The Lonely Goatherd Blog

And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats - Matthew 25:32




Up to the minute notes on the current state of free thinking and free living: Kentucky moonshine - original analysis and reporting from MoreThings, and all round pop culture museum of sight and sound - photo galleries, mp3 and video downloads.

Al Barger and MoreThings - getting people's goats since 1998.

Live free or die!


----

I stand with Israel


Al Barger's Boutique Gift Shop

I wouldn't want to ask people to just give me money cause they like my website, but do please take a quick look at Barger's Boutique. You might find yourself a little something-something for 2 or 3 bucks that you just can't resist! Any of the round images you find around MoreThings will get you to an Amazon page to buy my stuff and help ol' Al keep the lights on.
Muhammed, Mohammed blasphemous image
Jesus and Doubting Thomas
Sammy Davis Jr with Archie Bunker on All in the Family



More Things


MoreThings Home


Goatherd Blog Home



Music Sustains the Soul

Video Fan

God and Country

Free MP3 Downloads

Free Video and Movie Downloads

Barger for Senate archive

Holla Back!


If you're testing God and lying to his face, you're going to catch hell. - Jack White



What's a libertarian?








Links
To explicitly state the obvious, these external links go to interesting and provocative websites, but they speak for themselves. I don't necessarily agree with anything they say - especially that no-goodnik Richard Marcus.
*************





Ruvy's Roost

Bad Eagle

Mark Steyn

Kole Hard Facts of Life

Richard Marcus - Beady Eyed Lyin' Canadian

Buckdog

Samizdata

The Memory Hole

Rate a cop



All original content on MoreThings.com copyright 2008 Albert Barger or the respective authors


June 18, 2003

 

My top movie heroes
The cool thing about stuff like the AFI list of top movie heroes and villains comes from considering what constitutes heroism versus villainy.

In my mind, heroism comes not so much from physical bravery, which is not necessarily that difficult- especially for stupid people. Any idiot can hold their breath for a few seconds and walk into a line of fire.

It generally impresses me much more to see people struggling against their own internal forces, making an ongoing effort to overcome their own demons to figure out what they need to do.

The AFI list had some good but fairly obvious choices, such as Rick Blaine in Casablanca. They had some interesting and less than obvious choices (the best part), such as Juror #8 from 12 Angry Men. There were some cheap, shallow choices, such as Superman. Then there were some plain stupid choices, such as Cool Hand Luke. What was heroic about this character? He was just stupid and suicidal.

Most annoying, however, was their #1 movie hero of all time: Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. Oh, the great white liberal lawyer has come to save the black man! Crikey. If I were picking someone out for heroism in that movie, it would be Boo Radley.

Anyway, this annoyed me enough to make me conjure up my own list of great movie heroes. Instead of the self-satisfied white lawyer, let's start with...

Malcolm X (Malcolm X)
I'm only marginally knowledgeable about Malcolm X and I don't much trust Spike Lee, so keep in mind that I am judging the character played by Denzel Washington rather than the historical character. With that in mind, however, this character showed great integrity and ultimately even fair humility in doing the right thing by his people and his God, even knowing that it would get him killed. He's certainly a much greater savior figure to the black man than any liberal white lawyer.

Karl Childers (Sling Blade)
Karl really struggled in his soul to do right, but ended up with an irreconcilable division between his Christianity and his imperative need to protect the boy. Ultimately, he sacrificed not just his freedom, but (in his own mind) the salvation of his soul to protect his loved one.

Rachel Cooper (Night of the Hunter)
This old woman showed what a real Christian was supposed to be- captured perfectly in the image of her rocking in her chair through the night, cradling a shotgun to protect the children, singing "leaning on the everlasting arms" with the wolf prowling the grounds.

The Stranger (High Plains Drifter)
Being dead to start with, you couldn't really say that Eastwood's stranger was exactly courageous. He was more like an agent of God- the Old Testament YHWH version- carefully and methodically forcing the people of the town to see into their own souls in such manner as they could not deny.

Raymond Shaw (The Manchurian Candidate)
From Sinatra's final voiceover: "Made to commit acts too unspeakable to be cited here... by an enemy who had captured his mind and his soul... he freed himself at last... and, in the end, heroically and unhesitatingly gave his life to save his country."

Ed Exley (LA Confidential)
Exley showed great exceptional integrity to truth in tearing down his apparently perfect career making achievement in the Night Owl Cafe murders.

Sarah Connor (Terminator 2)
She was the fiercest protective mother cub in the history of film.

Marge Gunderson (Fargo)
Fighting through the extreme cold and the discomfort and indignities of a late term of pregnancy, Marge quietly plodded forward to solve murders and -in the most understated way- provide a human soul and an understanding spiritual presence amidst all the greedy losers whose petty venality created so much suffering.

John Coffey (The Green Mile)
The coolest "magical negro" in movie history, and a striking figure. For being so nice though, note that he absolutely destroyed one jackass guard, and quite consciously pushed him into killing another inmate.

Robin Hood (The Adventures of Robin Hood)
Errol Flynn's classic 1938 swashbuckling Robin Hood can't be denied. His heroism did not have the flavor of self-sacrifice, but of proper pride and joy.
Maid Marion: You speak treason!
Sir Robin of Locksley: Yes, fluently.

Clarice Starling (Silence of the Lambs)
Her most impressive displays of courage came in her talks with Hannibal, knowingly making herself vulnerable to him in order to save the senator's daughter.

Ichabod Crane (Sleepy Hollow)
Notice how this version of Ichabod struggled constantly against his physical fears and sensitivities, trying to stoically choke it back again and again. Even more impressively, notice his integrity in following the empirical evidence where it led- even when it led to his beloved.


posted by Al at 6/18/2003 02:17:00 AM

Link Soup
morethings master photo gallery index boutique MP3 new album releases lyrics sammy davis shirley temple photos little richard photos buddy holly pictures fats domino images chuck berry pictures Jesus pictures leann rimes 24 lucille ball images clint eastwood pictures lena horne images beach boys janis joplin images team america pictures robert mitchum photos bruce springsteen pictures bugs bunny pictures mariah carey pictures ann coulter photos loretta lynn pictures kanye west images beatles pictures white stripes pictures andy griffith pictures kill bill pictures beverly hillbillies pictures michael jackson robin williams frank zappa pictures jerry lee lewis pictures richard pryor photos june carter johnny cash pictures u2 photos four seasons images james cagney images pulp fiction pics snoop dogg elvis presley pictures dolly parton pictures olsen twins photos brandy cheech&chong tori amos pictures David Bowie photos roger rabbit reese witherspoon pictures rolling stones photos fiona apple images kim novak images ray charles photos marx brothers pictures prince rogers nelson pictures blazing saddles images steve martin eddie murphy photos aretha franklin photos south park  pictures homer simpson images bob dylan pictures elizabeth taylor photos alice in wonderland pictures madonna images saturday night live pictures jewel kilcher photos willie nelson images india.arie pics lynyrd skynyrd hee haw pictures james brown images pete townshend photos tina turner pictures dixie chicks photos bill murray pictures elton john images emmylou harris images in living color pictures guns n roses pictures jodie foster photos eminem frank sinatra photos van halen images satan blondie photos merle haggard images rocky horror pictures monty python martin luther king watchmen pictures sarah palin