(Cont’d) … and though masquerading as an interpretation of the ‘80s American television series, the plot of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum (aka ‘The Charming Potato’) as policemen working undercover in a highschool is actually a metaphor for the Western male’s prolonged adolescence in not only behaviour but insecurity, as the castration anxiety [see Appendix: Freud] of infancy is re-experienced. This need to assert their masculinity manifests itself in a series of infantile “dick” and “fag” jokes.
In a typical scene, Tatum asserts to a drug dealer that he will “beat [his] dick off.” This phrasing leads the drug dealer to disgustedly believe that Tatum wants to masturbate him – an even more feared threat. At this point, translator Hill explains the irony; when Tatum threatened to “beat [the drug dealer’s] dick off”, he meant he would punch drug dealer’s genitalia in such a strong, manly fashion that they would fall off, thus emasculating him as he wouldn’t be able to have forceful sex with women whose bodies he objectifies and minds he hates. When Tatum finally arrests drug dealer, he proves his dominance by simulating anal rape upon him while shouting “You have the right to… SUCK MY DICK!” This is presented as a comedic highpoint and a jubilant victory, as threats of sexual violence against men are of course funny, but only as long as there is no actual homosexual desire behind them.
To offset any confusion between the ‘heterosexual bromance comedy’ genre and the narrower ‘homosexual drama’ genre (see Appendix: Brokeback Mountain), clichéd heterosexual relationships assert that Hill and Tatum’s friendship is based on ‘guy love’ (see Appendix: Scrubs) , not ‘gay love.’ Thus Tatum attracts the obsessive attention of a teacher (Bridesmaid’s Ellie Kemper) and Hill flirts with student Brie Larson, as desperate, one-dimensional “cougars” and jailbait are the most desirable conquests for heterosexual male; the unequal relationship dynamics assert the male’s irresistible, youthful virility and their dominance over naïve females, respectively.