Healthy Male Friendship on TV

  There isn’t a lot of representation of healthy male friendship in the media. When two men are friends in a show or a movie they aren’t shown being vulnerable toward each other. One example is in Never Have I Ever, with Trent and Paxton. They claim they are best friends but they don’t know any deep personal information about each other. Trent doesn’t learn that Paxton is half-Japanese until the middle of the first season, although they claim to be childhood best friends. They do have a few deep conversations in season 3, but Trent’s whole identity within the show is being dumb and goofy, so the scene isn’t really taken very seriously due to the general lightheartedness of his character. 

It took a lot of thought for me to identify a representation of healthy male friendship on TV because there just aren’t that many examples. I realized that Scotty and Bo from The Wilds provide a good representation of what healthy male friendship should look like. Season 2 of The Wilds focuses on a group of eight boys who get stranded on an island. The boys came in pairs, but Scotty and Bo are the only ones who were actually friends with one another before the island. Their personalities balance each other out nicely and they fit perfectly as friends. Throughout the show, the boys go through a lot of tension as a group, but Scotty and Bo always stick together. Although both characters individually have growth to be achieved, I still think they are a perfect representation of what a healthy male friendship should look like. 

When they first arrive on the island, the boys are naturally upset and arguing about how to deal with their situation, but Scotty and Bo immediately decide that no matter what happens with a group they will always stick together. At first, they hide food from the group, but Bo starts to feel guilty a little later. They have an argument about it, but Scotty soon changes his mind. The way they deal with their argument shows how strong their friendship is. It’s normal for friends to argue, but the way they deal with it shows how healthy their friendship is. The argument ends with them both apologizing
and Scotty thanking Bo for making the right decision for both of them and the rest of the group. 

We get a flashback a few episodes into the season. The show provides a lot more examples of what makes Scotty and Bo’s relationship so healthy. Bo’s dad is abusive, and because of that Bo is always scared of making a mess in his house and having to face the consequences from his father. Scotty always helps calm Bo down and clean up his house before his dad gets home. There is another scene in their flashback where they break into Scotty’s old house. Even though they commit a few crimes in this scene, they have a vulnerable conversation and help each other let out their frustrations from their home lives. Bo and Scotty know almost everything about each other, and they help one another work through their emotions. They feel safe talking together about personal things, and they are able to be vulnerable with each other. Even though they fight sometimes, their friendship is still one of the only healthy things in their lives.