Vin Diesel: The Man-Brand On My Mind

What do you get when you mix Die-Hard era Bruce Willis with The Rock and sprinkle in a little Jersey-Shore Pauly D – minus the hair grease? Well, minus the hair too, actually.

You get Vin Diesel; 21st century American Man-Brand. He is to pop cinema what J Lo is to pop music: a reflection of our socio cultural climate and conflicts. in Vin’s case, he scratches the itch of an aging generational demographic trying to cope with the evolution from macho to metrosexual , using hyper-masculinity as a mollifier for today’s more feminine-focused grooming requirements….that is- if you would like to attract the attention of the ladies (or the Men, for that matter).

Yes, Vin Diesel (or as I will be calling him from now on: Vinny Gas) is the gangster who you want to take his shirt off. He is the action hero who remains impeccably coiffed and nightclub-fashion forward…in all his 45year-old glory….setting an example for those men afraid of growing in to their feminine “attention to detail” side.

In wouldn’t presume , however , that the man (Mr. Mark Sinclair Vincent) mirrors the brand image. “Vinny” grew up in theatre and likely has a softer side. But today’s man needs his media to ease him slowly into social change.

So for now there is the brand Diesel: showing off his cut abbs and soft skin and interacting in a nurturing manner with children (e.g “The Pacifier”) while still able to man-handle muscle cars with the best of them.

P.S. I appreciate you indulging my mental mayhem with this post. Ever since my viewing stats had a sudden spike a few days ago, driven by an influx of Google searches for Vin diesel connecting to my “Baldness” Blog, I have been trying to figure out the obsession. It’s a slippery slope, folks. As it turns out, “Fast Five” has recently been released into heavy rotation on one of the pay cable channels…explaining the need to reconnect with Americas favorite neo- everyday-guy-action-hero.