Ok so I’m not sure how rooting in class material this is but I had to talk about it. One of my great obsessions in life has been Star Wars. I own every movie, I’ve read almost every book, I even have a rather impressive collection of Star Wars Lego creations back at home. I am a huge fanboy and proud of it. So I was very dismayed this morning to wake up and learn that George Lucas had sold my beloved Star Wars to Disney. At first I refused to believe it. I had seen interviews as recently as a few months ago where Lucas had explicitly stated that he would never sell the series. And I believed him. That wasn’t the end though. He didn’t just sell Star Wars, he sold everything, Indiana Jones included. And what did he get for all of his precious creations? 4 billion dollars. First of all, that’s pocket change for Disney. They would have paid twice that in a heartbeat. Second of all, it’s not like Lucas needs the money! This is a guy who owned all the franchising rights to Star Wars. Do you have any idea how much money he made off of that alone? He sold himself like a common street worker and I pity him. Disney is already talking about the new Star Wars movie they are going to make. They aren’t even using the existing books as a guide, they’re creating a completely original story. WHY? Why do you feel the need to do this? The story is already there! If you have to make another movie at least do us the courtesy of keeping the original storyline intact. But I digress. I seriously hope Disney knows what they’re doing and they don’t ruin Star Wars for everyone.

So I don’t think that this Superhero culture applies in my case. While I enjoy superheroes and find them entertaining I was never really that exposed to them as a child. My parents had this crazy notion that I should grow up admiring real heroes like Albert Einstein and Neil Armstrong. It is the same reason I didn’t watch Barney as a kid. Why idolize these “fairytales” when you can learn from real people. As such I didn’t grow up with the idea that I had to be strong, tough, and emotionally distant. This worked out well for me because I am by no means strong or tough. However, even though I don’t think I was brought up in this culture that doesn’t mean that millions of boys weren’t. I find it sad that this is the way our society is constructed, but then I think that this is the way it has always been. And this isn’t just in American culture this has been true since the dawn of man. Men and women have always had different roles and the males role has predominately been the role of the protector. Today in America, even though women fight in the armed forces only the men have to register for the draft. Now, there is a difference between the caveman protecting his family and the hero mentality that is pounded into the youth’s heads today. Unfortunately I don’t see this mentality changing in my lifetime. I think that most people don’t even think about it as they raise their children. They think this is the way it has always been so why change anything?    

So watching the interview with Christopher Hitchens today in class I found myself wanting to punch that guy in the face. I almost can’t even put into words my disgust. It’s not even that he said anything that terribly offensive, it’s that he is spouting this antiquated garbage that sounds like it belongs back in the 1950’s. It’s people like him with that outdated mindset that are the reason women’s equality is still an issue. It shouldn’t be! This should have been settled by now! But thanks to Hitchens and his archaic mindset women still have to fight for things like equal pay for equal work. I was so mad after leaving class I didn’t even tell my girlfriend, who is a rather outspoken feminist, about the video. And the thing is Amy Poehler and Tina Fey’s response article didn’t make me feel any better. While I respect them and think that they defended themselves very well they didn’t succeed in making this guy see that he is wrong. On the contrary, he was even more convinced he was right! I don’t know maybe it’s his smug attitude that gets to me but I really didn’t like that man. I apologize on behalf of the male race for the actions of this nut job. And I think what saddens me the most is that he’s not alone in this thinking. There are a lot of American men who have similar views and who don’t really have a problem with the fact that we still don’t have equality in this country.  

Ok so I left class today after listening to Kristen talk about her obsession with “Ian” McGregor and I thought to myself, “That’s just weird. I don’t have any parasocial relationships.” Wow was I wrong. I got back to my room and looked around at the countless posters and pictures of Peyton Manning that are hanging on the wall and I laughed out loud. So I say to myself, “Ok well that’s one guy, I’m allowed to have one.” Then I go to my bookshelf and look at all the different books I own written by Barney Stinson, Neil Patrick Harris’s character on How I Met Your Mother. But I could still justify two in my head. However, then I went over to my movie rack and stared down at my collection of James Bond films. I own every one ever made, all 22 of them. They stared right back at me, judging me and mocking me. And I became very sad. But then I came to a realization. Why does this have to be a bad thing? I love Peyton Manning, he’s my hero. He has been ever since I was a kid. So why can’t I worship him? So what if I never meet him or befriend him? And James Bond is awesome! I’m not going to apologize for that! To tell you the truth it was a rather liberating feeling accepting the fact that I too obsess about these people like a 12 year old girl. I’m sorry I judged you Kristen!     

So The video we have watched the last two class periods has really gotten me to examine my relationship with professional sports. I've come to the conclusion that I am guilty of wanting a separation of sports and political expression. I don't like it when players use sports as a platform to express their political views. It makes me uncomfortable. I like to judge a player by his actions on the field not off of it. However, the fact of the matter is sports has always been a political platform. Whether it is Jackie Robinson or Muhammad Ali, like the movie talked about, or the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team sports has served as a stage for social and political change. It has made me realize that I shouldn't be uncomfortable with this expression, I should be encouraging it. Prominent athletes are often among the first to criticize aspects of American culture and as a fan I shouldn't immediately dismiss their claims just because they may be something I didn't want to hear. I think that a prime example of this in today's sports is the absence of openly gay and lesbian athletes. I am a big fan of Billy Bean and his extraordinary bravery as the only person to play in Major League Baseball and admit to being gay. I think that he serves as a shinning example for other gay and lesbian athletes. The problem is that Billy Bean no longer plays baseball and so there is no champion there for others to look to. Unfortunately one person stepping up and fighting isn't going to change anything. We as a society have to change our mindsets and accept change when it comes.