Based on the true events that inspired Geeta Anand’s book The Cure, Vaughan’s film adaptation tells the story of a special family hoping to overcome the impossible.

HUGGING A MOMMY SURE BEATS BATTLING A MUMMY. Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell star as the parents of children battling a devastating disease.

The Crowley’s have three kids, and two of them — Megan (Droeger) and Patrick (Valezquez) — have the incurable muscular disease, Pompe.

From beginning to end the actors are somewhat successful at conveying the raw emotions that go hand-in-hand with the family’s journey.

Fraser does a decent job depicting John Crowley, a father who risks the future of his family by not accepting the tragic destiny of his children. However, after a close call with his daughter, John abruptly quits his job to save his kids. Although his wife Alieen (Russell) is reluctant at first, in the good nature of any inspirational story she soon gets on board with her husband.

Ford suits the unconventional Dr. Stonehill. He is able to capture the complexity of the character, but still presents him in an authentic, realistic manner.

The child actors are the glue that holds the movie together. Droeger brings the wit and determination of her character to life, and it is almost hard to believe that she is not Megan herself.

Valezquez is able to bring the subtleness of Patrick to the screen, and although he has few lines, he is able to demonstrate the emotions and difficulties the young boy struggles with due to his illness.

Even though Extraordinary Measures is not completely predictable, it is not hard to sense how it will turn out.

Though heartwarming, and inspirational at times, the film is also quite lengthy and dry. The way the true events were formed into a movie seem unrealistic and over-constructed.

If you are looking for an outlet for built-up emotions, or simply want to be “inspired,” this film may be able to satisfy.

This was the third night of the joint venture cleverly titled “Nevermind the Sex Pistols … Here’s Glen Matlock,” featuring The Sadies as openers and closers to Matlock’s acoustic set.

The Sadies  –– who have played with the likes of Greg Keelor, Garth Hudson and Gord Downie, to name a few greats –– started the evening with their trademark introduction of rattling guitar strings and twangy resonance as guitarist Dallas Good welcomed a crowd of various demographics.

The first set consisted of standard Sadies fare. The guitar playing of brothers Travis and Dallas Good was impeccable. They didn’t miss a note, despite the manic pace of some of their more upbeat numbers, and ballads such as “Strange Birds” showcased the softer side of the otherwise energetic group.

Soon enough, the first set was over and the stage was set for Matlock, one of the original members of the Sex Pistols who was later replaced by Sid Vicious. Since then, Matlock has established himself as a respected musician having worked with innumerable names in the punk community and beyond.

His acoustic set introduced members of the crowd to his work with The Philistines, as songs like “Ghosts of Princes in Towers” demonstrated the pop sensibilities of his music. “You guys might remember this one,” he said before the opening chords to “God Save the Queen,” the first of two songs from Matlock’s time with the Pistols. “Pretty Vacant” had the crowd yelling along, with some fans even taking the stage to a warm welcome from the dapper Matlock.

The set was a little more relaxed than The Sadies’ performance, but as they took the stage once more, they invited Matlock back up for a rendition of “Treat Her Right,” originally recorded by Roy Head and the Traits.

The show finished with a five-song encore by The Sadies, which was capped off by their song “Tiger, Tiger.” The finale was a true testament to the showmanship of the group — they’re incredibly tight-knit, and represent the spirit of the touring band.

While the union of The Sadies and Glen Matlock may seem a bit strange, the versatility of both acts showed they could jam on the moon if given the chance.

1. I suppose I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the moves the Leafs made last Sunday. For me, they are both very low risk, high reward moves for the Leafs. The players that left town won’t be missed and the players coming back have very high upsides. Let me explain.

2. Dion Phaneuf is one of the most polarizing figures I’ve ever seen in hockey. It wasn’t that long ago that he was a Canadian hero at the World Junior Championships in 2004 and 2005. He was easily the best defender on both those teams and earned tournament all star nods both years, despite playing with future Canadian Olympians Shea Weber and Brent Seabrook.

But Phaneuf clearly wore out his welcome in Calgary, leaving amid accusations he was under-performing and rumours he was not getting along with team mates. How he performs in a Leaf uniform remains to be seen, but Phaneuf still has the potential to be a Norris Trophy candidate. Or a tremendous bust. At just 24 and with good coaching there is a lot of upside for the Leafs here.

3. The price the Leafs paid is more than acceptable. Really, the only one of the four going Calgary’s way who can be an impact player is Niklas Hagman. Ian White was a good defenceman on a bad team, Jamal Mayers is a glorified goon and Matt Stajan should have trouble cracking the third line on a good team. Why Darryl Sutter is convinced he can centre a line with Jarome Iginla is beyond me.

The Leafs didn’t have to cough up a draft pick — not that they have one that’s worth anything — and they managed to pry Keith Aulie away from the Flames, who is a very good, young defenceman. If you’re looking for a sleeper in this trade, he’s it.

4. In the Giguere deal, the Leafs get a goalie who clearly has a good history with Francois Allaire, the Leafs goaltending coach, and a guy who can still be a legitimate number one goaltender. Not to mention a veteran who has won a championship and can act as a mentor to young Jonas Gustavsson, who the Leafs are clearly not prepared to give up on.

5. What do you Leafs send to Anaheim for Gigure? A couple under-performing players who had clearly fallen out of favour with fans, in Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake. The risk is low. You aren’t giving up anything spectacular and if Gigure is a bust, he won’t be around for long. But the reward is high. Giguere could very well find his form once again — he mentioned on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night that he felt like he was in a rut in Anaheim — and even inspire Gustavsson to play better hockey. I know it’s a weird feeling to take the glass is half full approach with the Leafs, but when this organization makes a roster decision that, you know, make sense — it’s big news.

6. That said, there really aren’t many players on the current roster left over from the John Ferguson Jr. era. And if current Leafs G.M. Brian Burke eventually trades Alexei Ponikarovsky and Tomas Kaberle as everyone expects him to, there will be almost no one left over from that arduous period in Leafs history. That’s good for fans of hockey in Toronto, but bad for Burke because he’s running out of people to blame for the Leafs woes. If the team continues to falter, he may have to confront a touchy subject with his college buddy Ron Wilson.

7. Speaking of trades, Olli Jokinen is a guy the Flames should have gotten more return on. He still has 40 goal potential and his contract — which comes off the books when he becomes a free agent on July 1st — only has a cap hit of $5.25 million, which is reasonable for a player of his calibre. Darryl Sutter and the Flames should have waited until deadline day and sold Jokinen for a higher price instead of settling for Chris Higgins and Ales Kotalik from the Rangers — two players who don’t immediately improve the team.

8. That said, Sutter now has one of the most impressive collections of third line forwards I’ve ever seen. If Gary Bettman decides to introduce clutching and grabbing back into the game, his team is going to be remarkable.

9. Might as well get them all out of the way and say this about the Kovalchuk deal — Atlanta was never going to get the top six forward, first round pick and NHL-ready depth players that they coveted in return for the Russian sniper. Atlanta G.M. Don Waddell had to deal Kovalchuk — every G.M. in the league knew it. That put Waddell in a very tough position and forced him to settle for what he thought was the best offer at the time. He did get his first round pick and a couple of serviceable players in Johnny Oduya and Niclas Bergfors. But if anyone thought he would get fair value for an elite player like Kovalchuk under the circumstances, they were crazy. If Waddell wanted maximum value, he would have never let Kovalchuk reach the last year of his deal.

10. The same situation presented itself with Alex Anthopoulos and the Blue Jays this summer. They had an elite player, Roy Halladay, who did not want to resign with the team. Instead of going into the player’s final contract year trying to convince him to resign with a dwindling franchise, Anthopoulos sold the asset for the highest market value before the final year of the contract. If Waddell moved Kovalchuk during the summer or even at the trade deadline last year he would have seen better return on his asset. More G.M.’s from all sports should follow Anthopoulos’ lead and not let the players or other G.M.’s control the scenario.

11. What happens with Patrice Cormier will be the most interesting aspect of this deal. No one was particularly impressed with his performance as the captain of Team Canada at the 2010 World Juniors and his penchant for dirty play is something that has plagued the early stages of his young career. Cormier will sit out the rest of his final junior season to think about this hit. Whether the suspension has a positive effect on the young player remains to be seen.

It’s a commonly held opinion that Cormier could be a very good power forward if he could get his head on straight, but New Jersey — otherwise known as the New England Patriots of the NHL — would have been a much better place to accomplish that than Atlanta. Cormier needs good coaching and a good system under which to flourish. I’m not sure Waddell and Thrashers head coach John Anderson can create that kind of environment in Atlanta.

12. As for Kovalchuk himself — if he’s turning down a $100 million deal from Atlanta, either he really doesn’t want to play for the Thrashers or he plans to bolt to Russia and the KHL when he becomes a free agent after this season. Right now I’m leaning toward the latter. Kovalchuk is a hero in Russia and would earn a ridiculous amount of money in the KHL. In the NHL he’s never had a taste of stardom, toiling away on a terrible team for the first eight seasons of his career. New Jersey may make some noise in the playoffs this year, but they still don’t have to ability to draw the crowds and the attention that can turn Kovalchuk into a superstar on the same level as Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.

For Kovalchuck, the talent is undeniably there. Just not the surroundings.

13. What, you thought I was done with baseball? I really like the Jay’s Kevin Gregg signing. Make no mistake, he isn’t here to be the next great Jays closer — he’s an asset for Anthopoulos, nothing more. Gregg’s contract is for only a year — with two club options that will no doubt be denied —and he comes at the very economical price of $2.75 million. In the likeliest scenario, Gregg will be a Type B free agent next year, meaning if the Jays offer him arbitration and he signs with another team the Jays will pick up a top 40 pick for the 2011 entry draft.

Best case scenario? Gregg blows the roof off and reverts back to his form in his years with the Marlins, becoming a Type A free agent and giving the Jays a first round pick from whichever club signs him next year.

$2.75 million isn’t a bad price to pay for a high draft pick —especially when you’re a team with a revamped scouting department, looking to rebuild through the draft like the Jays.

14. And finally, our deepest condolences go to the Burke family after the tragic passing of Brendan Burke, the 21-year-old son of Leafs President and G.M. Brian Burke. Brendan recently came out to the hockey world through an excellent article written by ESPN’s John Buccigross.

I was truly excited to watch Brendan — who was interested in hockey management and clearly had the pedigree to be successful — take on the traditionally homophobic hockey world and climb the ranks as the first openly gay hockey executive.

No matter what your feelings are about the oft-controversial Brian Burke, it’s undeniable that there is no worse day for a parent than losing a child. I really wish I knew the words to do it justice.

36% of respondents are male

60% of respondents are female

7% of respondents are 18 or under

25% are 19

27% are 20

16% are 21

9% are 22

14% are 23 or over

2% blank

12% of respondents are not sexually active

24% of LGBT respondents are out

13% of respondents lost their virginity between 13 to 15 years of age

50% between 16 to 18

18% between 19 to 21

2 % between 22 to 25

14% still waiting

40% of respondents have had 2 to 5 sexual partners

15% have had 6 to 10

8% have had 11 to 25

3% have had 26 to 40

2% of respondents have had sex with a professor

16% have had sex with a soph

51% of respondents have faked an orgasm

26% of respondents have partaken in first-year floorcest

56% of respondents enjoy talking during sex

6% of respondents have said the wrong name during sex

36% of respondents like to cuddle up immediately after sex

26% like to clean up

8% like to sleep

12% of respondents have said “I love you” for sex

45% of respondents masturbate 1 to 3 times per week

18% of respondents have caught a roommate having sex

12% of respondents have had a threesome

4% of respondents have paid for sex

32% of respondents have role played during sex

63% of respondents have been involved in a friends with benefits relationship

19% of respondents have made a video with their partner

23% of respondents’ favourite position is doggy style

19% missionary

10% girl on top

4% reverse cowgirl

Notable Long Answer Responses

What is the strangest/dirtiest thing you or your partner have said during sex?

Wait, stop … don’t you have a cello lesson on Thursday?, Is it in yet? Giv’er, I can’t believe I taught you when you were 15, Skadoosh! If you don’t warn me when you’re going to cum, I’ll bite off your dick off, my boyfriend is going to be pissed

The Gazette’s favourite answer…

Once my ex-boyfriend shouted out “Glencoe! That’s where the tournament was!” right in the thick of things. He was referring to a hockey tournament I’d asked him about two hours earlier…,

In what public places have you had sex?

Saugeen study room, movie theatre, library, SSC 2028, The Tasting Room, UCC, Barking Frog, post office, back room at Harvey’s after hours — BF used to work there, On the tank in Victoria Park , Italian airport, Masonville Zellers, Canada’s Wonderland bathroom, moving truck, Gazette office, tractor, between Med and Syd, third floor boardroom-style classroom in University College — on top of the table and walked out to a class waiting to enter — Ooops…, bowling alley, Storybook Gardens, Poacher’s Arms, roof of Thompson arena, fume hood on campus, jail cell at the London Courthouse.

The Gazette’s favourite answer…

Got a handjob in classics 1000 lecture in NS7 in first year while watching a movie on Pompei

What’s your strangest fetish?

Light bondage and tickling, feet being dominated in various ways, walking my girlfriend on a leash, ears, massive harems of women, doing it while I’m trying on a new dress at a department store, shaving off body hair, pregnant women, burberry scarves, popping pimples, strip search, watching guys pee, Abercrombie’s “Fierce”, Photo shopping my own porn, badminton.

We’re not going to touch any of these…

Greatest lengths gone for sex?

Ran home (sprinted, actually) from the bars at one in the morning, made dinner, drove two hours for a quickie, faked my age, pretended I had to walk home alone and was scared so I needed someone to walk with me, sat through a terrible amateur production of The Wizard of Oz, I once covered my entire body in Jello, kept a girlfriend I didn’t like for an extra year, buying a cell phone and growing a beard, ruining years of friendship.

The Gazette’s favourite answer…

Bought her a hot dog outside of soph formal

What’s the strangest object you’ve used to masturbate with?

Hair band around testicles, shower head, Kinder Surprise egg, pen, highlighter, the (cylindrical) handle of a hairbrush, once I shoved a test tube up my ass, popsicle in a condom, a marker, ice cream scoop, Xbox controller, whisk, inhaler, a pair of panties (stolen) from a close friend, fish tank air pump, electric toothbrush

The Gazette’s favourite answer…

One time I came into a Frosty cup from Wendy’s while watching Baby Blue 2 on CityTV when I was like 16. Does that count?,

Favourite role playing situation?

I’m the king, breaking and entering, pirates, Princess Lea in a gold bikini, vampire/prey, she’s a cowgirl and I’m a wanted cowboy, the only one I’ve done was as a convenience store owner and his customer, I’m cookie monster and they are big bird, student- teacher, whorecraft (World of Warcraft role play), Batman and Catwoman, princess and stable Boy, the “hit me” scene from Blue Velvet, getting her to call me Tiger, Pretending to be a Hispanic labourer pounding a rich tourist. , Mario Brothers, tennis instructor and student, Snooki and Pauly D from Jersey Shore, Boy Scouts.

The Gazette’s favourite answer…

Mary and Joseph

“There’s some head rubbing that goes on, there’s some hand slapping, some butt tapping. Generally there’s a lot of hugging — one big hug,” Patrick Johnston, libero on the Mustangs men’s volleyball team, said. “I’d say it just kind of happens all the time.”

“You want to make sure that even in the bad points you get together as a team,” Jim Sage, coach of the team, said “We like to celebrate and it’s important we celebrate.”

Part of this is the strong friendships men make on the court, according to Like Family: Power, Intimacy and Sexuality in Male Athlete’s Friendships by Michael A. Messner. “[Teams] are often the closest relationships that men ever have,” he writes.

“We’re all best friends, so it kind of helps we’re not too worried about what other people think,” Johnston said of the affection on the court.

According to Hegemonic Masculinity, Friendship, and Group Formation in an Athletic Subculture by Steven J. Harvey, these relationships are built because of the shared activities sport creates,

“Through their mutual experiences in sport, the male relationship develops a deep connection that is based not on shared interpersonal communication, but on shared emotional experiences,” Harvey explained. The shared emotions and activities in sport allow for men on sports teams to create intimate emotional bonds.

“I guess you’re always just on the court with everyone all the time […] you’re just with your guys more,” Matt Gibson, setter on the team said. “It gets you closer I think, and […] as you get closer I think you get more comfortable with your teammates and you rely on them, It brings a team closer together so I think we play better.”

Gibson was not the only player who felt the affection made them closer as a team, and made them play better. “It really contributes to the overall group cohesion,” Luke Sim, middle hitter, said.

Harvey’s work argued the cohesion came from the wins. “When a team wins and all of the players feel the same way, the team becomes closer as a result,” he states.

“The public face that a team attempts to present to the rest of the world is that of a ‘family’ whose shared goal of winning games and championships bonds individual members together,” Messner said of the cohesion on sports teams.

Messner points out however these teams can also have a dark side. “Underneath the talk of respect, love and closeness among teammates lies another reality: athletic teams, like families are also characterized by internal antagonisms rooted in hierarchy.” Teammates are both in competition with another team, but also in competition with each other for titles and points.

Eric Simon, an outside hitter for the Mustangs, explained the how this manifests itself on the team “Generally whoever messed up is not allowed in the group hug, it’s just kind of how it happens. It’s not really a rule, but kind of like an unwritten rule.”

“I guess you just embrace them in the heat of the moment,” Gibson said. He also explained there was not a need to remind teammates the intentions of the hug. “Usually it means good job though.”

Even though there is a lot of good natured hugging on the court, there is a minor rule, as Ulla-Britt Lilleaas’ article Masculinities, Sport, and Emotions explained.

“They can also hold and touch other men’s bodies, but there are also some restrictions for how and what feelings the men can express in matches. For instance, two men kissing on the mouth breaks an unwritten rule,” her work said.

“If it’s a big point maybe a little cheek kiss […] whatever the heat of the moment brings,” Johnston said of the affection on the court. He also explained that while this behaviour can be “downtown or wherever” off the court, it stays between the teammates.

The players feel the affection is an important part of being on the team and a part of volleyball.

“People aren’t […] discriminated against for not being as affectionate as others, but it’s kind of better if you are,” Sim said.

“It’s my fourth year and I’ve yet to have somebody not hug” Johnston said. “I’ve played every sport growing up and there’s nothing like this.”

The bride and groom, from the 13th season of ABC’s perennial hit The Bachelor, will likely draw a big audience for their “I dos.” The last televised Bachelor wedding of Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter had 17 million viewers, and this latest happy ending is far more exciting.

Malaney was actually the runner-up of the show, whom Mesnick brought back on a dramatic follow-up episode. He also dumped his previous fiancé-of-five-minutes in front of the entire television audience.

But it’s totally cool that he found love in a dozen episodes! And dumped someone in front of the world! It’s all in the name of true love!

Okay, maybe not. We’re all smart enough to see through the rose ceremonies and the staged romance of reality shows like The Bachelor, More to Love, and the many date-a-celebrity schlock flooding airwaves these days. And yet we can’t get enough of it, or so ratings suggest.

Romayne Smith Fullerton, an associate professor in the faculty of information and media studies, says we connect with reality shows because the contestants –– or characters, depending on your perspective –– are more like ourselves.

“You start to think of those people as sort of your circle of friends, which is odd and bizarre,” she adds. “The connections that people construct to reality TV […] seem to me to be more intimate.”

The world of reality television is appealing for another reason, too –– it seems to be a better version of our reality.

“They don’t deal with realities of life on reality TV […] they don’t do the dishes [or walk] the dog –– the things that people don’t want to admit are a part of their daily lives,” Smith Fullerton says.

“That might translate into people thinking that when they find the perfect person, [things like] laundry will disappear.”

It’s the same thing as getting your relationship advice from a Disney movie, says psychology professor Guy Grenier.

“Relationships are complicated. Learning about people is complicated. What you’re going to learn about a person in an artificial circumstance… for most of us, in life, is a lot more complicated,” he explains.

Smith Fullerton agrees. Reality shows aren’t very good at exploring subtleties and nuances, she says, and they rely mostly on stereotypes.

“One of the myths they’re portraying is beautiful people dating beautiful people and living lifestyles of the rich and famous,” Grenier echoes.

“It does perpetuate that life is easy and there’s lots of opportunity if you’re good looking –– and those of us who are mere mortals can only hope to have those kind of options.”

But it’s not all bad.

Anything that starts dialogue can have value, Grenier says –– and reality TV certainly starts dialogue.

“It’s supposed to be entertainment and it could be used as a talking point about relationships and developing our social etiquette,” he explains.

“Anything that gets the dialogue about relationship discussion going is not a bad thing.”

In the year 2010, sex has gone virtual.

Today, users log onto fantasy worlds, where they can interact — and have sex — with millions of people from around the world.

As far as who you are, or pretend to be, the options are limitless when it comes to Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). In a game like World of Warcraft, not only is your gender a choice, but even remaining human is optional. Gamers can represent themselves in countless avatar forms, from Dwarves and Gnomes to Orcs and Trolls.

Second Life, another virtual community, is well known for its red light districts — designated areas where avatars can engage in sexual activities ranging from flirtation to consensual intercourse. In another game called Final Fantasy XI, players looking for more than a physical relationship can exchange their vows and rings in a formal wedding ceremony.

For many, these virtual worlds are more than a few hours of entertainment or sexual fantasy; they are places to establish long-term relationships.

“Right now, the lines are so fuzzy on the issue of whether virtual sex is really sex,” says Jennifer Martin, lecturer in the faculty of information and media studies.

It’s the hotly debated question among academics and experts in the cyber community — what is “real?”

Martin pointed to the large number of instances where couples are married in real-life as well as in their avatar-forms.

“Online engagements can be just as valid or as important for people as offline engagement, so I’d hesitate to draw a line,” explains Martin. “What’s role-play and fantasy for one person can be very real and important for another.”

Ian Schreiber is the forum moderator for the Sex and Games special interest group of the International Game Developers Association and has worked as a designer on a Playboy-branded console game.

When it comes to sex in cyberspace, Schreiber agrees the line between “real” and “fantasy” is difficult to distinguish. “Obviously there is no physical contact, and no risk of [sexually transmitted infections] or pregnancy, so in that respect it isn’t real,” he explains. “On the other hand, the feelings and emotional connection can be very real, given the right partners.”

For this designer, the most important thing is for players to be up front about what they want out of virtual romances to avoid being — or causing — hurt. The anonymity that MMORPGs provide means identity and age are easily misrepresented, leaving many players open and vulnerable to deceit.

Meghan Boast is a psychotherapist at the Advantage Professional Counselling Centre in Ingersoll. She says online games can be dangerous if people use them to replace real-life interactions.

Boast recalls a young client who came for therapy after being lured across the American-Canadian border. The young gamer was enticed by an older player through World of Warcraft and was convinced their characters had established an emotional bond.

Boast cautions online games can be dangerous if individuals depend on them to meet people and establish relationships. “It’s a social outlet where you don’t have to leave your home […] It creates a false sense of security and connection,” she says.

Guy Grenier, sex therapist and psychology professor at Western, compared the dangers of virtual romance to gambling. “If you want to go to the casino for a night of entertainment, and you can afford losing whatever money you take […] then that’s fine. But when you start making compromises with other real-world aspects of your life, then you’ve got a problem.”

Despite the possible hazards of relationships in online games, many argue these dangers are the exception.

Owen Livermore is a PhD candidate and lecturer in FIMS. He says the media’s language is often “sensationalist” and “alarmist” when addressing romance and sexual activity online.

“One of the major points of contention seems to be that [virtual] relationships are limited and/or unauthentic because online interaction necessarily implies an altered or incorrect version of the self,” he explains.

Livermore sees it differently.

“Here’s the big question: given the fact that many of us spend considerable time online, is our online self any less authentic than the self we form and reveal to others in real life?”

Indeed, that is the question of the day. In a world where sex can be virtual or physical, and your partner can be a human or Orc, our lines between fantasy and real-life are growing increasingly blurred.

Popular culture is chockfull of examples of such relationships indicating a growing approval for such relations — the rapport in the new Sherlock Holmes film between the title character and his friend Watson was close to say the least. Holmes even came across as clingy at various points of the film, disapproving of Watson’s desire to get married.

The MTV show Bromance featuring Brody Jenner is another recent example of the how the term has become popularized.

And of course, Judd Apatow’s fleet of bromantic comedy projects — Knocked Up, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad — has fueled the genre.

“[Eve Sedgwick] suggested that straight men often communicate and relate to other straight men through women,” Lily Cho, English professor at Western, said. “The rise of ‘bromance’ is interesting because it seems to suggest that women are no longer the currency through which men express themselves to each other.”

According to Cho, although the language used to describe such relationships is novel, the idea of a bromance isn’t anything new.

“I’m not sure it constitutes a radical change from previous representations of men’s relationships,” Cho added. “Surely, the predecessor of the bromance could arguably be the kind of friendship you find in the buddy film about which film scholars have written extensively.”

According to Keir Keightley, associate professor in the faculty of information and media studies, such relations are expressed freely between men in particular cultures.

“In the Arab world, in Iran, in parts of the Middle East, good friends hold hands,” he said. “The idea that there is some sort of sexual dimension to that would be seen as ludicrous.”

Keightley points to the growing trend of sexualizing relationships, which has accelerated in the 20th century.

“[Such relations] were very common and were not seen as abnormal or deviant. It’s only with the rise of […] the hetero-homosexual binary — the idea that one’s sexuality exists in opposition to another form of sexuality — […] [that a] passionate friendship between two men become seen as problematic or even deviant,” he added.

Moreover, Keightley mentioned the taboo over women’s homosexuality is diminishing women’s sexuality as a weaker thing in western culture.

“It’s a different set of regulations, a different set of sexual regulations,” Keightley said. “I think that’s what makes us a little concerned about bromances — it raises an issue only to shut down a full discussion, and what seems at first to be an open minded exploration of the masculine identity turns out to be a return to the same old heteronormativity.”

Although bromantic relationships remain the subject of giggles, students appear to be comfortable with such a relationship on campus.

“It’s everywhere,” Justin Leung, a second-year social science student at Western, said. “I guess I have one.”

“I think it’s adorable,” Kim Wood, second-year social science student, said.

Yet the humorous way in which affectionate relationships between two men are seen points to a larger problem according to some, especially in regards to homosexuality.

“Bromance could be read as an acknowledgement of an area of anxiety that ultimately reconfigures masculinity so as to maintain its hegemony,” Keightley stated. “The bromance ultimately reassures us that liking another man doesn’t make you gay, yet reiterates the homophobic idea that being gay is a problem.”