Pedro Pascal is the ‘daddy’ of the internet, and he’s dressed for the part
On the Public Acts of Dadliness in Baton Rouge and the Conservative Caucus: a Call to Reconsider ‘Paternity’
Public acts of fatherhood, no matter how mundane, tend to attract positive attention. One of my earliest memories of being a father is walking our infant daughter through downtown Baton Rouge in her stroller and having several motorists slow down to lavish praise on me. You are doing the right thing. One shouted. At the grocery store with my daughter in her carrier, rocking her to sleep on the stoop, even holding her at the doctor’s office — for these deeds I received regular, rapturous affirmation that, it probably goes without saying, is seldom the standard for moms. Visible acts of dadliness are subject to a kind of social grade inflation that Gomez is savvy to utilize.
A notable aspect of both this vision and the dads caucus itself is that they are not bipartisan. A segment of the conservative movement is allergic to embarrassment. These conservatives recognize a similar transformation in contemporary dadhood, but they register it as diminishment and decay. Tucker Carlson has released a series called “The End of Men” and joked about Pete Buttigieg taking time off to be with his baby, saying he was trying to figure out how to breastfeed. On Twitter, the commentator Matt Walsh refused the very concept of paternity leave with the same energy that dads refuse instructions for Ikea furniture. The Missouri senator Josh Hawley has written a forthcoming book entitled “Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs” — “A free society that despises manhood,” the promotional copy reads, “will not remain free.”
Pedro Pascal at the Red Carpet premiere of “The Mandalorian”: “I’m your cool, slutty Daddy”
The ‘Look of the Week’ series is a regular show dedicated to unpacking the most talked about outfit of the last seven days.
This week, Pedro Pascal arrived at the red carpet premiere for the third season of Disney+ series “The Mandalorian” in Los Angeles in a lemon-hued collared Gucci shirt, gray wide-leg slacks and a mustard knit sweater tied across his shoulders. The look — curated by celebrity stylist Julie Ragolia — was topped off by a pair of oversized, 70s tortoise shell eyeglasses.
The ensemble gave off soothing parental vibes, making the actor into a well-to-do, Ivy League dad. Dedicated to both renewable energy and his GQ subscription; his calendar is blocked with regular parent-teacher meetings at his child’s school and dates at his local natural wine bar with his book club bros.
It looks like fatherhood is a good thing on Pascal. While he doesn’t have children, the 47-year-old has captured hearts as a surly-yet-soft surrogate father in everything he has done. (HBO and HBO Max are also owned by CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery.)
These psuedo-parent performances, which have earned a sexually charged title of Daddy, have been in the eyes of many social media users. (The hashtag “PedroPascalDaddy,” for example, has more than 18 million views on TikTok alone.) It’s a status Pascal has embraced with open arms. Is daddy a state of mind? He told Vanity Fair in 2022, “I’m your Daddy.” Pascal’s recognition of his status didn’t stop there. During a red carpet interview with Entertainment Tonight in January, while staring straight into the camera, he took it one step further and said: “I’m your cool, slutty Daddy.”
