The Legacy of John Singleton, The Year of Male Tears and How Fat Thor Got Fat so Quickly

Lay off my man, fat Thor. You watch half of everyone you ever love get vaporized in an instant and see if you don’t turn to a pint (or 12) of Ben & Jerry’s.

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“Understanding Black Boyz Through the Empathetic Lens of John Singleton”
Yesterday, America — and Black America in particular — lost a legend in Boyz in the Hood director John Singleton, whose powerful films told stories of how black boys become black men. Zaron Burnett III writes that Singleton made movies with the goal of expressing the truth of Black American life as he knew it, a life that audiences could feel and could empathize with, and a life that many Hollywood studios had little interest in. READ MORE

Thor, God of Thunder Thighs

It surprised many who saw Avengers: Endgame this weekend to see that, in the time since the last movie, Thor had gotten a bit “wide,” and that it seemingly happened so fast. Which, naturally, got us thinking: If Thor, God of Thunder, ate and drank his way from his usual hardbody self to a run-of-the-mill dad body, how long (and how many mugs of ale) did it take him? We asked a certified personal trainer to break it down for us.

Herzog (Not) On Herzog

German filmmaker Werner Herzog would like to talk about his new film, Meeting Gorbachev — about Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union — and absolutely nothing else. Not his motivations for making the film. Not the film’s ambitions. Not how he views himself as a director. In fact, Tim Grierson’s interview with the legendary iconoclast is as captivating for what he really, REALLY didn’t want to talk about as it is for the things he would.

I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying

It’s 2019: Men aren’t just crying, they’re sobbing — violently. Some in public; others shrouded in privacy. Some in shame; others wrought with pride. In fact, it seems like over the last 12 months, men are crying more than ever before. And as the tears continue to flood our cheeks, there’s no question that a paradigm shift is taking place.

Everybody Dance. Now.

For some reason, guys have lost their will to dance. Our collective two-left feet has gotten so bad, in fact, that even Diddy is taking to Instagram in a campaign for more dancing and less standing while women shake a leg on the dance floor.

In light of Diddy’s efforts to get men to move their feet, Tierney Finster took a trip down an internet wormhole to figure why American men seemingly have such an aversion to grooving.

First-Person Spewer

Quinn Myers can’t play video games without blowing chunks. Ten minutes of running around in Breath of the Wild (the most recent installment of the Zelda series), and he’s running to the bathroom to barf his brains out. While not every gamer has a similar reaction, motion sickness from video games is not an uncommon effect. Myers asked a ophthalmologist what it is about gaming that can trigger our need to hurl, and what, if anything, can be done about it.

Comedy Gold

The six episodes of Tim Robinson’s new Netflix sketch show, I Think You Should Leave — which feature scads of SNL alums and comedians like Andy Samberg, Vanessa Bayer and Cecily Strong — are a master class in surreal. But underneath the cringe-inducing humor, Robinson also offers a gentle spoof (and sometimes a rebuke, intentionally or not) of modern masculinity.

Endorphin Rush

When you think of treatments for depression, you probably imagine exercise, some therapy, perhaps some meditation and likely an antidepressant. Odds are masturbation isn’t on that list — but maybe it should be. Because though it might sound strange, beating your meat releases mood-boosting endorphins. And even professionals agree that, if mixed with the more conventional therapies, masturbation can be a piece of the puzzle in the fight against depression.

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Jeff Gross

Jeff Gross is MEL’s senior editor for social media and content marketing. His daily ICYMI column, which chronicles all things meta on the site, is the quickest way to catch up on MEL, and the funniest thing you’ll read all day. Follow him on Twitter.