Gravity Falls: S1E6 "Dipper vs. Manliness" (Ep-By-Step #7) · 6:23pm Dec 11th, 2022
In which, when somepony tries to block, show them THAT YOU ROCK!
SPOILERS
GENERAL SPOILER POLICY: "Blogs in the Ep-By-Step series may or may not spoil content found in later episodes. Viewer discretion is therefore advised."
Release date for "Putting Your Hoof Down": March 3rd, 2012.
Taurus astrological sign: April 20th to May 20th.
No one cares about June. It's the girly month.
Release date for "Dipper vs. Manliness": July 20th, 2012.
Year of the Ox: 2009... and 2021! Which (rearranged) makes 2012!
The Mayans were right! Y2K was waiting for the perfect moment! This country's really run by... THE PATRIOTS!
I WAS RIGHT...
...IT IS A LOAD OF BULL!
OK, I don't actually think this is anything more than a coincidence. Bulls are manly, minotaurs are double manly, therefore it makes sense to invoke them for a fantasy version of an aggressiveness-assertiveness-passiveness study and/or braindead machoism... sorry, machismo. Besides, there's no evidence the two studios of Hasbro and Disney were ever in contact with each other, much less exchanged notes.
The parallels are amusing, though. Iron Will may sell his aggression rather than agree by council to teach it, and the details about how that aggression is expressed and why both vary. But the skeletal structure of these episodes is the same:
- our protagonist (Dipper, Fluttershy) is insecure about their low place in the pecking order,
- minotaur (Chutzpar, Iron Will) comes along to show them a better way,
- said better way turns out to be pointless aggression,
- protagonist realizes it's unethical when confronted with an innocent victim (Multi-Bear, Rarity and Pinkie Pie),
- ultimately realizes that assertion - not aggression - is the better way to go.
Man, if Iron Will and Grunkle Stan ever teamed up to start a business...
I won't go into too much depth about the parody of toxic masculinity being a cover for inflicting pointless harm and then celebrating it - i.e. ideological sadomasochism - if only because the ep makes that clear enough. I mean, they're called "Manotaurs". "Manotaurs" is just a naturally freaking funny pun. End discussion.
At least Gravity Falls avoids the obvious "jackass parody" path: it's surprisingly good at making the "Manotaurs" (Chutzpar especially) likeable prior to the final act, more like a bunch of overgrown lost boys than actual vicious bastards (at least until Leaderaur steps in).
The show will do something similar later with the boy band episode, eviscerating the broader system while depicting its central symbols as just innocent fools who don't have a clue. I suppose the obvious rationale is that it makes spending a whole episode with these guys more immediately enjoyable. In addition to the snickering comedy, I mean.
This, for example. People still play these things?
That said, I think it also ends up working kinda well for the parody too. Instead of 100% lambasting toxic masculinity as nasty for nasty's sake (though it does that, come the climax), it allows the get-out clause that some of those who partake in being "macho" might simply not know any better. Even Dipper's pretty happy hanging around in the hot spring with his new pals on their initial, up-front terms.
Of course, if this had just been one long episode of training Dipper to be a even bigger badass than he already is, that'd be one thing. The old leader fakeout isn't just a funny gag, but promptly tips us off that there's a dark side too, and we just found it.
No, not that one.
Wanting to be physically strong and resistant to pain is on a different level to killing something for the sake of bragging rights, and that unveiling of the Manotaur club at its worst also shines a light on what the heck they've been doing all this time.
For one thing, they're a good example of groupthink.
"This newspeak doublethink makes my big brother hurt."
That is, they're insular - hidden away in a Man Cave flexing muscles at each other - and a pretty samey group - apart from the old dude and the excessive overgrowth of Leaderaur, pretty much all of them are physically and mentally interchangeable. Their leader is a bully (ha! pun!) who doesn't tolerate or accept deviancy, i.e. he's close-minded and power-oriented.
It's not a great combination.
From these starting details, it's a downward spiral. They practically worship - and get in firm line with - their own hypermasculine ideals - which is apparently just for in-group show, since they don't do anything with it for the outside world (think of all the threats around Gravity Falls they could save people from). Such is their belief in their inherent goodness that Dipper's refusal to play along is an instant moral fail, no argument, no questions.
Also, note that they were reluctant to teach Dipper in the first place: he had to use brain magic to turn their own masculine ideals against them before they'd say yes.
"đ” Braining is magic... Braining is magic...đ” Oh hey, a My Little Pony reference."
Their conventions have stagnated to the point that anything outside said conventions is anathema. Merely liking a "girly" song or being past his prime respectively mark the Multi-Bear and the old Manotaur out for dehumanization, and therefore makes them fair game.
Even Chutzpar, who to be fair is genuinely trying to help Dipper, comes across as an unintentional recruiter for a secret cult. (Heck, maybe the fact he's the only one seen outside their usual territory means he's become a little more open-minded than the norm?).
It's not just "toxic masculinity is dumb": there are a couple more subtle layers packed into the critique. Or else I'm projecting my own interests. Either way, I think it's pretty solid.
Advertising in a nutshell.
Oh yeah, there was a subplot in here, wasn't there?
Seriously, why are men so bad at this one?
You could argue a prior episode (like, literally the last episode) was a better example, but this seems to me the prime candidate for "first episode where Dipper does all the interesting stuff while Mabel mucks about elsewhere". Unlike the second episode, she doesn't have any stake in Dipper's main quest, nor does she even nominally tag along like she does in the fifth episode. She's just... elsewhere, and we cut back and forth between her and Dipper throughout.
It's stuff like this that makes it easy to see Mabel as a joke character. In other episodes, I could defend against that accusation. Here... it's just sorta there.
So, in an ironic parallel, Mabel's trying to draw out Grunkle Stan's... I suppose "feminine" side, though in practice it's mostly her going full matchmaker mode. And it's kinda pointless, as the Lazy Susan romantic interest promptly vanishes once the credits are rolling. Her turning out to be a crazy cat lady, I don't mind at all as a punchline, but especially on a rewatch, I find it hard to care about this subplot beyond having another round of Grunkle gags. There's simply not much meat to it.
Plenty of hair, though. 
Meanwhile...
Having already gone the anti-celebrity route two eps prior, and even thrown us our less-interesting teenage jerkwads last episode, Gravity Falls is now going full Simpsons, and I mean that in the good, classic way.
Hence Greasy's Diner ("We have food!" - headcanon now says Lazy Susan must have written their slogan). It would fit very neatly in a Springfieldian world where stupid gimmicks and rundown crap are the norm (who makes a timber log diner in a forest full of woodpeckers and beavers!?), and wherein the employees are incompetent. Although Gravity Falls, perhaps in response to the Disney influence, makes them less "cynical shells" and more "just weird and off, possibly braindead".
Lazy Susan is a good example. In fact, she's almost a GF version of Derpy: works in a menial post with no sign of job dissatisfaction despite, well, kinda sucking at it; has funny eyes; loveably direct and cheerful; er... likes cats? I'm sure Derpy has a cat, right?
In before Lazy-Susangate demands a redub. WINK!
In a Simpsons show, she'd probably be some subspecies of soul-shrivelled jerkass, which would give the joke more bite. Here, she's another overgrown child in a cast full of 'em, and in return that kinda adds a little more loveable charm to Gravity Falls than to Springfield. They're surprisingly close, though: the incompetence thing stands out. Right? Right?
Pictured: me trying to make my analogy work.
In another Simpsons comparison, we're now getting our parade of oddball recurring background characters. In the diner scene alone, we get Old Man McGucket, Manly Dan, Wendy, and the dimwit duo of Sheriff Blubbs and Deputy Durland in quick succession, just doing their thing.
The community-building (like worldbuilding, but with a cast) is getting better - unlike episode two, where they were mostly just thrown at us, by now we've seen each one in their natural habitat, so it's more rewarding to catch them off-duty (story-wise) and just enjoy the antics they bring to the table.
Chief Wiggum: "That's some good work, boys."
As another example, this episode introduces "cute biker" (I think? Was he in the bar scene in episode three?). A.K.A. The guy who says, "Get 'em! Get 'em!" Another Simpsons hallmark was mixing high-brow comedy with just plain stupid, always a good thing for multidemographic appeal and/or for when you just like stupid.
I have to wonder if the most effeminate background character was introduced in the manly ep for a reason, or if it's another coincidence I'm reading too much into.
Overall? We're very much back into "Monster-of-the-Week" mode, with this one being closer to the fantasy end of the scale than the horror end. Plus, I have to wonder how something as unsubtle as a minotaur could stay in hiding from the public (or if the Society have their work cut out around this one, especially with lumberjacks present). Combined with Mabel finally divorcing herself from the main plot to go off on her own subplot, it's easy to see this as a pretty disposable entry.
Thank goodness it's funny as hell!
"I can't think of a better time to play montage music."
Minor points of interest:
- I question whether someone as avaricious as Grunkle Stan would leave his shop - including till and money - alone with a customer inside. Maybe that's just my Scrooge-like paranoia speaking, though? Bah, humbug!
Love the fur trout. Cryptid cameo!
- Blubbs and Durland using the speed-o-meter on a pancake-eating race is hilarious. It's just the sort of equipment misuse you'd love to try out at work, isn't it?
- I don't think we ever see Lazy Susan's coworker again. Alas, Angry Broomstick Lady, we hardly knew ye. Also, given Gravity Falls' marriage laws, does her hitting a woodpecker count as domestic abuse?
- Grunkle Stan is in full cheapskate mode at the diner. Damn, he really wants to hold on to his money, doesn't he? Love that the pancake request also becomes the impetus for Dipper to try his luck on the Manliness Tester.
Another case of picking on Dipper at the beginning. It's pretty much inevitable, though, when he's trying to flex muscles he doesn't have. Come on, Dipper: your greatness lies elsewhere.
- First example of an obvious real-world song/singer being given a paper-thin disguise. It's not so much a parody as a straight-up copy of something I assume Hirsh et al grew up with. BABBA is obvious, as is "Disco Girl". And for the record: yes, I love ABBA's "Dancing Queen", and Dipper can preach it from the rooftops, YEAH!
- Love Dipper's flashback, especially his frenzied "DON'T COME IN, DON'T COME IN!"
- Manly Dan is on form this episode; it's probably not that, but I half-wonder if Dipper wants to think of himself as manly at least partly because of Wendy's dad setting the bar so high. Maybe he thinks she'd be into tough guys. Last episode's emasculating moment could still be on his mind.
- Although Manly Dan does get a Worf moment later when Chutzpar is on his way.
- What also makes the Grunkle Stan crush subplot feel so weirdly empty is how out-of-nowhere the motive is. Again, especially on a rewatch: flashbacks show Grunkle Stan clearly met her three decades ago, and he must be a regular enough visitor to the town that they'd known each other since, and there was no sign of romantic interest outside this one ep. So where does this crush come from?
- Dipper breaking down at the "mail man" bit makes me want to give him a therapist.
- Seriously, Chutzpar is great. Pretty much the moment that confirms it is when he sits down and listens to Dipper's "emotional issues". I'm glad he came back later in the finale.
- In a series revelling in dumb-yet-clever puns, "Man Cave" might just be one of my favourites.
Lazy Sooz. He's a very open-minded soul, isn't he?
Also, it's a pleasingly tidy element of the show that it throws more and more continuity nods at you as it goes along. This is just a background shot when Mabel's adding to her scrapbook, but you can recognize eps two (sort of) and three here.
- Testosteraur pretty much symbolizes this episode. "Fists for nipples" must have been a bet Hirsh made with the rest of the team.
- I thought "putting your hand in the pain hole" was banned under the Geneva Convention?
Evidence that Mabel is not Pinkie Pie: Pinkie knows her smiles, and that is not a smile.
- It's glossed over in the montage, but Dipper walks over freaking alligators. Goddamn action hero in the making, indeed.
- The montage is great, but a weird point is when the Manotaurs seem proud to have beer bellies, whereas Grunkle Stan's back in shape. That kinda sits weirdly with the Manotaurs' general obsession over hot beef.
- Another example of pleasing continuity, this time within the ep: I like how the unexplained busted fire hydrant reappears in the montage, automatically explained by the context. No big deal is made out of it. It's just there to click an extra tumbler in your brain if you're paying attention.
- As a mark of how likeable the Manotaurs are, the hot tub scene shows what a great rapport Dipper has with the group. Chutzpar's flattered-yet-embarrassed "Oh stop!" is kinda adorable, as is "I have a growth!" guy.
- Oh, for those keeping track of "things Gravity Falls gets away with scot free": cannibalism is now confirmed in the show. Onscreen, no less! And it's just brushed off at the time for a gag. Bloody hell!
- I do love the old Manotaur fakeout. Like, it goes for the hoary "wise old mentor" trope, and then interrupts it to remind you "oh yeah, these guys have muscles for brains, why the hell would they follow this sad sack?" The nonchalant way Chutzpar explains how he's "just the offering" clinches it.
- Dipper's journey to the Multi-Bear shows off to good effect what a bit of hardship training can do. Either that, or Dipper just needed an ounce of placebo to unleash himself. It's damn badass.
In yet another Simpsons parallel, the resolution to the subplot is subversive as hell. Mabel actually fails to improve Grunkle Stan, but then uses that to try and win over Lazy Susan. It looks at first like that went down like a lead balloon, but then it turns out Lazy Susan was just getting him her number and a pie ("For you!"). Happily ever after beckons... then the credits gag reveals it was a complete flop. Well, I'll give it points for screwing with the audience so well. Won't even be the last time.
- Off the top of my head, I don't know if the Multi-Bear is based on any specific cryptid, or if it's invented for the show. It seems horrifyingly plausible, though, maybe as some genetic birth defect or conjoined... octuplet? One that could've become a freak show exhibit, then escaped.
- In fact, it kinda reminds me of the weirder beasts from Magic: The Gathering. Such as the wheel lion, which I only remember because it made the list of top ten dumbest monster designs somewhere on the net. I don't remember where...
- "I accept my fate." The Multi-Bear's defeatism is kind of a downer. Like he's just going through the grandiose motions, but really he's lonely, dead depressed, and just wants to end it all. That's a lot of implication for such a simple line of dialogue.
- I also like how the show defuses its grander elements (Dipper defeating the Multi-Bear and then granting its last request) with a bit of quotidian fussiness, in this case when the bear hastily tells him how to operate the CD player. Same again in the next scene, when Dipper's stubbornness is met with disapproval, and one Manotaur lamely shouts, "Weeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaak."
For the record: this Manotaur is Beardy.
- I just wanted to make that clear.
- What makes Dipper even more awesome is that he knows damn well Leaderaur could swallow him whole, and he still tells the big guy up which jumper he can stick it.
- The ending reconciliation, with Grunkle Stan spelling out the lesson for Dipper's benefit, is OK enough for the moral itself. Contextually, though, I should point out that Stan didn't really teach him anything prior, and is only loosely responsible for triggering his insecurity in the first place: Dipper made his own mind up when he met the Multi-Bear, so the whole "tough love toughens him up" aspect I get in hindsight feels unconvincing. Even the Manotaurs early on arguably did Dipper more favours, as they at least were initially helping him.
- Mabel plucking Dipper's first chest hair to stick in the scrapbook feels like such a Mabel thing to do: celebrating Dipper's achievement whilst simultaneously undermining it.
- Mr. Catface is a hardcore teenage rebel. Prove me wrong.
And now, my last request. I wish to go out listening to one of my favourite songs:
đ” That's all, my READING QUEENS!
đ” THANK and YOU,
đ” YOU have simply BEEN
đ” READING QUEENS!
đ” WONderful!
đ” AU-di-ENCE un-SEEN!
đ” (Oh yeah!)
đ” You can post!
đ” You can chat!
đ” Down in the comments (TRUE DAAAAAAT)!
đ” Oooh!
đ” TILL next TIME!
đ” EPS so FINE!
đ” Dig it, you READING QUEENS!
đ” Ooooooooooooh!
đ” Oompoossoobloo Noomboos, oo-oot!
đ” (Ooh, yeah!)
<<< Gravity Falls: S1E5 "The Inconveniencing" (Ep-By-Step #6)
I wasn't able to find that card; but a "wheel lion" is actually a classic bit of European demonology, known as the Buer.
Someone should point out that it was implied that Fluttershy took things way too far, whereas as Dipper was at least somewhat coerced.
I would. It's more of a strategy game anyway.
Since we're talking about MLP, someone should really point out the similarities between this and changeling culture under Chrysalis.
Actually it kind of makes sense if they've had dealings with humans in the past.
Like they learned all these traditions about surviving people, but the original reason for them was forgotten, until it became a form of flexing.
Incidentally it can also be used to portray the positive sides of masculinity, such as comradery and sportsmenship.
Maybe someday.
Because skin itches?
Knowing her?
It's more likely she has a petrified muffin.
Named Biscuit.
Romance is the most poorly written modern trope, of all the poorly written modern tropes.
I blame shipping.
And hormones.
Poor Dipper. He's trying so hard.
That's just terrifying.
Oh yeah he's great. I'm glad he got one last hurrah.
Yeah the Multi-Bear crammed so many feels in one line.
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Oh, now I remember! It wasn't Magic: The Gathering at all; it was Dungeons and Dragons. And the beast in question was the Roving Mauler.
cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/720/720476.jpg
I don't remember where on the net I read about it. I must have done so years and years ago. A quick search narrows it down to one of these three possible sites:
Sensing a pattern here.
Even better, it turns out a couple of those sites mention the Buer connection too.
5702756
Fair point. I'd like to add that I think it's more a qualitative difference when they "take things too far", as well. In Fluttershy's case, as extreme as she got with Rarity and Pinkie, she was still ultimately following Iron Will's philosophy of "up yours" aggression. From bullying the incompetent gardener onwards, she was wrong from the start: this just made it more obvious.
Whereas Dipper was happily learning some potentially useful physical tips and training from the Manotaurs (give or take certain lessons, like the beer belly thing), right up until the final test pushed him from "be a tough dude" to "kill this thing because we say so, OK?" Then the peer pressure kicks in.
That is brilliant. Incidentally, I must thank you for putting in my mind the idea that Dipper is a goddamn action hero before now. That's a great frame of reference.
For a while, it kinda does. That's why I single out the hot tub scene. Dipper and the Manotaurs have got a good rapport there.
For what passes as "good masculine", I generally think more along the lines of military-esque virtues, such as physical endurance, pragmatic survivalism, a sense of duty, chains of efficient command, and yes, camaraderie certainly.
Well, women have skin too, so Does Not Compute.
Petrified muffins aside, I tend to think of her as a dog-lover. Loyal, loveable, maybe a bit dim, but a good heart nonetheless...
That may just be my biases speaking, but I could easily see Derpy with a big slobbery Alsatian or Golden Retriever.
I wouldn't go that far, if only because Dipper's unrequited crush on Wendy does work as a semi-tragic version that plays out well (semi-tragic because they still get along really well). But then I think of shows like Star Vs The Forces of Evil, and... yeah.
He too makes a welcome return in the finale. I like to think the other Manotaurs took after Dipper's example, ditched Leaderaur, and made peace with the Multi-Bear, if only because Manotaur Karaoke Night would be awesomely hilarious.
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I get where she's coming from, but I won't disagree she handles things poorly.
Not a problem. I'm glad my ideas are inspiring you. It's always nice to hear one's thoughts are good for something.
It's a great scene. Conflict is always made more interesting by emotional investment, and they do a good job here. They milked a lot of feels out of side characters who didn't really have any major roles going forward.
And mental and emotional endurance. Or the ability to poke fun at each other and take it right back. It's a surprisingly useful skill to have in social settings.
Yeah but they also have a ton of product that they use to compensate for things. Dried skin etc. Men pretty much use soap and water and that doesn't solve as many issues.
Plus, most women are more conscious about it because they know other women will make fun of them for it. Guys don't really care.
There are probably some physical differences too, but I'm not clear on all of that.
Honestly I just don't see her having the ability to keep track of a dog. I think she'd love it and do her best to take care of it, but I just don't see her being able to control it unless it was pretrained.
Dipper and Wendy is one of the few exceptions I make, because neither of them feel out of character for it.
The shy approach and attraction Dipper has feels like a believable outgrowth of his shy nerdy character. And Wendy's big sister protectiveness feels like a natural extension of her character.
So much of modern romance is just crushes that have no basis in characterization. They simply exist to gratify shippers.
I don't remember all the first season, and I made a deliberate choice to skip the third. So, I can't say that I'm an expert (or that I want to be).
From what I have seen though, Star being a wishy-washy character who can't make up her mind who she wanted to date did fit the character. We are talking about the same girl who only noticed her nation's sketchy past when Marco pointed it out.
They definitely capture the cringe subculture that surrounds teenage dating in general.
So yeah, I'm not a fan, because I don't care about romance as a rule, but it wasn't the thing that destroyed the series for me.
I loved him. I wish we had gotten more out of his character.
I get that this wasn't meant to be the kind of show where the most interesting side characters weren't reoccurring, but I do think they could've pulled it off if they had tried.
It'd would definitely be interesting.
"Put your hand in the PAIN HOLE" has sort of low-key entered my lexicon as a result of this episode. It's situationally very useful.
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It's a very situationally flexible saying, isn't it?