More Than One 'King of Men' Among Men!

It is confounding that the Starz series Outlander, hasn’t caught on with more men . . . men for whom Braveheart is one of the all-time greatest of movies.

On the one hand is the epic historical/biographical film about the fierce 13th Century Scots warrior and national hero, William Wallace, who fought to avenge the brutal murder of his beloved wife, his soulmate from childhood, and who roused his entire country in rebellion against English rule. This film is all about battles, honor, freedom and the villainous English.

On the other hand, there is another epic, a fictional TV series on Starz, about a fierce 18th Century Scots warrior, James Fraser. Fraser is a Jacobite Highlander who sends his beloved wife and unborn child to safety before the final battle against the English on Culloden Moor - a fight to maintain the Highlander way of life and to place the man they believe to be the rightful king to the throne. The series is built on themes of love, honor, bravery, battles, freedom and, again and still, even more of those villainous English.

The film about William Wallace is, of course, Mel Gibson’s Braveheart, and it is largely men who have kept it uncommonly popular (the 3rd most popular and 2nd most famous historical film) since it was released in 1995. The heroic and noble courage of Wallace and his famous cry “Freeeeedooooom!!” makes Braveheart a true guys' film.

The TV series is Outlander and, while fiction based on the books by Diana Gabaldon, the character of James Alexander Malcom McKenzie Fraser (better known as Jamie) is every bit as noble, courageous and heroic a character as any man might aspire to be, with a hearty dash of honor thrown into the mix. In a room full of men, Jamie Fraser, as portrayed by native Scotsman Sam Heughan, should be significantly raising the level of testosterone.

So how is it that the story of William Wallace in Braveheart resonates in the hearts of men? Part of his appeal is that while most men don’t necessarily aspire to become instigators of national rebellion, they identify with Wallace as an ordinary man, a farmer dedicated to the land and his father’s footsteps, who rises to the challenge of the needs of his fellow countrymen and becomes a 'king of men,' a true hero for the ages. It cannot be denied that there is a bit of that longing in the souls of more than a few men, to be heroes in the eyes of family, friends and colleagues.

Wallace’s heroism in Braveheart doesn’t stop with his life, either. He always knew his fight for freedom, his commitment to replacing English rule with the true king of Scotland, could mean the ultimate sacrifice, death. And it did, of course, end with his being horrifically drawn & quartered . . . and a hero for all time in the eyes of the film’s fans. (Pssst: never mind the film’s multiple historical inaccuracies that ignore more than a few facts, most especially that Robert Bruce never betrayed Wallace and the name “Braveheart” actually belongs to him, not Wallace.)

As a work of fiction, Outlander has more leeway on all things factual about the characters. However, the creator and writer of the book series, Diana Gabaldon, effortlessly weaves her fictional characters into situations and places that actually occurred and existed in history. The film adaptation follows her lead, continues to use meticulous research for depicting the times. Close-watching historians will notice when they dropped the ball or meddled with historical timing of events, of course, but they are minor or are intentional to enhance the storyline.

While history tells us that William Wallace’s 13th Century sacrifices contributed to independence for Scotland for a time, it does not go so well in the times of our Jamie Fraser in 18h Century. The English carried out their defeat of the Jacobite rebellion in 1746 at Culloden Moor in ways designed to not just win, but to humiliate and destroy the Highlanders and their way of life by banning the existence of the Clans, the ownership of weapons, the wearing of the kilt and all Clan plaids, and forbidding the use of their Scots Gaelic language.

Outlander and Braveheart are fairly equal for action, intrigue and betrayal, with brutal battles that produce rivers of blood and gore. And it would be impossible to not call attention to sensuous sexuality and love-making scenes, where Outlander stands far and above Braveheart. In fact, an article in Esquire (Kate Spencer, 6 April, 2016) suggests these scenes are so “sensual and hot” they should be watched over and over with this added enticement: “Pro-tip: if you do this with your lover, it totally counts as foreplay.”

So what might be some of the reasons more of those same men who hold Braveheart as one of the greatest of man’s man films of all time aren't among the fans of the Outlander series?

Could it be because the native of Scotland with the brogue to prove it, Sam Heughan, is just so handsome? Too much sparkling white teeth & flashing blue eyes? Too much 6-pack & well-defined biceps and thighs, and a bum the ladies enjoy seeing on their TV screens? Hey, he has moles on his face and serious forehead wrinkles . . . don’t those count? Meanwhile, Mel Gibson is not exactly a handsome man, even in his younger days 20 years ago as Braveheart. He IS ruggedly attractive, has a winning smile, all the while ‘rough around the edges.’ Maybe that makes Gibson more acceptable in the eyes of men who are not, as Ruby Rose, Heughan's female co-star in recently released SAS: Red Notice, declared of him, “ . . . so annoying a perfect specimen of what a man should be.” (digitalspy.com, Ian Sandwell, Jo Berry, 10 March, 2021).

Perhaps men would be more inclined to check out Outlander if they saw Sam Heughan in his recent big screen roles – an outright villain in the Vin Diesel movie Bloodshot or the previously mentioned movie based on the Andy McNab book SAS: Red Notice. As the most decorated British veteran of the elite special forces unit SAS (Special Air Service), McNab had Heughan cast for the role of Tom Buckingham, who is somewhat autobiographical, before any of the other characters were cast for this high intensity action film. McNab also names Sam Heughan as the “perfect James Bond.” (the scottishsun.co.uk, Colan Lamont, 5 March, 2021)

It’s hard to believe that the fantasy element of time travel could be a turn-off for men. Doesn’t everyone fantasize about how it might be to travel back and survive in a time, carrying so much knowledge but without all the technology of today? When you begin with a WWII former combat nurse, Claire (portrayed by Catriona Balfe), and her British intelligence officer husband, Frank Randall (Tobias Menzies) in 1945 and have that same nurse accidentally falling through standing stones in Scotland and landing in the midst of a Scots/British skirmish in 1743, things can get plenty interesting. And when Claire has no choice but to marry the young Scotsman, Jamie Fraser, to avoid being held as a spy by the villianous British officer Black Jack Randall, a direct ancestor of her 20th Century husband and who is uncannily identical-looking. But even before Claire is fully accepted within the community of Highlanders, she faces the struggle of having all the most modern knowledge of how to treat combat-related injuries, illnesses in a time and place where every tool that was available in the 20th Century simply does not exist in the 18th. That knowledge not only presents a constant challenge of trial, error and genius innovation, but also one of superstition and Claire's being labeled a "white witch."

The element of time travel actually enhances the show, especially since it gives Outlander so much freedom to blend the 18th Century and 20th Century circumstances and even social issues, in the context of both times. There is a term other than ‘political correctness’ for the struggle contemporary society is having over historical context: presentism. Presentism is applying the standards of today’s time and culture, rejecting what once was true, accepted and commonplace (male dominance, women in the workforce or having careers, slavery), and expecting to judge history by contemporary standards. (www.outlandercast.com October 23, 2019 Posted by Angela Hickey.) Time travel gives Outlander’s characters unending opportunities for conflict from both sides, often funny, occasionally horrifying, and always intriguing. It requires viewers to suspend their standards of PC for a little while, and that is not such a bad thing.

In all honesty, I have a strong suspicion there is a female element involved in the reluctance of more men to sneak a peek at Outlander. If hundreds of thousands of women of all ages are the show’s most obvious fans, calling him ‘The King of Men,’ there can’t be anything for men to enjoy or find interesting in it, right? Despite the fact that women read books written by men, watch the series and movies written/produced/directed by men, female authors don’t turn up as often in the hands of men. Shouldn't that reluctance have ended a long time ago? Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was published in 1818, after all.

The author of the eight Outlander books that form the foundation of the TV show, Diana Gabaldon isn’t typical of what most men might expect in a romance writer (whatever that might be). She had a bachelor of science in zoology, a master of science in marine biology, and a PhD in behavioral ecology well before she began to try her hand at writing a historical novel. She is absolutely impeccable at research! If something isn’t precisely historically correct, it is, most often, by design, or, on rare occasions, a slip-up by the film directors.

But this is a romance story, so . . . There certainly is romance in Outlander that includes a fair bit of steamy sex (recall that tip from Esquire), but it is a love story, albeit a very passionate love story. It is a story of the love between Jamie Fraser and Claire Randall Fraser that grows, matures and endures the reality of being separated by two-hundred years as well as their aging from youth to becoming grandparents. It is the story of the unrequited love of a man for a man that is resolved into lifelong friendship. It is the love for land, home and family. It is the love of freedom, even if it means taking up arms, again, for another fight against the English, as the story moves into the New World colonies, to achieve the promise of the future United States of America.

So there you have it. For every man who is drawn to Braveheart there are all those same reasons and more to find Outlander another source of intense and challenging entertainment. Everything you could want is there: a larger-than-life male character whose physical and personal attributes appeal to both sexes, the science fiction of time travel, amazing cinematography, a complex plot based on real history and no small amount of action!

Give Outlander a try, gentlemen. Discover the other 'King of Men.'

For your binging and watching pleasure:

The existing five seasons of Outlander are available at its home location, Starz. Season 6 will appear later this year as it completes filming, with a guaranteed Season 7 confirmed. The first four seasons of Outlander are also currently available on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Hulu.