Generally, I don’t respect celebrities.
Sure, some of them rise to the occasion, especially during states of emergency and need. Plenty of celebrities have given money for relief of Katrina, but that’s expected. The ones who rise to the occasion are, for instance, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, who drove two 18-wheelers filled with food and toys to Katrina survivors, all the while avoiding the media.
Yet, for the most part, celebrities are fairly laughable. We make fun of their outfits and hair styles at awards shows. We follow their sordid love affairs (and sordid marriages). We debate endlessly over their court cases and crimes. And we watch biographies full of drug use, crime and sexual deviance.
You might have sympathy for these people, as every movement and bad hair day are scrutinized by most of the world, but mostly I can’t stand the lot of them.
There are, however, exceptions.
Now, mind you, there aren’t many exceptions. As soon as I start liking an actor or actress, they make a bad movie or start dating Tom Cruise. As soon as I start liking a singer, he or she completely sells out and changes his or her musical style.
I must put my faith in one celebrity, then. One who will never change. One who, even at his most embarrassing moment, was still completely awesome.
I am referring, of course, to Bruce Lee.
Even though he only starred in five movies, only four of them complete, Bruce Lee is still the biggest name in martial arts films. And none of those movies completely sucked. He had a degree in philosophy. During his most famous interviews, instead of discussing how he was completely in love with another actress for the fifth time in a year, he explained his philosophy. He revolutionized martial arts. He personally understood the differences in Eastern and Western thought, having lived on both sides of the Pacific, and worked that into his philosophy as well as his creative work.
So what’s the big deal with his movies? Anyone could take one look at his movies and comment on the cheesiness of the early 1970s. The dialogue occasionally isn’t the greatest. And the plots are fairly simplistic. These are, after all, martial arts movies.
Yet what sort of things do you usually expect from an action hero? There must be lots of explosions. The hero has to hook up with an attractive woman. After a series of very cool chase scenes, a minor character’s death and an epic battle at the end, the hero rides off into the sunset with his best girl at his side.
This is what Bruce Lee would call a Western way of looking at things.
Bruce Lee’s protagonists, on the other hand, usually fight for revenge. The protagonist resists fighting at the beginning of the movie, saying that the true way of martial arts is through peace. Then, after several attempts to keep the peace and several deaths of the protagonist’s friends, the protagonist goes on a vengeful killing spree, breaking all of his former creeds. He may kill the bad guy in the end, but the movie always ends with the protagonist either dying or being arrested. Any love interests cannot be consummated, and the protagonist pays the price for his quest for revenge.
It is certainly a more sobering view of the action hero, and it makes us think more than any James Bond movie ever did.
Yes, I am a Bruce Lee fan. I read all of his interviews. I’ve watched all of his movies. I watch or read any biographies. For all the celebrities that brag about faddish spirituality, this was a man who was truly spiritual. For all the celebrities who go on talk shows, this was a man who had something worthwhile to say.
And, remember this, he didn’t need to fly to make awesome martial arts action.
Bailey Singletarry
There is one memorized paragraph that is probably spoken daily by students in an elementary school five days a week. It is not the entire paragraph Americans are concerned with; it’s only four small words. These four words have rattled the cages of the American courts more than any other phrase in the United States. Brace yourself for the breath-taking phrase: “one nation under God.”
Recently, a federal judge in California declared that the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional and should not be recited in public schools.
Why are people so worried about kids thinking that God is real? If parents don’t want their kids reciting “under God,” take the kids, not God, out of public schools. I think that God is exactly what we need to teach kids about right now.
The same Supreme Court that has consistently struck down organized prayer in public schools as unconstitutional opens its public sessions by asking for the blessings of God, according to usgovinfo.com. If the Pledge of Allegiance is going to be taken away, the patriotic songs “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful” should not be allowed to be played or sung in public schools, either. Let’s gather up all the currency, throw it in a furnace and burn it; we can’t have “in God we trust” on our money, either.
In fact, let’s take up Bibles if students bring them to school, and suspend them if they speak of a “heavenly father.”
How is teaching a child about God so harmful? They get to learn about terrorists, war and other things involving this country, so why shouldn’t they be able to learn about God. He is a big part of this country, too.
The Senate voted soon after the ruling that the pledge was unconstitutional, stating that the phrase “one nation under God” reflects the religious faith central to the founding of the nation and that its recitation is “a fully constitutional expression of patriotism,” CNN reported.
By living in America, we have the chance to voice our opinions on anything we feel the need to. One of those things is religion. By reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, we are using our freedom that we earned and not taking it for granted. If someone has a problem saying the Pledge of Allegiance, no one is going to force him or her to say it in this country.
You are your own person. If you don’t believe in God or in religion at all, it is not a problem. Although I do agree with some points of the opposing sides, and respect everything they say, I believe that taking away the freedom from other Americans who do believe in God, and all that comes with the religion of Christianity, is unconstitutional.
Teaching a child that people are killed every day could cause damage to his or her mind; but to teach a child about unconditional love, I, along with others, see no harm done.
I was not completely against taking prayer out of school. People pray different ways, and no one has the right to force you to pray to God. If a person wants to pray, it is between them and the higher being he is praying to. But I’m sure that if our Pledge of Allegiance said “one nation under no god of any kind,” there would be a riot in the country.
People don’t like the fact that others are forcing them to believe in God, but if we had no one watching over the country, I believe that when it came down to it, we would all be afraid.