I love how McBride & Co represent the relationship to masculinity and anger in The Righteous Gemstones.
Eli's anger is felt in his presence and the way people around him react to him. His sons flinch when he raises a hand. His voice booms across Sunday Lunch and everyone quiets. He knows he has a reputation for strength, so when he is taunted for being old and losing his grip, he doubles down on pain and punishment. His anger is the only tool he knows how to use when he feels like he's losing control.
Jesse's anger is explosive and clumsy; it's the first emotion he turns to when he's hurt and vulnerable, and it overflows and bubbles over destructively. He puffs his chest, struts in front of his friends, degrades others, exudes a desire for violence... but it's interesting to me that he uses others to get what he wants. He sends his friends after his rivals, teaches BJ how to box... but he doesn't step in himself. Jesse's anger is a weapon, but he's not able to wield it in the same way his father wields it.
Kelvin's anger is caustic and piercing; he lashes out verbally, roots out insecurities and needles at them. He tells Keefe that he doesn't need him, he constantly reminds Jesse that his kids don't respect him, and he writes Judy off as unimportant - all things that they fear the most. His anger is a shield, the thing he puts up every time he feels fear or insecurity.
BJ's anger is often ignored or lampooned, by both Judy and her brothers, even though he's usually angry on her behalf. He's written off as a joke; but when he has to confront Stephen, his anger is recognized and validated. I think it's interesting that BJ fights his own battles where Jesse won't. I also think it's interesting that his quiet "I hope you like me now" to Judy hits so much harder than the bloody brawl that precedes it. And his anger in S4 feels like such a big shift for him: he refuses to be sidelined, and allows himself to be selfish. He's going through pain that he's never felt before; he doesn't have a "normal" while he's injured, so his feelings manifest as anger.
Baby Billy's anger feels... fermented. Soured. He's been holding onto a grudge ever since Eli took away Aimee-Leigh, and he seems bitter about how much he's lost, ruined, or burned in his attempt to get somewhere close to Eli's success. His anger feels like an old wound that he won't stop nursing. His anger turns him into a villain.
Gideon's anger is big and then almost entirely vanishes. S1 hangs on the actions of his anger; the disappointment in his dad and the frustration that comes from a family that doesn't support his dreams. His response is easily the most destructive to the entire family. But in subsequent seasons it feels like Gideon is constantly holding back; he deflects insults from his family rather than lashing back. When we do see his anger it's when his family is in danger - when the cycle ninjas go after Eli, or Peter & his militia kidnap the siblings. Unlike Jesse, Gideon's able to follow through on his threats. Unlike BJ, Gideon's taken seriously. Unlike Eli, his anger isn't his only tool; it's often his last resort.
Keefe feels unique to me, because of his lack of anger. I think we only see Keefe get angry once; when he walks in on Kelvin and Taryn. Unlike a lot of the other characters on the show, Keefe is more likely to feel fear or sadness, and he's not afraid to show any of those feelings. He's visibly crying when he's driving away from Kelvin's house in S1, and he's the only one at the lake house who's willing to admit that he was the one who made a mistake. (I'm still not over Kelvin's face when Keefe says he overstepped his bounds).
The one time Keefe is angry, he's reacting out of surprise and jealousy, and Kelvin seems to clock it pretty quickly. Keefe's not loud, he doesn't threaten, not even when Kelvin calls his rocking chair stupid. He sulks, does a cartwheel, and removes himself from the situation. It's interesting to me that when Keefe shows anger, it's in response to an emotion that he's not allowed to show - love.
All of the different ways the show uses anger feels like different facets of how a man's anger is usually the only way he is allowed to show emotion, and I think it's really interesting that Danny McBride & co were able to use all of these different men to showcase how their anger was actually jealousy, fear, sadness, and other vulnerabilities.
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