Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Is Nicholas Van Orton the first 'fuckboy'?

*This post is dedicated to my crazy friend Ash. I may not have even noticed this if it weren't for his very timely adoption of the term and the great times we've had using it in context. :)

Ok so let me begin with a brief classification of the derogatory adjective Fuckboy.

Urban Dictionary defines fuckboy as: The worst insult to a male, basically callin' him a bitch or pussyboy but not in those words. You should be ready to fight after being insulted like that. It originated in the south. 

Whilst the Southern origins of the term are logistically impossible to trace, popular rap glossary rapdict.org also observes that: The term "Fuck Boy" originates from Atlanta, GA. It is used to mean a weak man who can't get right. It can also be used as a derogatory term against one's enemies.

To summarize, fuckboys are highly unsavory characters who pose an immediate threat to the comfort of those around them, either through a lack of knowledge in any relevant field or an overt passion for ruining things that were great before they became associated with them. Fuckboys can also be classified by their obvious inability to not be fuckboys.

Not taking this particular post into account, the term fuckboy has been loosely defined and found recent notoriety through the audible medium of gangster rap and the thousands of forums and blogs that celebrate gangster rap as a medium and a lifestyle. Many gangster rappers have adopted the term to call out other gangster rappers as a means of questioning their mettle and subsequently inciting a response from their target; a response that will more often than not contain the word fuckboy.

I've included an example of the term being utilized in it's essence from a track titled 'Summer's Mine' by gangster rap artist Rick Ross. The track was released as a supposed response to a diss from fellow gangster rapper Young Jeezy, a diss I can only assume contained the word fuckboy as well:


The conviction in Ross' voice when using the term illustrates how passionately he wants Young Jeezy to believe he is, in actual fact, a fuckboy.

For interests sake please find an example of the term's prevalence resulting from a basic Google search below:
Note the versatility of the term as it is used in multiple contexts to similar effect.

Now before I continue I would like to formally state that Michael Douglas is not a fuckboy. He is so far from being a fuckboy that he could almost be classified as the complete opposite, which I guess would be an Abstinentgirl. Yet I digress, What does Michael Douglas have to do with a derogatory term rarely seen outside the realms of gangster rap and the channels through which it is discussed?

Everything, actually.

Not only is Michael Douglas' association with the term greater than that of any recording artist or message board member past or present, he may just be (unknowingly) responsible for the term's inauguration and in turn, I might personally be responsible for liberating an example of the term that predates any use of it by anyone, be it either inside or outside the state of Atlanta, GA.

I came across this revelation through a chance second viewing of the critically acclaimed 1997 Thriller The Game. In the film Michael Douglas plays Nicholas Van Orton, a successful stockbroker (or something) who is clearly bored by his wealth and also affected by the death of his father via suicide on Nicholas' birthday. Concerned about his brother's well-being and the lack of excitement in his affluent existence, Nicholas' brother Conrad (played convincingly by a young-looking Sean Penn) gives him a very special birthday gift in the form of a reality stimulation voucher from a company called 'Consumer Recreation Services'. Shitstorms follow and Michael realises that 'The Game' kind of sucks because he almost gets killed a couple of times but also that it's pretty cool because it made his life more exciting or whatever.

Plot synopsis aside, I did a double take during a scene known as 'Flourescent Graffiti' in which Nicholas returns home to find his mansion has been trashed and some rascals have done heaps of glow in the dark graffiti inside it. Here's the scene, starting at the 5:06 mark:


Did you see it?


Make no mistake, this scene is the defining moment in which Nicholas Van Orton is publicly lauded as the world's very first fuckboy. It was difficult to take the rest of the film seriously from this point on as I struggled to grasp the immense implications of my discovery and as a result the rest of the film played out like this:


And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how Nicholas Van Orton became the first ever fuckboy at the hands of the little assholes that tagged his house up in the movie The Game. I hope I've helped to shed some light on this very powerful topic and I invite you to conduct your own research regarding the origin of the term; even though my case is concrete and completely indisputable, perhaps somewhere out there in the furthest reaches of time and space and movies, you can find the very first fuckboy.

:)