From Tough Guys to Softies: The End of the Alpha Male?
At the 2025 Seriencamp in Cologne, two new series explore the fragile boundaries between modern masculinity and toxic ideals. With humor, depth, and plenty of awkward honesty.
Last week, the TV Show Camp in Cologne (Seriencamp 2025) premiered several new series, but one theme clearly stood out among the rest: toxic masculinity. What does it mean to be a man in today’s society? What pressures shape young men’s identities, and how are those expectations challenged in the media we consume?
AFFECT attended the screenings of two standout shows: „Club der Dinosaurier“ and „Softies“. Both tackle the theme of masculinity with a comedic approach - but never shy away from raising deeper, often uncomfortable questions.
A Testosterone Trip Gone Wrong
In „Club der Dinosaurier“, directed by Lutz Heineking jr., two teenage boys are desperate to become the "manly" versions of themselves - muscular, confident, desirable. To impress girls at school, they secretly buy testosterone pills online. But instead of bulking up, their bodies begin to change in bizarre ways. They start growing scales, claws, and slowly transform into dinosaur-like creatures. The pills were a scam - but the boys continue taking them, addicted to the illusion of becoming stronger, more masculine.
“I was seriously wondering how they even got people convinced to shoot this idea,” says actress Hannah Schiller in our interview. “But once you really think about it, you realize how layered the story actually is. It goes way deeper than just comedy.” The dinosaur metaphor is as absurd as it is brilliant - highlighting how outdated, almost prehistoric, some male ideals still are. It’s a grotesque reminder of how toxic masculinity can lead to physical, emotional, and even social self-destruction.
“It’s important for young men to understand how harmful the idea of the ‘ideal man’ can be”, says lead actor Diyar Ilhan. “Let’s keep talking about it - and acknowledge the thin line between a healthy masculine identity and a toxic one.”
Three Men, Three Struggles
In „Softies“, directed by Jonathan Westphal und Yves Guillaume, masculinity is explored in a more grounded, relatable way. The series follows three male roommates, each representing a different facet of modern manhood - each struggling with their own insecurities and societal pressures.
Damian Hardung plays a young man dealing with erectile dysfunction, something he hides from his friends and tries to fix with secret doses of Viagra. Samir Salim plays the painfully shy Hassan that barely knows how to speak to women. The third, played by Oskar Redfern is the opposite: constantly hooking up with girls, but emotionally unavailable and afraid to be vulnerable or honest about not wanting anything serious. “Softies” shows that masculinity isn’t a fixed concept - it’s full of contradictions, vulnerabilities, and silence. It challenges the idea that men have to be in control, emotionally distant, or sexually dominant to be considered “real” men.
Testosterone, Taboos & Tenderness
Both series reveal the complexity of being a young man in today’s world - where outdated ideals still linger, but new, healthier narratives are beginning to emerge. Whether it’s the surreal transformation in „Club der Dinosaurier“ or the intimate realism of „Softies“, these shows invite us to laugh - and then reflect.
Toxic masculinity is no longer a fringe issue - it’s at the center of pop culture conversations. And that’s a necessary shift. The more we tell stories that question and challenge rigid gender roles, the more space we create for new, diverse models of masculinity.
Being a man doesn’t have to mean being strong, stoic, or dominant. It can also mean being soft, uncertain, and human.
By Sophie Schiller
