“Male Fantasy” According to Entourage.

Men Only Want One Thing: Friendship.

First a message to the cast of Entourage on their 20th Anniversary: congrats on 20 years, boys! I will be ripping a bong and wearing the ugliest shirt I can find to properly honor you!

Anyways.

I would not say Entourage is my favorite show. I would not say Entourage is a good show (well, this depends on who is asking). But I would say I am currently obsessed with binge-watching Entourage. 

A brief synopsis of the show that kept incels entertained for nine years, for those unfamiliar, is this: The struggles of becoming successful in showbiz are explored through the journey of an up-and-coming Hollywood star, Vincent Chase, and his entourage made up of childhood friends filling various jobs for the star as an elaborate ruse to hang out with each other forever. 

Entourage undeniably exalts the patriarchy by further romanticizing being white, rich, and a womanizer. On its base level, the show is appealing to the surface male fantasy of having unending money, power, and, in their words, “bitchez”. However, based on closer viewing, there is a deeper, significant male yearning that Entourage capitalizes on.

According to Entourage, the male fantasy is being accepted for who you are. The dream is an opportunity to be your authentic self in exchange for true friendships. This is seen in how the characters are absolute losers who abstain from the traditional norms of masculinity, yet are accepted by men and, somehow against all odds even still, are wanted by women.

Loveable (?) Losers

The guys in the group are not inherently “masculine” by the limited mainstream ideals. They do not fix cars, they are never seen working out, and could be described as “whiney”. The slight exception is, Vincent Chase.

Vincent Chase is the sun in which all the other characters orbit. He acts as Messiah to his entourage of loser friends, by providing them with a purpose (jobs), and performing several miracles, such as getting them laid, or getting them custom sneakers. What makes him a loser is that he lives with his three best bros and never makes a decision that is not filtered through at least two other people. He is also the character with the least amount of screen time.  

Being a rich and famous actor is not the story of the show and, therefore not the solution to the Male Fantasy. If the story was about Vincent Chase it would be called something like “Chasing Hollywood” (HBO, please call me to discuss collaborating on a spin-off series). Instead, it is called Entourage, in reference to the group of people surrounding the actor. In other words, the dream is not to be a celebrity, the dream is to be in a friend group that may contain a celebrity.

The most important friend is Eric, Vince’s manager. He is portrayed as normal by being the only one who can even have a steady girlfriend. He is portrayed as a loser for devoting his life to wiping his best friend’s butt. The way Eric cares for Vince is similar to the way that a self-proclaimed “boy-mom” obsesses over her son. Eric would do anything for Vince, including bottle feeding if asked. 

***There is also Ari Gold and I hate to sound like a 35-year-old man with a blog devoted to Entourage but he is one of my favorite T.V. characters. Please know I am shuddering while typing! I am sorry! I am afraid to attempt to say more! He was not necessarily “friends” with this group since childhood so he will be excluded from this argument. ***

The two characters that made me realize what the show was really about were Turtle and Drama. Turtle wears exclusively matching hats and t-shirts, he is obsessed with sneakers, and he has no “job” in the friend group except for sometimes driving a car to a fro. Drama is the older brother of Vince who is slowly becoming less and less relevant.  They Dumb and Dumber each other by constantly failing upwards. Their main M.O. is to get laid, which hardly happens. Pun intended. Their desperation is as palpable as their parallels to the famous duo, Bert and Ernie. 

“Bitchez”

Despite all of their flaws, every character has an endless supply of the hottest women in the world that they interact with. Don’t say Entourage never did anything for society, as it created hundreds of jobs for hot brunette women. Thank you, producer, Mark Wahlberg!

I would argue that there are more conversations about having and have-nots of sex than there is sex. When there is a “sex scene” it is often with an embarrassing conclusion or humiliating repercussions. Yes, women are objects in this world, and unfortunately, there is still a sub-sect of men who worship and replicate the treatment of women on the show in their real life. They are also probably known as losers.

Watching Drama brag to a woman, who was wearing a bathing suit inside for no reason, about having a part in Rush Hour 3, to which she replied, in earnest, “That’s sick” and walked away was the light bulb moment for me.  

The idea of women in this world is to push the need for acceptance further, the kind of acceptance that could only truly be fulfilled by a bro.

Best Friends Forever

The boys of Entourage know each other's deepest secrets. They share their fears, failures, and wins as if they were a family. What propels their closeness is the fact that they grew up together. They shared a childhood. Now, they are (trying to) enter into adulthood, together.  Their past of being from Queens, New York is an irreplaceable bond. They are truly best friends for life. At the end of the nine seasons and a movie, that is what Entourage is all about, friendship.

This show was candy for a certain cult of men. Yet, even in this fantasy world of their own creation, the characters are made to be losers. These are normal guys in outlandish circumstances who would have the same intentions and dynamic if they were still living in Queens, New York. Therefore, what is so enticing is that they are doing it all together as themselves. They can be exactly who they are and still go to movie premieres. There is no compromise to be accepted by their childhood friends, and their lavish Hollywood lifestyle. If anything is clear, it is how much they love each other. As far as I can tell, male friendships have two requirements, giving each other nicknames and giving each other unconditional love, which is well achieved.

The dream is not to be suave, a player, or even successful. The dream is to be surrounded by your best friends. The ultimate luxury is getting to stay connected to your childhood self, perhaps the “real” version of yourself, by having the pleasure of being accepted and loved by the people who have always been there for you.

And wouldn’t we all be so lucky?