# Why does Matt Murdock always need a shave (Netflix Daredevil)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2018, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683 "2018-12-06T16:47:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/1 "2018-12-06T16:47:53Z")
Matt always has three-to-four days’ growth of beard. He is never clean-shaven but never has a full beard either. So he must shave _some_times. But when? ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/2 "2018-12-06T17:21:27Z")
He doesn’t see the need for a close shave… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/3 "2018-12-06T17:21:52Z")
He’s got extremely sensitive skin, so shaving close is very uncomfortable to him. So he just uses the buzz-trimmers on his electric razor to keep it short. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/4 "2018-12-06T17:24:41Z")
Because roughly 75% of guys his age look like they need a shave. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/5 "2018-12-06T17:26:29Z")
My beard trimmer can be set from 0.5 - 10 mm at .5mm intervals. That of course doesn’t mean that’s what Murdock uses. He’s a fictional character, maybe, like Home Simpson, he just grows a 5 o’clock shadow in an instant and then it stays like that all day. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/6 "2018-12-06T17:31:14Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Because roughly 75% of guys his age look like they need a shave. For the win. Plus dark hair and light skin, like the actor has, gives you a perpetual five 0 clock shadow even if you shave regularly and I speak from experience! ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/7 "2018-12-06T19:05:21Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > For the win. Plus dark hair and light skin, like the actor has, gives you a perpetual five 0 clock shadow even if you shave regularly and I speak from experience! Yeah but this isn’t just a five o’clock shadow, it’s more like a Thursday morning shadow. I am sure this is not because of who the actor is but a deliberate decision as to how to present the character. Chronos’ explanation makes sense but the feature is distracting to me. Is that developed in the character’s background in Marvel? I don’t remember anyone mentioning it in the show and I have never read Daredevil comics. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/8 "2018-12-06T19:26:12Z")
Stubble if fashionable now. It’s a TV show. Do you need to see him shaving? Obviously he’d be capable of it, and I think it’d be patronizing to say real blind people couldn’t pull it off. Electric razor with a variable length guard. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/9 "2018-12-06T19:41:05Z")
To be clear, that was just me fan-wanking. I have no idea if there even is an official explanation, much less what it might be. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/10 "2018-12-06T21:50:14Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Because roughly 75% of guys his age look like they need a shave. Yeah…he’s a handsome, relatively fashionable man in his late-20s-early-30s…it’d be weirder if he didn’t have that going on. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/11 "2018-12-06T22:16:24Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Yeah…he’s a handsome, relatively fashionable man in his late-20s-early-30s…it’d be weirder if he didn’t have that going on. I get that, but even if fashionable young men don’t shave every day they have to shave\* some\*time or they would have a full-on beard. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/12 "2018-12-06T22:25:46Z")
Men have been doing this for literally _decades_. Get over it. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/13 "2018-12-06T22:37:18Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Is that developed in the character’s background in Marvel? I don’t remember anyone mentioning it in the show and I have never read Daredevil comics. In the comics, from the 1960s to the 1980s, he was always immaculately clean-shaven. In the 1980s, Roger McKenzie and Frank Miller took the character in a darker direction, and started emphasizing his working-class roots. With the _film noir_ style, he occasionally had a five o’clock shadow. When Rex Smith played him in 1989’s _The Trial of the Incredible Hulk_, he was clean-shaven. I have only seen parts of the 2003 Ben Affleck film, but he was usually clean shaven. Today, _Miami Vice_-style stubble is fashionable. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/14 "2018-12-06T23:28:54Z")
Foggy shaves, though. (On the other hand, Foggy doesn’t wash his hair). ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/15 "2018-12-06T23:30:12Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I get that, but even if fashionable young men don’t shave every day they have to shave\* some\*time or they would have a full-on beard. I’m a (not that) fashionable (not as) young man, and I wear my facial hair the same way. And, no, I don’t (generally) shave. Every ~3 days I run clippers over my beard, taking it from 4ish days’ growth to ~1 days’. I assume if I cared enough I could find a clipper guard that would take me to exactly 3 days worth and do that every day. I’m 99% sure that Daredevil’s facial hair styling has everything to do with what looks fashionable these days and nothing to do with any in-universe character explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/16 "2018-12-07T00:04:10Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I get that, but even if fashionable young men don’t shave every day they have to shave\* some\*time or they would have a full-on beard. I haven’t shaved in at least four years, but yet only have very short stubble all the time. A set of trimmers allows me to do this, and I assume Matt does the same. No full-on breasts necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/17 "2018-12-07T00:08:28Z")
… Now I am pondering how breasts would help with maintaining the look… ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/18 "2018-12-07T04:45:29Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I get that, but even if fashionable young men don’t shave every day they have to shave\* some\*time or they would have a full-on beard. Huh? Beards are hair. That’s like saying you have to shave your head bald every time you get a hair cut. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/19 "2018-12-07T15:42:02Z")
I have a short beard. Shaving irritates my skin and causes ingrown whiskers. Whiskers below a certain length are bristly and itchy, and over a certain length require increased care and maintenance, even more than that needed for daily shaving. As far as I’m concerned, my 3/8" long beard hits the right balance between comfort and fussiness. Others’ mileage may vary; I would find nothing unusual about a man who kept 1/8" of stubble at all times via clipper. Maybe dude doesn’t want to shave but doesn’t want to have to style his beard either. If I were to go blind today, I would sure prefer to run a clipper over my face with impunity than try to shave by feel alone. I know that’s not a consideration for Daredevil, but in the real world would you be surprised that a blind man might prefer to use a clipper to a shaver or razor? ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683/20 "2018-12-07T15:57:47Z")
> [@brossa](#): > > I have a short beard. Shaving irritates my skin and causes ingrown whiskers. Whiskers below a certain length are bristly and itchy, and over a certain length require increased care and maintenance, even more than that needed for daily shaving. As far as I’m concerned, my 3/8" long beard hits the right balance between comfort and fussiness. Others’ mileage may vary; I would find nothing unusual about a man who kept 1/8" of stubble at all times via clipper. Maybe dude doesn’t want to shave but doesn’t want to have to style his beard either. > > If I were to go blind today, I would sure prefer to run a clipper over my face with impunity than try to shave by feel alone. I know that’s not a consideration for Daredevil, but in the real world would you be surprised that a blind man might prefer to use a clipper to a shaver or razor? I feel obliged to mention that I never use a mirror of any type when I shave. (I have no visual impairments.) I shave by feel in the shower and it turns out perfect every time. It’s easy. I’ve also worked with visually-impaired individuals who shaved using safety razors and they had no problems. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-matt-murdock-always-need-a-shave-netflix-daredevil/825683.md?page=2)