After the gloomfest of The Mick, I needed something a little more upbeat.
So Workaholics Episode 1.9, which was heavily criticized on the Gender/Sex/Media blog as homophobic: the guys think of "homosexuality" as weird and wrong -- and something you can catch. Plus Adam uses a homophobic slur! We'll see.
Scene 1: The guys dressed as wizards in long beards and conical caps, rehearsing a rap number for the Renaissance Faire. Ders asks why Adam has ripped his shirt off: "We're trying to get people excited, right? The world needs to see the madness that is my upper torso." Can't disagree with that.
Next Ders objects to "whoring out" the art of rap, but the guys remind him that ladies with big boobs will be watching their performance, so ok.
Scene 2: At work, the guys are watching through the window as Adam lifts weights on the patio. Geez, don't you gawk at his bod enough at home? Sorry, of course there's no such thing as "enough."
Suddenly a middle-aged lady comes onto the patio to smoke: Sharon, the owner of the whole building! The guys, watching, don't understand.. "Why is that lady talking to Adam? Wait -- why are they kissing?" Well, Billy, some boys like to kiss boys, and some like to kiss girls.
Scene 3: Blake wonders where Adam has been for three days; he's missing the Wizard Rap rehearsals. He comes in to announce that he's moving in with Sharon! They're in love, they're having sex, and besides, she's helping him with his bodybuilding career. She got him a gig at the Tri-County Amateur Bodybuilding Competition. Um..buddy, anyone can sign up for those things. Blake and Ders disapprove: she's a cougar (middle aged lady who's into young guys.) Nonsense, she's the same age as Adam's mom, who has sex a lot.
He zooms away on the back of Sharon's motorcycle. The guys feel betrayed, and decide that they will break up the lovebirds. Their plan: Ders will seduce her. Won't work -- I'm sure Sharon is fine with three-ways.
Scene 4: The guys arrive at Sharon's mansion. While Adam shows Blake around, Ders asks to check out the pool (we've already established that he's a former swimming champ).
The grand tour, consisting of the various places where Adam has made "the magic happen": their bedroom, the staircase, her son's bedroom, the kitchen. Have they ever actually had sex? I think a big reveal is coming.
Meanwhile Ders goes out to the pool in a very tight Speedo and flirts with Sharon. She can't swim, so he offers to teach her.
Scene 5: Adam shows Blake the gym, where he's preparing for the bodybuilding competition. Blake wants to stall him, to give Ders enough time to complete the seduction, so he asks for a demonstration of the bicep curl. Adam likes to keep the window open during his workouts, so when he screams, people outside think he's having sex. But aren't you having sex a lot anyway?
Meanwhile, in the pool, Sharon asks Ders "Are you trying to seduce me?" She is totally open to the idea.
Scene 6: Adam looks out the window, sees Sharon and Ders flirting, and runs down in a jealous snit. "We're going to fight!"
They can't fight that way, so he has to lie down until he gets soft. But the minute the two start grabbing at each other, they both get aroused! "Your boner is contagious!" Adam exclaims. He orders Ders to put on a shirt to hide his hunkinest. What about you, Mr. Sexiest Man on the Planet? It can't be a fair fight with your gorgeousness distracting your opponent. "Wait, am I supposed to hit you or kiss you? I'll compromise with a blow job."
Ders agrees -- they're too attracted to each other for a physical fight. Maybe if they just hurl insults? Nope -- it turns into an "are you as turned on as I am?" tirade that stops just short of the kiss. And they're aroused again!
Bodybuilding after the break
Ok, so they can't fight or argue. The guys kick Adam out of the Wizard Rap Group. He doesn't care, because he's busy prepping for the bodybuilding competition that Sharon got for him. It's on the same day, and it's more important to him than "dressing like a fairy wizard."
Wizards typically aren't fairies in fantasy fiction. Is this a homophobic slur? Is the whole exchange characterizing same-sex desire as "weird"?
Of course not. The guys aren't horrified or disgusted by their boners; it's just inconvenient. They are quite aware that they are attracted to each other, and that Adam is attracted to men in general. It comes up over and over (so to speak).
Bromance usually includes some physical attraction, but the guys ignore it because they are too attracted to women to become invested in a gay relationship.
And the "fairy wizard"? It would be the only homophobic slur that any of Adam Devine's characters use in the twelve movies and dozens of tv episodes, and various stand-up performances that I've seen. Besides, the rap is hardly feminine: it's about the various ways that the wizards destroy their opponents. I think Adam (DeMamp) just doesn't understand the conventions of fantasy fiction.
Scene 7: Blake and Ders leave, assuring each other that they don't need Adam. They still have each other. But it doesn't work: at home, they try to toss Adam a beer. play beer pong with him, cuddle in the jacuzzi with him. They are a trio; they need a third. They interview Karl as a new roommate and member of their Wizard Rap group.
Scene 8: At work, Adam is doing bicep curls at his desk (with 20 pound dumbells, very light for a bodybuilder, or even a gym rat). Sharon orders him to her office ("powder you balls"). But he doesn't get naked -- he screws her with a dildo attached to his face.
"So, next time, could we use the strap-on that God gave me?" Nope. So no screwing, no cunnilingus, no physical contact of any sort? Does she even like Adam?
Scene 9: Wizard Rap rehearsal. Karl wears his new costume, which shows off his chest. Not another one! Adam drops by to snipe at them a little. "Things are going great for me!" and so on. After he leaves, the guys suggest using their sadness in the act. Ders whimpers "Adam..." Aww, just tell him that you love him and want him back.
Scene 10: Adam bursts into the locker room at the Tri-Valley Amateur Bodybuilding Competition. The other contestants, twice as big, make fun of him. One (American Gladiators star Michael O'Hearn, center) ask if he's the mascot. That's not fair -- these competitions go by weight class.
The announcer (another American Gladiators star, Lee Reherman) calls everyone onto the stage. Ders and Blake watching, complain that Adam looks ridiculous, "like a baby man."
Wait -- why isn't The Girlfriend in the audience, cheering him on? He goes backstage to call Sharon, and gets voicemail.
It's Adam's turn to perform. The announcer says that he's 5.8, 240 pounds. Huh? That's not possible. He does Ninja kicks and splits, and makes funny faces; assuming that he is performing a parody, everyone in the audience laughs. But he is being serious. Blake and Ders rise to his defense: "He's got ten times more bravery than you!" Also a huge bulge.
Scene 11: Adam offstage, crying. The guys convince him to go back, but not as a bodybuilder -- they perform their Wizard Rap number. The judges like the clever parody, and give Adam a trophy (or he steals one). Anyway, they are friends again.
Sharon drives up on her motorcycle: "Hop on, monkey." But she missed the most important moment of Adam's life, so he dumps her. No problem, she'll just go on to the next. She zooms off.
Friendship forever. They hug -- and Ders gets another boner! The end.
Beefcake: Adam throughout, Ders in a swimsuit.
The Hetero-Romance: I don't understand Sharon's end game. Of course she doesn't actually care about Adam -- she is just using him for sex -- but why doesn't she want to have any physical contact? If it is her personal kink, it needs to be explored more thoroughly. Structurally, she seems to be setting him up, convincing him that he's ready for a bodybuilding competition when he doesn't even know the proper poses, so she can laugh at his humiliation. But that can't be right -- she doesn't show up to laugh. The two plotlines are not connected very well.
Heterosexism: Not much. We see Adam and Sharon kiss once. The face-dildo screwing is just strange.The uncensored photos and a nude frontal of Mike O'Hearn are on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends
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