Frankly speaking, I didn’t have a lot of expectations from Real Men, but the Netflix series really took me by surprise. It was an entertaining watch, and from the characters to the storyline, I loved absolutely everything about it. The series reiterates the fact that men today need to tone down their aggressiveness, be a little more expressive, a tad bit more vulnerable, and understand what masculinity really means. I am glad that, today, a majority of men are willing to change, adapt, and understand the perspective of their partners. They are willing to embark on journeys together where they have a partnership, a sense of companionship, rather than just forcing their own lifestyle on their partner. That said, let’s find out what happened in the series, and explore the conflicts the 4 couples encounter on their journey.
Spoiler Alert
What did Mattia’s daughter make him do?
Mattia had separated from his wife, Federica, and though the latter wanted to file for a divorce, there were a lot of disagreements between them pertaining to the sale of certain property, because of which they were in a deadlock. But I believe that the real reason why Mattia was stalling Federica time and again was that he still loved her, and he just couldn’t imagine his life without her. But Mattia’s ego was too big to accept that fact. One day, Mattia’s daughter, Emma, came to his house after she had an argument with her mother. Emma decided to stay with Mattia despite her mother’s wishes. Emma’s presence in Mattia’s life came as a blessing in disguise. I have to say here that, of his three friends, Mattia was the least patriarchal. He was a sensitive man who, to some extent, was in touch with his feminine side, even after hanging out with a bunch of sexist and homophobic people. Mattia was probably the first one who felt that his friend group (which consisted of Luigi, Massimo, and Riccardo) never expressed themselves, and all they did was have small talk. Basically, nobody was aware of what was happening in each others’ lives, and often they got to know about the details from their respective partners. Like when Ilenia asked her husband, Riccardo, to open their marriage, the latter didn’t speak a word to his friends (apart from secretly confiding in Massimo). It was Ilenia who discussed the matter with Tiziana, Luigi’s wife, and that’s how the others came to know about it. It was Mattia who asked his friends to attend a class where an expert taught them how to deconstruct their toxic masculinity, though the others were totally averse to the idea. Meanwhile, Emma wanted her parents to be happy, and she told Mattia that, in order to achieve that happiness, he would have to move on from Federica. Emma made her father create an account on Tinder, and she made sure that he went out on dates frequently. Emma had a rule, that if a man was able to see 10 different girls, then he could successfully move on from his past relationship. Mattia met all sorts of people, and he experienced things that he never had before. He got to know about his likes and dislikes. He got to understand what other women found attractive in him. But as it is said, the heart wants what it wants. Even after meeting several girls, Mattia was just not able to imagine his life without Federica. At the end of Real Men, a twist came when Mattia and Federica met to submit their divorce papers. Federica noticed that Mattia had changed as a person, and had evidently become more mature. One thing led to another, and they both ended up sharing an intimate moment together. Mattia didn’t tell Emma about it till the end, though I do believe that he would very soon find the appropriate time and inform her about what had happened.
Did Tiziana and Luigi reconcile?
I never expected Luigi to be such an affectionate and caring man. I thought that, just like Massimo and Riccardo, he was an extremely toxic and sexist man. But it wasn’t so. Luigi was an extremely perceptive and kind human being. He never cheated on his wife, he never disrespected her, he loved his children, and he made sure he took out some time from his schedule and spent quality moments with the family. But still Tiziana was not happy in their relationship. She craved physical intimacy, but for some reason, Luigi was just not able to get intimate with her. Tiziana knew that her husband was a really good man, but she just couldn’t suppress her desire for intimacy. Tiziana reached a point where all she could think of, her entire day, was getting physically intimate and satiating her carnal desires. Luigi went on an all boys’ trip with his friends when Tiziana decided to do something very unlike her. She was infatuated by her trainer, and crossed the line by making out with him. A part of her did feel guilty, but the pleasure of indulging in a sexual act just overpowered everything else. Tiziana was not somebody who just went around and had multiple affairs. And obviously, when she saw Luigi and their kids and she noticed how good a father he was, she felt even more eager to tell him the truth. One day, Tiziana mustered all her courage and told Luigi that she needed some time apart. It didn’t take long for Luigi to figure out that his wife was having an affair with another man. Now, in this scenario, it becomes very easy to pin the entire blame on Tiziana, but in reality, marriage is not so simple. Two people need to put a lot of work together to keep their relationship afloat. Tiziana was feeling frustrated, and she had all the right to take a call to separate. The grounds for separation felt quite frivolous to Luigi’s friends, but the good part was that Luigi never disrespected his wife behind her back, even though she had betrayed his trust, according to him. But that period of separation, when Luigi and Tiziana were not together, worked as a magic cure for their relationship. As much as Luigi would have wanted to, he didn’t chase his wife. Instead, he worked on himself. He focused on his diet and started working out regularly. Also he had a big shift in his perspective after Tiziana left. He self-analyzed his actions and became a better version of himself. It didn’t take long for Tiziana to realize that she loved him. Luigi had rented Massimo’s house for his son’s birthday, and during the party, out of the blue, he shared an intimate moment with Tiziana. He hadn’t come to the party expecting anything would happen between them, but ultimately it all turned out for the best. Tiziana and Luigi got back together and they were able to rekindle that spark that they once had between them.
Why did Ilenia decide to leave Riccardo?
Riccardo and Ilenia’s case was rather a peculiar one, and it wouldn’t be wrong to say here that the former had a lot of underlying issues that he really needed to deal with. Riccardo was having an affair with Valentina, his business partner, Carlos’ wife. Riccardo didn’t feel an ounce of guilt for betraying his own friend and even his own wife, as he was one of those who lived under the illusion that he was an extremely faithful man just because he hadn’t been caught up until then. One day, Ilenia came to Riccardo and told him that she wanted to have an open marriage. Ideally it should have been good news for him, as he could act without any fear and do what he had been doing for a long time. But no. The irony of every man who cheats is that they can’t stand to see their partner with another man. I mean, Riccardo was literally betraying Ilenia’s trust, and his ego was so fragile, his insecurities so high, that the moment she told him to open their marriage, he just flipped out. Riccardo felt that attending that class where the coach taught them to get rid of patriarchy was just a massive waste of time. He attended just because Mattia asked him to, but he never had any intention of implementing what he was taught in his life. Ilenia wanted Riccardo to go out and indulge with other people, but he was just not ready to do it. The way he reacted after getting to know that Ilenia was going to meet other guys made it feel like he was the most faithful person in the entire world. Riccardo wanted Ilenia and his relationship to be exclusive in nature, which meant that he could go out in secret but she couldn’t. Riccardo’s mother noticed that her son was extremely disturbed, and she came and talked to Ilenia about it. Once Ilenia got to know that Riccardo was not doing well mentally, she decided to quit the idea of having an open marriage. But then Ilenia unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, got to know about Riccardo’s secret. She overheard a conversation Riccardo had with his business partner, and she realized that the man who apparently felt mentally disturbed when she told him she wanted to go out with other guys had been cheating on her for ages. Actually, Carlos caught Riccardo and his wife, Valentina, red handed, and after that he asked Riccardo to sell his shares and leave the business as he just didn’t want to see his face. On the day Riccardo was supposed to sign the documents, Ilenia asked to accompany him since he had bought the shares in her name. Riccardo got very tense as he didn’t want the truth to come out in the open. He had told Ilenia that he wanted to start a new business which was why he was taking an exit. But once Ilenia overheard the conversation, she realized that Riccardo had made a mockery of their relationship. Ilenia did the right thing by deciding to part ways with Riccardo, and to teach him a lesson she even sold his entire share in the business for a dollar. But the point remained – did Riccardo learn from his mistakes? I don’t think so. In Real Men‘s ending we saw him making plans to open another business and there didn’t seem to be any sort of guilt within him.
Was Massimo threatened by Daniela’s success?
Patriarchy and sexism was not only reflected in Massimo’s actions, it was so deeply ingrained within him that he had a problem when his fiancee started earning more than him. We saw in Real Men’s beginning that Massimo was fired from his job as he had a very misogynistic attitude towards things, and at times he had produced shows and approved certain scripts that offended a lot of people. Massimo’s wife, Daniela, always wanted to start something of her own. She started posting fitness and health videos, and soon her content became viral. Massimo was not very happy about it, and his fragile ego was hurt the moment he realised that his wife could potentially earn more than him. He felt that he’d been toppled from his position of power and that made him feel very vulnerable. Being vulnerable is not a sign of weakness, but for somebody like Massimo, it was the worst thing that could happen. Slowly, Daniela’s channel became so popular that sponsors started to come forward to make deals with her. Massimo always had a condescending outlook towards Daniela, and like a sore loser, he could never acknowledge her efforts. Massimo also attended the same class, where they were taught to unlearn what they knew and get rid of a patriarchal mindset. But the coach’s words triggered Massimo so much so that he decided to start his own channel where he challenged the beliefs of those who felt that his toxic ways were wrong. He named his channel “Reconstruction of Virility” as a response to the class that he and his friends attended. Massimo eventually gained a lot of followers, and it showed how the majority of men still felt that being toxic, having a sexist outlook, was proof of their masculinity. It’s tough for a single woman to survive in a patriarchal society but what is even more claustrophobic is to be in a relationship with a toxic man and put up with his absurdites. Daniela spoke to her followers about the importance of being financially independent and how it was important for them to find their voice. But once the followers got to know that she was Massimo’s partner they started trolling her. Things became so bad for Daniela that her manager left her and she lost all her brand endorsements and deals. Not even once did Massimo show any kind of empathy towards her. He treated her as if she was the enemy and that she had no right to say anything to him. Massimo went to give an interview with the same channel he used to work for earlier. On that show, Daniela told the entire world that she didn’t approve of her husband’s ideology, and in fact she was totally against such toxic behavior.
In Real Men’s ending, Daniela decided to leave Massimo for good. She realised that she couldn’t live with a man who felt threatened by her success. She’d never wanted to belittle Massimo in any manner but somehow the latter just didn’t like the fact that she could support the family. There was no sense of partnership that existed between them – Massimo was a pseudo alpha male for whom everything was fine so long as he was the sole earning member since that gave him a sense of authority and the power to dictate terms. The financial dependency he had on his wife made him feel weak, and his egoistic self couldn’t gulp down the fact that she was the sole breadwinner of the family. When Daniela decided to leave, he tried to stop her by saying that he had bought the house just for her. Daniela loved him, but she also knew him way too well. She gave him a piece of her mind and told him that he shouldn’t fool himself by saying such things, as all his actions had been motivated by his own selfish interests.
At the end, I wanted to know if the events that transpired had any sort of impact on all four of them or not. I believe that, while on one end, Luigi and Mattia adapted to changing sensibilities and the viewpoint of their partners, Massimo and Riccardo just refused to change with time and bring a shift in their perspective. I would love to see what happens next with the characters, in case the makers decide to extend the franchise and come up with a season 2. I would like to live under the impression that, by then, Riccardo and Massimo will realize where they went wrong and try to change for good.
