Fox News buried in mockery as panel bizarrely defends villain in 'A Few Good Men'

Internet observers on Thursday mocked a bizarre Fox News meltdown in which a panel of co-hosts complained that Hollywood decided to portray Jack Nicholson's character in "A Few Good Men" as the antagonist.

Nicholson's Colonel Nathan Jessup is the main antagonist in the film, serving as a commanding officer at Guantanamo Bay whose order leads to a Marine's death, triggering the central court-martial plot. Jessup dominates key scenes, including an iconic courtroom outburst in which Nicholson blurts out, "You can't handle the truth!"

Fox News, no stranger to foraying into culture wars, waded into the debate on whether masculinity has been demonized during a discussion on "Outnumbered."

After Harris Faulkner proclaimed that people who want to defend America need to be celebrated, attorney Paul Mauro chimed in that Hollywood was responsible for the shift with the film.

"You know when Hollywood imprinted this? 'A Few Good Men,'" he declared. "You remember that movie? Jack Nicholson? Right there. 'I am that wall!' He's saying, 'I am that wall.' But they vilified him. Right? There's where Hollywood started this."

Political analyst Lisa Boothe concluded, "Now there's too few good men. Surprise."

The clip earned scorn on Bluesky.

Political and media researcher Craig Harrington‬ wrote on Bluesky, "Fox's ideal of masculinity is a criminal military officer who orders one of the American marines under his command to be beaten to death."

The Washington Institute's ‪R. Scott Rogers‬ wrote on Bluesky, "'They vilified a man who committed crimes and then confessed to his crimes!' Yeah that tracks: Republicans really don’t like when criminals are vilified in popular culture."

Political scientist David Darmofal‬ ‪wrote on Bluesky, "With Harris Faulkner, the past is never dead. It’s not even past."

Stan Oklobdzija‬ , associate professor of public policy at University of California, Riverside, wrote on Bluesky, "It's crazy how much of the conservative ethos is just trying to express male frailty through politics."

‪Professor Jon Danziger‬ simply quipped, "Check out the truth handlers."