May the Quotes Be With You

Stop and think for a second, have you ever truly thought about how prominent movie quotes are in today's society? Chances are that you most likely have not, so allow me to elaborate. I should start by telling you that quotes are a total passion of mine--I just can't seem to get enough of them! Now, you're probably thinking, "How the Hell can this guy care so much about single phrases?" Understandable, to say the least, but bear with me while I explain.

Have you ever seen the movie, A Few Good Men? If you have, then you know how good of a movie it is. If you haven't, well, I'd assume there's about a 95% that you have heard the quote, "You can't handle the truth!" that Jack Nicholson yells at Tom Cruise after Cruise demands such from him. Ring a bell? Thought so. The phrase has become ingrained into the heads of seemingly everybody nowadays, and chances are, if you even mention the word "truth" in casual conversation, somebody will bust out that very line from the movie. One of the best aspects of that quote, of course, was the fervor with which Nicholson uttered it in conjunction with both the pervading tension of the movie's climax and the implications for the denouement. It literally made the movie, and still lives on almost 20 years later

Now, imagine the power of having four or five incredible quotes in one movie. Take, for instance, 300. One of my favorite movies of all time, and easily one with some of the best quotes around. Not only does it make for a fantastic movie, but it also encourages the marketability of the film through brilliantly made trailers that incorporate all of those quotes seamlessly. A coalition of testosterone replete quotes like "Madness? THIS IS SPARTA!", "Tonight...we dine...in Hell!", and "Give them nothing, but take from them...EVERYTHING!" already foreshadows a great movie, and 300 definitely delivered. I, though, probably wouldn't have even seen the movie if not for the epic quotes--my very favorite part of the movie, even above the fighting. In retrospect, the movie was a box office hit due to its clever, quote-intensive trailers (not to mention the magnificent cinematography and carnal violence).

The final aspect of quotes that I think enticing, besides intrinsic value to the movie and marketing, is simply how cool they are. I find myself frequently quoting The Dark Knight, particularly the parts when The Joker asks, "Do you know how I got these scars?" Of course I, at least in my opinion, replicate the creepy Heath Ledger intonation perfectly. It always gets a laugh from onlookers, or at least a sketched out stare. But hey, I'm just trying to have a little fun here, not win any Oscars. The best quotes can send chills down your spine and give you goosebumps. Will Patton, as Coach Bill Yoast in Remember the Titans, gives an inspiring speech to his defense that is so good it made me shiver.

Movie quotes are so under-appreciated in today's society in comparison to how much of a role they play. You are bound to hear at least one a day, but if a movie like Borat comes out, you're certain to hear "very nice" more than ten times a day. Some can incite laughter, such as the "high fiiiive!", from the aforementioned Borat, or instill fear, such as "Heeeeere's Johnny," from The Shining. It's high time quotes started getting the appreciation they deserve for having the ability to inspire emotions as readily as they do. Really, what else do you want from them? From "I am your father" to "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" to "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," quotes over time have both been easily linked to their movies and repeated ad nauseum in common conversation. Now, you may be saying "Surely you can't be serious about loving quotes so much!" Well, I am serious...and don't call me Shirley!

East Coast Bias

To those of us well versed in the sports industry, biased refereeing has become common practice. This has never been more prevalent than the East Coast bias commonly displayed in NCAA Men's Basketball. Teams like UNC, UConn, and Duke seem to inexplicably receive every potentially controversial call, and a few that are obviously utterly fabricated.

This was exemplified in a big way in Duke's second round matchup against the Texas Longhorns last Saturday night. With under a minute left and a tied up affair, Damion James was called for a phantom foul under the basket while attempting to procure a pivotal rebound. Not only did Damion in no way touch any of the Duke players, but the whistle emanated from the trail official standing at nearly halfcourt. Not only is this an affront to the other two officials who were actually in the correct position to make the possibly necessary call, but it is borderline illegal as an official to make this call--you simply DO NOT make a call under the basket from near half court, nor should you usually even be looking at the action under the hoop. Texas went on to lose the contest, essentially wasting the heart and effort that guys like James and Varez Ward spilt all over the court in an already biased Greensboro Coliseum, replete with Duke fans from nearby Durham.

Inarguably, Texas had their chances and made more than a few crucial mistakes in the closing minutes that helped to seal their fate. But that should never be an excuse for jaded and corrupt referees to cinch a victory for the higher-market-draw team merely because CBS and the NCAA want to keep matchups attractive and produce greater revenue. This is not what college sports are supposed to be about. What is is supposed to be about it purity, fairness, passion, and desire. Not economics and shady business dealings like we so often see in professional sports. The BCS has already begun tarnishing college football, and with the emergence of the lust for money in college basketball now, we can only expect these kind of officiating "oversights" to be propogated and perpetuated.

Duke is the most infamous of the East Coast bias teams in regards to less-than-even refereeing, and there are frequent jokes about how the officials "won't let Duke lose," but never did I imagine in my wildest dreams (or nightmares) that it would be blatant to the point of being farcical. Nor did I expect it to cost Texas an unlikely birth in the Sweet Sixteen. I will never admit that Duke defeated Texas that day, nor that Texas lost. College basketball shamed itself that day, and it's only going to get worse.

The Rescue

It is difficult to imagine a more heartless and sick man than Joseph Kony. Before I attended the Invisible Children’s presentation of The Rescue of Joseph Kony’s Child Soldiers, I had no idea what was actually happening in the third world African nation of Uganda. I had heard of the invisible children, but I had no idea who they actually were or what happened to them. Now I know, though I’m not sure whether I’m particularly glad to have this painful knowledge on my conscience.

The cause of the problem emanated long ago, when the British came to Africa and gave jobs to the South Ugandans, but made the Acholi people of the North servants, thus facilitating a class dichotomy between the two factions. The North rebelled under now-president Yoweri Museveni in 1981. The Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, was formed in 1987 by Joseph Kony. Kony has been capturing children for years now and turning them into child soldiers against their will.

Three friends from California formed Invisible Children after taking a trip to Africa and meeting and befriending a former child soldier named Jacob. It has become a nationwide sensation, as millions of people now understand and support the message that these three kids have spread.

By now, Kony has abducted and enslaved over 30,000 children. He is a murderer, torturer, mutilator, and self-proclaimed messiah. Some of the maniacal disfigurements shown in the video are so utterly detestable and senseless that you are nearly forced to look away. They showed images of kids without noses, where the septum was openly exposed to view, eyes gouged out, whole mouths sliced off—atrocities. Just thinking about how somebody could possibly live with himself after having committed such crimes against humanity like these makes me want to vomit.

The movie showed that the kids are not the only ones trying to help, though. Betty Bigombe, a peace negotiator who survived a rare meeting with Kony, signed 25,000 hand-written letters promising to resettle children from the LRA. These children then immediately began defecting. Unfortunately, due to the rash of defections, Kony started a mass mutilation of children, forcing Bigombe to cease her admirable work.

Peace talks have been initiated between Kony and the Ugandan government many times, but he always backs out at the last moment. Recent talks seemed even more prominent than usual, and hundreds of soldiers, Bigombe, and the three creators of Invisible Children all headed out to the meeting site to finally end the war. After days of waiting, Kony was nowhere to be found—he remained in the bush less than a kilometer away.

Uganda is not a priority for international relief due to having no oil and nothing to “win.” That’s why it’s so impressive how much these three kids have gotten done by themselves—they are commanding the attention of senators and congressmen around the country. They keep only 10% of the total money they make to run Invisible Children and pay minimal salaries to be able to ensure their own livelihood while they travel around the nation—the other 90% goes directly to the aid in Uganda, which is primarily invested in economic stability and education. Brandon Palma, one of the representatives from Invisible Children, told us “We need your help to end this war as soon as possible.” But after seeing the video and the desperation of all those involved, will this war ever end?

The Essence of Sport

I watch ecstatically as Roy Williams strides triumphantly into the North endzone of Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium, calmly and proudly hoisting a single hand to the raucous crowd in the “Hook ‘Em” manner. My next memory is far less pleasant, as I see an accursed yellow flag instantly mar the grassy, green field. Yes, he was penalized for taunting of the opposition—for holding his hand up in his team’s motto like hundreds have done numerous times before him. I was left utterly flabbergasted and downright enraged. True, the flag did not affect the outcome of the game, but even for an official to consider such an action seemed absolutely ludicrous and taboo to me. The fundamental security blanket of being able to bask in the sheer, unadulterated, primal swagger that is sport has been incrementally torn to shreds over the past few years. Sports are about allowing people to escape from their taxing, monotonous, and mundane lives into a completely different world—a world not governed by the same constricting rules that are always trying to refine and control us, to make us “politically correct.” This so-called “free world” is now being enchained like the everyday one, and because of this, the pure essence of sport is being degraded and ground into an immured shell of its former liberated self.

The “wussification” of professional sports has been prominently chronicled in the recent years, connivingly contrived behind the façade of “attempting to clean up the image of the sport.” The two most visible sports industries, the NFL and the NBA, have accepted the brunt of the cleaning implements’ abrasive scrubbings. A few years back, the NBA instituted a policy requiring all NBA players to wear suits or similarly refined attire to and from all 82 games—the penalty is a fine in the tens of thousands of dollars. If a basketball player wants to wear a shirt that displays his favorite rapper or the rough city that he’s from, then that is who he is, and that is what sport has become—what it embodies, if you will. When did America become a nation intent upon stripping the individualism and cultural upbringings from a citizen—who are we to usurp the core beliefs of only a certain sect of people? Wasn’t this country founded to uphold those very same sacred beliefs? They make the sport, yet we are taking away who they are and what they’ve done for the atmosphere and enthusiasm of it. Football players such as Chad Johnson and Terrell Owens give their hearts to the game and to the fans, so if they commemorate an amazing catch by using “an extraneous object to celebrate,” is that really enough to mark them as bad role models? That’s another fine in the tens of thousands of dollars. Gone are the days when a player could further entertain the fans with a wild act of jubilee after a big play—now he must be restrained by his teammates or risk a fine in the thousands of dollars and a possible suspension. I guess having fun is just setting too much of a bad example for the youth of the nation.

Sports are one of the final outlets to the tedium and uniformity of our lives nowadays—one of the very last places we can escape to, just for a while, to break our chains and bathe in the chilly spasm of undefiled euphoria that resonates throughout our blood vessels like an electrical spark, causing goose bumps to pop up across our arms and legs when a player like Roy Williams strides leisurely into the North end zone of DKR showing his love for the university by holding up his horns in respect for the essence of sport. Let’s not seal that delicate portal to the other world by enchaining it too.