Critics of Fox News host Tucker Carlson were taken aback by the striking homoerotic nature of the trailer for his upcoming “documentary” about what he calls the “collapse” of testosterone levels in men.
The steamy trailer for the first episode of his new season of “Tucker Carlson Originals” features a series of shots of half-nude, muscular (white) men. They’re pumping rubber, chopping wood, grilling, firing a gun — and wrestling — accompanied by the soaring, thumping musical theme “Thus Spoke Zarathustra,” which was widely popularized in the 1968 film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
Oddly, many of the men’s faces are blurred out or hidden. In one scene, a naked man stands with arms outstretched and genitals illuminated behind what one observer said looks like a Tesla recharging station.
Daily Beast journalist Justin Baragona quipped in a tweet that the trailer would get Carlson “arrested” if he aired it in a classroom in Florida, where it’s now illegal to address sexual orientation in lower grades in schools.
“Do fascists get off on Tucker’s weird video?” wondered Walter Shaub, former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics in the Obama and (briefly) the Trump administrations. “A guy shoves his junk in a light box, a narrator says ‘hard’ repeatedly, one chugs water like beer at a frat house, two writhe shirtless ...”
Others couldn’t help but notice echoes of Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.
Carlson warns in a promo for the episode about the pending “end of men,” the title for the episode. He declares: “One of the biggest stories of our lifetimes is the total collapse in testosterone levels in American men.” He promises to share secrets on how to stop that from happening. (Someone on Twitter recommended watching the trailer a few times.)
Testosterone levels in American men — and around the world — have been decreasing for decades, which scientists have attributed to factors like aging, poorer health, lack of exercise and obesity. Research has also found testosterone levels reduced by pollution, which Carlson generally doesn’t seem concerned about.
Who knows what the actual documentary will reveal? But the trailer alone was inspiring for countless Twitter wits.
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