Tom Jane's Hung on "...a dick and a dream." Recessionary fighters of both genders can relate.

My favorite new television series this year doesn't involve superheroes pandering to the socially repressed, a ragtag group of investigators wielding pseudoscience to find the owner of a cum stain on some back alley dumpster, or  anything relating to space. I'm straight, but my favorite show centers around a big fat dick.

Tom Jane plays history teacher and basketball coach Ray Drecker in HBO's Hung. Ray's a simple, middle-class American man living paycheck to paycheck. He loves his son and daughter and even his recently-divorced ex-wife, but not in a creepy "it can still work between us" way.

Hung takes place in today's crippling economic climate. The recession's here, and money's tight. Ray may be employed, but, like any parent, hay wishes he could provide his family with more, but never necessarily "the best." He's a wholesome man. Greed's just not right.

Life for this worn-out symbol of middle America takes a turn down shithole road when he accidentally sets fire to his living room, nearly burning the house he grew up in down to a charred-black irreparable heap of wood and knick-knacks. But it's his wood, and his knick-knacks. Combined, they form his only home. Yet, without a surge to Ray's monthly income, he'll remain confined to a yellow tent in his backyard.

Ray's not notably intelligent, but he's not an idiot either. He knows he's a man of few talents. In his glory days, he was a star athlete with a bright future. But the market for has-beens isn't bustling with activity, so he resorts to his other talent: fucking.

Apparently Ray's good. Really good, in fact. He claims to have more experience and natural intuition than the average...uh...fucker, but admits his really big "tool," as he calls it, could be a factor as well.

Left with few options, Ray transforms himself into a part-time gigolo. It's not a common career path (or is it?), but what's common about the worst recession in almost 70 years?

Change Ray's new part-time job and Hung would still succeed. The show's not about sex. It's about a good, hardworking man providing for his family while leaving little left for himself, and honest, but subtle, performances.

Tom Jane sells his character's plight with confidence rather than pity, instilling in us a belief that thingswill get better as long as he tries. The line "Who do I have to fuck around here to get my kids back" could've been delivered with more humor by other actors, but Ray's serious, and Jane says the line straight-faced. Afterwards, it's not hard to believe Ray really would fuck anyone to get his kids back.

Tanya, played by Jane Adams, stinks up the screen with desperation, but in a good way. The 30-something perma-temp proofreader and struggling poet doesn't know who she is or where she wants to go, but sees a potential future as Ray's pimp. Jane's skittish and awkward, and keeps her elbows locked at her side, as she sells coworkers on her "happiness consultant." Even during the series most positive moments, she still appears burdened by life, perfectly counteracting the emotionally stable and driven Ray.

If you haven't seen it yet, don't expect naughty bits to cover the screen more than not. Despite each episode containing at least one variably intense sex scene, it's rare to see a woman's breasts in full view. And about the  oversized beef whistle, it's never shown in season 1. Wide-eyed women reaffirm the lead character's "I have a big dick" dialog, but the curious can only imagine - some more vividly than others. Hitchcock knew the power of viewer imaginations, often preying on them through horror films, and so do Hung's production staff. I assume the emotional effect here is different for men and women.

The internet tells me HBO picked up a second season, and will air it sometime in the summer of 2010. With only ten half hour episodes in the first, next year seems unbearably distant. Will we climb out of the recession by then, making the subject matter seem dated and less relevant? Probably not. But even if we did, Hung touches on themes we can all relate to, no matter our financial standing. I'll let the final episode's closing quote explain:

"A dick and a dream. If that's not the American way, I don't know what is."

Comments

[ps]

Love the show!! Great article!! You put the entire show into perspective. I just wish they would release a NEW episode sooner!!