I'm always more motivated by the pain of a funny character than by what makes him funny.
Crime fiction makes money. It may be harder for writers to get published, but crime is doing better than most of what we like to call CanLit. It's elementary, plot-driven, character-rich story-telling at its best.
I'm a giant softy, for sure, but I honestly think these days it's probably considered more masculine to be emotionally connected.