There’s this viral debate online: could 100 men beat a gorilla? A strange mix of fantasy and fight logic. People in the comments drafting war plans, talking tactics, drawing lines in the sand. One guy said he’d bring a rope.

It’s wild how quick we cling to the trope, like masculinity just needed a beast to oppose. Like fur and fangs finally made us close. Now we talk teamwork. We talk blows. But no one asks why we need the gorilla — why men only seem to band together when there’s something to kill, not something to survive.

I didn’t comment. I just read: “Swarm the back.” “Bite the gorilla.” And I thought — if this is what we’re bringing to the fight, God help the man just looking for hope, and pray it’s not the same guy who said he’d bring the rope.

The gorilla’s fake. But maybe the brotherhood doesn’t have to be.