IN recent years two movie series have been very successful. They are the movies based upon the “Hobbit/Ring” stories and the Harry Potter novels. I sometimes watch them (again), as they are pretty good and beautifully made. Recently I saw entries from both series, and I noticed something that I missed before. It was very obvious, and this is probably why I missed it. The major male characters like to fight. They run towards the battlefield and seek violence and danger.
In fact they like to kill. They demand opportunities to risk their lives. In the “Ring” series a dwarf and an elves even have a contest as to who can kill more enemies. In other words, killing enemies is fun, and to be thought of as such. Even though the stakes are cosmically high, the joy of driving a sword or an arrow into an enemy bellies is to be celebrated. The end of their world(s) can wait a moment, while they are having fun.
This should be no surprise to anyone, if he is a human, or even if she is a woman. Despite what the Liberal Culture has attempted to present, the fact is that men like warfare. Otherwise history would be a record of extended peace(s). This is probably one reason why these movies are so successful. The male characters are heroic, and violent, and powerful. I repeat: they rejoice in being this masculine way. By the way, the Liberal Culture holds that the only killing that we should enjoy is abortion.
Of course men also have fears, and do not want to be killed in battle. So there is a conflict here. The value of, and the desire for, staying alive and avoiding incapacity may overwhelm the desire to kill others. Like women men want to “have it all.” Our “all” is not children and profession, but is killing and not being killed at the same time. Trying to have it all may cost too much for most of us. But this does not mean that we do not want the violence that is the only way truly to validate being a hero.
I mention this for two reasons. One is that we should not deny this obvious fact. The second is that we should not believe those who deny this obvious fact. Who denies this obvious fact? It is denied by those who should most affirm it. The US Generals, the leaders of the military, always and everywhere, discredit themselves by lying about it. Every general, when testifying to Congress, offers the following mantra. “As a solider myself, I detest war. I know the price of war. I hate it. I can not express [because I am lying like Satan] how much I desire peace…” etc.
We are supposed to believe that a man chooses for his profession the one thing he hates MOST in the world. As for me, I believe dwarfs and elves. They are more real than those guys.
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I sometimes think that, from a strictly secular perspective, men never had so much fun in human history as on the Russian Front in WWII. I don't mean during the boring stalemate period when the armies got stuck in sieges like that of Stalingrad. I mean during the great sweeping movements at the beginning and end of operations in that theater. I bet the Germans during the first days of Operation Barbarossa and the Russians during the final days of the German resistance were, by and large, enjoying themselves considerably. This is quite apart from the matter of the morality of either advance and the atrocities committed in the way.
On another tangent, there is a cable television show in which rather "tough"-looking, tattooed, pierced-all-over-the-place women in immodest dress (to say the least!) pretend to fight one another as in "Fight Club." I'll admit to watching part of this show (mea culpa). It seems pretty clear to me that the point of the stupid, fake fight sequence was to pique the sexual interest of a certain type of male viewer. The women pretend to exchange blows and to receive wounds but obviously do not since then they would not look attractive. The women presumably would not enjoy fighting according to the rules of a fight club. Contrast this with the movie "Fight Club," where the clubs are exclusively for men and the participants rejoice in giving and receiving injury. *That* is a very plausible scenario. The participants certainly do not worry about their appearance during or after the fights.
Long story shore: I agree with you.
Posted by: Tobias | August 21, 2011 at 12:09 AM
Your post reminds me of this scene from "Conan the Barbarian: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hikLjcwFdD8&feature=related
Posted by: Tobias | August 21, 2011 at 12:11 AM