelligence, but simply does his work as if it’s the norm. Of necessity, highly intelligent men tend to be quiet. You can’t think hard if you’re talking all the time. And women simply love a smart quiet man. There’s something about their very silence that makes people think there is much more to them beneath the surface, rather on the order of an iceberg’s tip. And curiosity about what might lay beneath the enigmatic surface of their chosen man has gotten more than one woman into trouble over the centuries. As enigmas go, Straker is right up there with the best of them. No matter how much of his background the series revealed to us, we wanted to know more. And we reveled in every opportunity we got to glimpse what he was thinking.
Our third key element is the most important by far. The dreamiest leading men all require this one trait that sets them apart from their peers. They must be compassionate. But don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking mushy wimps who let everyone run all over them. Not at all. In fact, most anti-heroes seem at first glance to be anything but compassionate. Even to their friends (see Alec’s response when he hands in his resignation in Computer Affair.) I’m talking about the innate humanity that surfaces at unexpected moments, giving the viewer a glimpse into the inner workings of their leading man. Such as when Straker lets the operative who just had a baby go home early at the end of Confetti Check A-OK. Again in Court Martial after the court rules for Foster’s guilt with no real evidence against him, Straker gives him a look of great compassion before he leaves the courtroom. Or conversely, when the commander unknowingly reveals his disgust at the machinations of the adulterous pair in The Square Triangle by saying tersely, "Get them out of here!"
But the most revealing instance of all was in Sub Smash, when he orders the last crew member off the damaged sub, knowing there won’t be enough air to get himself safely off as well. Self-sacrifice is a theme that shows up in UFO over and over, and Straker definitely leads his team by example in episode after episode as he lays down his life and everything he cares about for the good of the planet as a whole. The little old blind lady in A Question of Priorities calls him a ‘good man’ at the end of that episode. And although he doesn’t see it, his audience does. We know she’s right. He is a good man. Even a great one. And it makes all his harshness easier to deal with, all the biting sarcasm, all the impatience when things aren’t done right or on time. Because we know, above all else, that Straker is a good man.
A true hero. In spite of his flaws. And nothing is more alluring or sexy to any woman.
by Denise Felt 2010
I love watching an ensemble cast in a TV show or movie! After all, I’m very much a team player myself (in spite of my small rebellions.) To me, the biggest problem with most shows that aren’t ensembles is that the entire series depends on one or two main leads – and what if they’re not likable?
Thankfully, the UFO TV show used an ensemble cast, and gave each of the separate characters enough definition that they didn’t all seem interchangeable. In fact, since they lost a few of the key members of that ensemble during the lull in production, we got to see what happened when they tried to put someone else in another one’s place. (It didn’t work.)
But UFO also had a stand-alone male lead that everyone else revolved around as do spokes in a wheel. And that leader was Straker. Without him, the group had no cohesiveness, no clear vision. Without him, the entire organization would have folded. So I guess it’s a good thing that he was there. And as their leader and the main man of the show, surely he was likable.
Wasn’t he?
Well, in the episode Survival we see the Moonbase astronauts throwing darts at a balloon with Straker’s face on it. Not a good sign. And in Exposed, the commander himself tells his second-in-command that the one who would use a stick to get things done would be Straker himself. So, even without the ample evidence of his irritability throughout the episodes, it should be fairly clear that Commander Straker was not a very likeable character. So why was he such a great leading man?
Since the advent of the anti-hero, literature, movies, and television have broadened their scope of the concept of what constitutes a leading man and hero. So now we have all sorts of sub-textures that can be added to our main man to make him more intriguing and interesting – and three-dimensional instead of the almost cardboard ‘white hat’ heroes of decades past. Because the thing about most anti-heroes is that they usually aren’t very likable. In fact, most of them are loners and a bit difficult to understand or know. Does that description sound a bit familiar? Yes, Straker is definitely an anti-hero.
But unlike most of that class of men, Commander Straker started out as a hero in the first place. As shown in the first episode, Identified, he was a Colonel in the Air Force (looking very sexy in his uniform) and shown from the beginning scenes as someone who would eventually be a force to be reckoned with in military circles. But as the episode continues, we find him ten years later a very different man. Colder, harder, and quite the enigma. Still a leader – and obviously a very good one who has prevailed against overwhelming odds to make something out of nothing [SHADO] in order to save his world. But the price of that fight is everywhere to be seen in his demeanor. Gone is the cordial but dedicated man we glimpsed in the limo, and in his place is a man whose fierce dedication to duty burns hauntingly in his eyes – and colors every harsh decision he makes. In the words of Richard Nixon, there was ‘no more Mr. Nice Guy.’
Later episodes explore the reasons behind the change in him (to the delight of the viewers, who couldn’t get enough of his biting sarcasm and rare warm smile), but it’s obvious by the end of the first episode that the main man wasn’t going to be someone likable and lovable. The hero of those first few minutes was firmly defined by the end of that hour as an anti-hero. Still a leader, yes. Still dedicated, yes. But definitely a pain in the ass. And that combination had (and still has) women drooling over him as their favorite leading man.
Why?
Dreamy leading men have innumerable characteristics that make them irresistible in the eyes of the women who adore them, and the men who admire them and wish they were like them. I would imagine every woman could give you a list of at least ten things she finds essential to any leading man before he can be exalted to the realm of dreamy. Most men could probably do the same, although they probably wouldn’t call them ‘dreamy.’ But those lists would vary as widely as the personalities of the people writing them down. However, there are a few key elements that every single list will include.
First, he has to be a leader. We’ve already talked about Straker’s leadership qualities, which tend to stand out more because he isn’t generally liked or understood. But his people would follow him into hell, if necessary – the mark of a true leader. Alec, his second-in-command, is not at all the leader his friend and commander is, nor does he always understand him. But his unswerving loyalty gives us a clue that there is definitely something worth following in this man – beyond the sarcasm, beyond the harshness of his words, beyond the pressures of his command. Paul, the fledgling recruit who is far too immature and brassy to even be considered as a leader, is nonetheless being groomed for that position by their fierce commander. By the end of the first (and only) season, we see that Paul has grown some and is much closer to the capability of command than was first evident, and we have to assume that Straker saw something in him that we didn’t.
Which leads us to our next key point. In order to be a perfect leading man and secure the adoration of the ladies for all eternity, it’s necessary for the main character to be intelligent. And more than just of average intelligence, too. He needs to be brilliant. Wise. And able to think on his feet in a crisis situation. Straker is assuredly all of these. Most episodes bring these qualities into play, since the show constantly put him into scenarios that were confusing, troubling, and sometimes downright inexplicable.
It is an undeniable fact that women are drawn to a brilliant man. Especially one who doesn’t flaunt that intelligence, but simply does his work as if it’s the norm. Of necessity, highly intelligent men tend to be quiet. You can’t think hard if you’re talking all the time. And women simply love a smart quiet man. There’s something about their very silence that makes people think there is much more to them beneath the surface, rather on the order of an iceberg’s tip. And curiosity about what might lay beneath the enigmatic surface of their chosen man has gotten more than one woman into trouble over the centuries. As enigmas go, Straker is right up there with the best of them. No matter how much of his background the series revealed to us, we wanted to know more. And we reveled in every opportunity we got to glimpse what he was thinking.
Our third key element is the most important by far. The dreamiest leading men all require this one trait that sets them apart from their peers. They must be compassionate. But don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking mushy wimps who let everyone run all over them. Not at all. In fact, most anti-heroes seem at first glance to be anything but compassionate. Even to their friends (see Alec’s response when he hands in his resignation in Computer Affair.) I’m talking about the innate humanity that surfaces at unexpected moments, giving the viewer a glimpse into the inner workings of their leading man. Such as when Straker lets the operative who just had a baby go home early at the end of Confetti Check A-OK. Again in Court Martial after the court rules for Foster’s guilt with no real evidence against him, Straker gives him a look of great compassion before he leaves the courtroom. Or conversely, when the commander unknowingly reveals his disgust at the machinations of the adulterous pair in The Square Triangle by saying tersely, "Get them out of here!"
But the most revealing instance of all was in Sub Smash, when he orders the last crew member off the damaged sub, knowing there won’t be enough air to get himself safely off as well. Self-sacrifice is a theme that shows up in UFO over and over, and Straker definitely leads his team by example in episode after episode as he lays down his life and everything he cares about for the good of the planet as a whole. The little old blind lady in A Question of Priorities calls him a ‘good man’ at the end of that episode. And although he doesn’t see it, his audience does. We know she’s right. He is a good man. Even a great one. And it makes all his harshness easier to deal with, all the biting sarcasm, all the impatience when things aren’t done right or on time. Because we know, above all else, that Straker is a good man.
A true hero. In spite of his flaws. And nothing is more alluring or sexy to any woman.