Kevin Sorbo Fights the ‘Emasculation of the Father’ with New Book
By Movieguide® Contributor
Just in time for Father’s Day, actor Kevin Sorbo released his new children’s book “The Bear Essentials of Fatherhood” as he recently discussed his concern with the attack on masculinity and conservative Christians.
“[The book is about how important] fathers are to kids because we’re emasculating men like crazy in our movies and TV shows,” Sorbo told Bob Hallmark at a Longview, Texas, Comic Con. “Men and women are both very instrumental, both together combined bring different power to the family unit, and I’m tired of Hollywood wanting to bash families and break families apart.”
The GOD’S NOT DEAD star highlights that much of the negative view of fathers has come from TV and movies in the last decades.
“We got kids growing up watching sitcoms over the last 50 years, that the emasculation of the father something that they want. The dad in the sitcom is kind of chunky, out of shape…and the teenage kids use dad as a pincushion to make fun of,” he said.
The portrayal of conservative Christians is not any more flattering, which also has harmed the younger generations, the father-of-three laments.
“What does Hollywood do to people that are Christians or people that are conservative in the movies? They’re idiots. They’re evil. They’re the bad people,” he said. “They’ve been doing it for decades.”
“You’re sitting there as a kid watching this. Look at kids in public schools right now. Look at the kids that are in universities. The insanity of it all,” Sorbo went on to say.
Sorbo, not wanting to focus just on the problems facing society today, wants to encourage fathers as well. In addition to promoting his new book, he is sharing the “10 bare essentials of fatherhood” on X leading up to Father’s Day.
In his latest post on fatherhood, he wrote, “A father supports you, even when you don’t succeed.”
Captioned in the post he admitted that that advice wasn’t always the easiest to follow.
“This is a tough one for me having always been a competitive athlete and having worked in Hollywood striving to be better than the guy before me at auditions,” he wrote. “At the end of the day, a father’s unconditional love and support will always triumph over any failures that may come.”
The actor/author also shared at the Comic Con his appreciation for the show HERCULES which helped launch his career when Hallmark asked if he is surprised how much people still associate him with the titular character.
“[W]ithout that show, I wouldn’t have had ANDROMEDA after that or over the 80 movies I’ve shot since then. I mean, that got me on the road. I’m proud of that show,” the 65-year-old said. “I’m proud of the fact that the writers even then…they wrote a lot of moral lessons in a mythological show. Of course, since then, I’ve been really known for my faith-based movies.”
In addition to his new book, he will be appearing alongside Dennis Quaid in the biopic REAGAN, where he will be playing the former president’s pastor, Ben Cleaver.
“It most certainly is something very special. I am old enough to remember and miss Ronald Reagan — we miss his kind of leadership, and since I hold President Reagan in high esteem, it was a great honor to be cast in the film,” Sorbo told HiT.
The Minnesota native also had praise for Quaid, who plays Reagan.
“I haven’t seen the final cut yet, but I have the utmost respect for Dennis and his performance in this role is stellar. He captures the man behind the public persona of the president,” Sorbo said.
“His spot-on delivery of Reagan’s cadence and intonation will have audiences swept along with his portrayal,” he added.
Movieguide® previously reported the details on the upcoming movie set for release in August:
“I didn’t understand why they were offering me Ronald Reagan because I just didn’t see it,” Quaid told Entertainment Weekly. “I admired him so much, and so I had a chill of fear go down my spine when I was offered it. That’s usually kind of a sign that maybe I should do it, because it’s out of my comfort zone.”
SOUL SURFER’s Sean McNamara will direct with NO SAFE SPACE’s Mark Joseph producing. Quaid also starred in the faith-filled and Movieguide® Award-Winning SOUL SURFER.
REAGAN is adapted from conservative author Paul Kengor’s book “The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism” and will span Reagan’s life “from his childhood to his time in the oval office.”
Producer Mark Joseph revealed that he talked to over 50 people who knew Reagan personally to add to the sprawling biographical drama. The movie will dive into Reagan’s childhood, his time in Hollywood, and his constant fight against communism in the entertainment industry and America.