Uh, HDMI cables have two male ends, or did you mean 'send vs receive'? The Display end DOES need to go to the AVR if it's coming from the DVR/NVR. Also, it's not "hanging out of", it's 'plugged into'- 'hanging out of' kind of implies that the signal leaves the AVR and goes somewhere else, but it doesn't.

Did the HDMI cable need to be active because it's extremely long, or is it "what was in stock'? If you didn't provide it, did you try a different cable?