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REAL MEN – by Gary Smolker
I recently spent 5 days watching 18 films at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.
While I was in Toronto – attending the Film Festival – and having a stress test, my Toronto based cardiologist Christopher Buller, MD (whose office is at St. Michael’s Hospital, in Toronto, Canada) asked me to send him a list of the movies I liked most at the end of the festival.
Below is a copy of the note I sent Dr. Buller early this morning about my three favorite movies.
The reason I chose each of the three movies discussed below is simple.
Today the concept of being a manly man is something everyone should contemplate.
The truth is most people are not clear about what it means to be a real man.
The heroes Vinny Paz in the movie “Bleed for This”, Pablo Neruda in “Neruda” are real men and the hero Dane Jensen in the movie “The Headhunter’s Calling” is a factional character; each of these three men are an exemplary example of real manhood.
In each movie a dramatic tense portion of the life story of each man is presented.
One can tell by watching these movies that each of those men (Vinny Paz, Pablo Neruda, and Dane Jensen) was a man who had settled the question of what he is most about and what he is prepared to make sacrifices for.
In addition to knowing what they were most about, Vinny Paz, Pablo Neruda, and Dane Jensen had the strength of character to stand by their convictions.
That is what makes each movie so compelling.
These three movies reaffirm of two things I believe very strongly:
- A transcendent cause must exist in a person’s life if he or she is to reach his or her full potential as a human being.
- A transcendent cause must exist in a person’s life (i.e., in your life) to bring meaning to who you are as a person.
Americans are about to elect a new President of the United States.
Today, the United States is in a crisis of discarded honor, dubious integrity, faux manliness and extreme confusion of what it means to be a manly man.
Today every American male should contemplate the concept to being a manly man.
It is not manly to sexually assault a woman.
I strongly recommend that everyone male in the United States go see “Bleed for This”, “Neruda” and “The Headhunter’s Calling” when those movies are released for showing to the general public.
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Below is a copy of the letter I sent to my cardiologist Christopher Buller, M.D., on Wednesday morning, September 21, 2016.
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Wednesday morning, 4:15 a.m. PST, September 21, 2016
Chris,
I saw 18 movies in 5 days.
My three most “favorite” movies:
- “Bleed for This”
- “Neruda”
- “The Headhunter’s Calling”
- Is that Neruda was an unapologetic hedonist,
- Is that Neruda was not good looking and yet was loved by countless women,
- Is that Neruda had/has a poetical and rousing way with words — which he used to be the voice of the voiceless oppressed people in his native country (Chile) .
- The most memorable line I ever heard spoken in any movie: “Foreplay does not begin in the bedroom.”
- The man’s speech to his wife about why he is working so hard — is very eloquent — in response to his wife’s plea for him to spend more time with his children.
- A man torn between the dictates of his ambition and the needs of his family,
- Domestic stability, and
- What really matters in life.
I Agree with the Following Messages in Those Three Films
Dane Jensen
Life is action. Not speculating, not debating, but doing.
When called upon to do so, the most important thing in Dane Jensen’s life was to protect his family.
It is part of a good man to do great and noble deeds, though he risks everything.
Dane “sacrificed” his career to protect his family.
What You Do Is Who You Are.
What you do lasts, lasts in you.
What you do, that, and only that, is how you are.
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda’s sense of justice and moral courage were his cornerstone characteristics.
His sense of right and wrong gave him the moral compass that guided his life.
Vinny Paz
Vinny Paz knew what was important to him and what he was unwilling to compromise.
Vinny’s physical strength was impressive. Yet this did not make Vinny manly.
Moral Strength Is What Makes A Man Manly
Physical strength is not what make makes a man manly.
Rather, it is moral strength that identifies the true man.
Pablo Neruda and Vinny Paz had moral strength, the strength of character to stand by their convictions.
People like Neruda and Paz will be the leaders of the future.
The Future of the World
Husbands like Dane Jensen and wives like Dane’s wife will make family life work.
The world’s future depends on it.
Theodore Roosevelt’s Letter to His Son Kermit on January 27, 1915
“If a man does not have an ideal and try to live up to it, then he becomes a mean, base and sordid creature, no matter how successful.”
Copyright © 2016 by Gary S. Smolker, All Rights Reserved