Even if I'd have hated them, Tab would have bought them from me. She loves to own really bad movies. She also likes to own really good movies. So I guess she just likes movies. Gee, that was kind of a repetitive paragraph.
Stage beauty is about the drastic change of theatre in the 1700's, when the King of England proclaimed that women could perform on the stage. Billy Crudup's character, at the time, was the most famous leading lady, and his dresser, Claire Danes replaces him when the it becomes illegal for men to play women on stage. The whole film deals with gender identity. What did it do to men who were so good at being feminine that it started to change their sexuality? It is really sexual, but not really graphic. For a movie that is all about whether or not you have a particular appendage, I thought it was really tasteful. And I love Billy Crudup. He's beautiful and he plays these amazing roles. It was a little weird for me to see him dressed as a women, and gay, but he was so real about it all. His mannerisms were terrific. This film is kind of like Shakespeare in love, but I think I like it better because it is so much more realistic, and there wasn't really any adultery--I cannot stomach watching adultery, it just ruins a movie for me.
Friends with Money was good but not great. It was kind of like a slice of life film, rather than a story that begins, reaches some kind of climax then ends. I like these kind of movies, I really do. I get caught up in scenes individually, I think. And the dialogue and conversations they have. It was almost like a play more than a movie. Lots of talk, talk, talk, and very little action of any kind. Jennifer Aniston bugged me though. She played the exact same character as she did in The Good Girl, which I really hated. So creepy, yuck. Joan Cusack was amazing in it though. I can't explain it, but it was like she finally discovered a way to not play so freaking quarky and weird. She's funny that way, but it was nice to see her in a different kind of role.
So, these movies were good. It feels good to process them like this on here. I don't know anyone else who's see them yet, so I can't really talk about them with anybody.
So the Huntingtonian came out today, and I was finally satisfied with how my column turned out. I think it's because I knew exactly what and who I wanted to target. The trick was getting my point across without anyone reading it and feeling attacked. I hate confrontation, and I don't feel like I have the right to attack people in that capacity. Its not really fair, they don't have 350 words a month to bitch about the world or the institution or whatever injustice that is the most trendy righ now. So I try to slip my agenda in there. Here it is, if you're curious.
Integrity Wins, no contest
A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity. - Baltasar Gracian
I distinctly remember sitting on the floor of the locker room. It was all a vicious rumor, he said. Staring up at him and his tear-stained cheeks, I felt sorry and guilty for the accusations and gossip that came out of my mouth in that very room. He said he was innocent, and I believed him.
Oh, to be young and naïve again. Appearances aren’t always what they seem. You might add, especially when it comes to those in roles of leadership.
I learned this the hard way. We all do. I’d be naïve to think that you had never been let down by someone you trusted—a teacher, a parent, a sports hero, an administrator or friend.
My first lesson of integrity—or lack thereof—came from my coach in high school. His affair with one of his assistants destroyed any relationship we had. Even if it meant having to break in a new coach my senior basketball season, I couldn’t wait until we lost in the sectional so he could be out of my life.
The more it happens to me—the more the people I admire let me down—the more this theory I have starts to ring true. It is not the indiscretion, but the cover-up that is so unbearable.
If you mess up, I’ll get over it. It happens. People disappoint, foul up and even commit crimes. But you lie to me, and you’re a double offender.
It might not be fair, the fact that we hold our leaders to a higher standard. But that’s not important, really. What matters is that we do our part to keep integrity thriving in our community.
The rumor is out that integrity is a dying concept. That the end is far greater than the means you take to get there.
But success means nothing if we are going about it in the wrong way. I’m scared that our love of prestige—awards, championships and accolades—has begun to trump honesty and hard work.
On the grand scale of things that really matter, we know right will always beat wrong. The truth can always defeat a lie, and integrity will live on.
Wouldn’t it be great to come out on the winning side?
