Pearls of Wisdom or Whatever…

Hello all,

First post in March… Whooooo!!! Hope y’all are doing well. I just thought I’d give you the benefit of my old age once again. A certain young woman always says I’m old… She doesn't know that I fantasized about having grey hair for a while (just like Richard Gere or more hilariously Abdulsalam Abubakar) so I love it when she says that. Ha-ha. I may actually be a little insane. Anyways, it’s good to be back.

To start with, I watched what may be one of the worst movies I've ever seen yesterday. Winter’s Tale is horrible. The dialogue is horrible. The direction is horrible. It was an all-around terrible movie and a waste of two hours of my life although it should be said that I had good company so it wasn't a total waste. (my arm died while I was trying to be suave. Don Draper, I have a lot to learn). What boggles the mind is that it was chock full of stars – Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly (who I absolutely love; she has the most amazing eyes) and Will Smith in a hilarious turn as the devil. I honestly don’t know what they were all thinking. Upon further research, I found out that the writer/director is highly respected (as a writer) so maybe that was it. The movie reminds me of The Counselor which was also full of stars but somehow left me wanting a little more. Ridley Scott is a well-respected director with Gladiator, Body of Lies and Kingdom of Heaven in his body of work. Cormac McCarthy is mainly known as an author with books like The Road and No Country for Old Men, both of which have been made into very good movies. But then Cormac McCarthy wanted to try his hand at screenwriting. It wasn't very pretty. The movie had some memorable lines but it fell a little flat. I liked it though.

I started watching True Detective recently. It is a good show with amazing performances. Woody Harrelson is very good but Matthew McConaughey steals the show. The man has become a powerhouse. He is absolutely amazing as Rust Cohle. The Tag-line of the show is “Man is the cruelest animal”. It is full of philosophical dialogue that somehow rings true. The dialogue is absolutely fantastic and it may be what I love most about the show. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

I’m gonna be a little controversial here. I keep hearing that women today aren't allowing men to be ‘men’. What does that mean? I read one Facebook post today and the lady was talking about how women need to go back to being traditional. She said “When was the last time you asked God to bless your husband? Instead of praying for God to bless you, pray for God to bless your husband and cause him to love you.” I don’t know about you but I was stunned. Is that all women have to aspire to? The days are gone where we had clearly defined roles for men and women – when majority of the paying jobs involved skills that were mostly particular to men. These days, that line is blurred – people are competing for opportunities where the determining factor is usually how smart you are. In that respect, the playing field has leveled considerably. Therefore, it is only natural that women would aspire to be more than love interests for their husbands. To me, this is not a bad thing. In the home, there should be respect and love between a husband and a wife. More important is an understanding that they're are in it for the long haul together. This means sharing responsibilities. I couldn't marry a woman who would just stay at home, who would not challenge me intellectually or who couldn't call me on my crap. I just think we are in a male dominated society and these men are not willing to change with the times. Things change… deal with it. Maybe I'm looking at it from a different angle so please educate me if you can. 

One last thing – Lupita Nyongo. The media have been raving about this young woman. I listened to a couple of her speeches and she is certainly very intelligent. She is also self-aware – she knows that she’s been very fortunate to be where she is and she always tries to motivate young people. I’m all for that. But mehn… the hype is getting too much jo. I was on twitter during the Oscars and when she got out of her car, people were just gushing praise and I was like “what the hell is going on here?” The girl has done well… she was good in “12 Years…” and she may well be an inspirational figure to young people but let’s dial it down a notch, yeah? Thanks.

On that note, I’m signing off. Till next time, I remain your fantastic Mr. Fox.