Monday, October 31, 2011

Mick

     Mick is a man that works himself much harder than he has to. He grew up in a position of privilege and went to the finest schools money can buy. He is a mathematical and engineering genius, almost to a savant level, and yet he spends his days welding on an off-shore oil rig. He purposefully squanders his talents for fear that if he acknowledge them he would feel superior to those around him. To truly earn his place in the world he feels the need to work himself to the brink of exhaustion and feel the ache in his muscles. Even though his work in mathematics has earned him countless accolades in the field once upon a time, he has given up that life for a job that works him harder and pays him less.

      Maybe he found solving impossible equations dull and easy and physical work gives him a constant challenge. Maybe he just feels a connection with his fellow man through hard work and perseverance that he couldn't find elsewhere. Or maybe he resents that he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and he needs to earn his piece of the american dream. Mick is someone so in love with the Alger-esque rags to riches story that he gave up his riches to live it.

     But ultimately he will never work hard enough. He will never feel as though he's dropped down low enough to work his way up because he had an unfair start. In reality he works harder than his co-workers  and from an objective standpoint he's more than proven himself as someone whose lived the rough life, but he can never prove it to himself.
 Charles Foster Kane is a man who also detests his childhood privilege. He is a man set out to prove to the public that he loves them so much that they ought to love him back. He initially curses his wealth because he feels it cost him his humanity. But sadly his humanity was lost before his fortune was given to him.

Kane: You know, Mr. Bernstein, if I hadn't been very rich, I might have been a really great man. 
Thatcher: Don't you think you are? 
Kane: I think I did pretty well under the circumstances. 
Thatcher: What would you like to have been? 
Kane: Everything you hate. 
 Superman is character that feels the weight of the world on his shoulders, sometimes literally. He has all the power in the world and can fix any problem but he can't take care of everyone's problems for them because they will come to depend on him.

 The element of Superman that inspires Mick is in his moments of weakness he views his powers not as a gift to help man-kind but as a curse that has taken away his control over his own life. He has the ability to help everyone and he wants to help everyone, but is he obligated to sacrifice his own freedom to make everyone else happy? Is he selfish for feeling this way?
And then there's this guy.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Monday, November 22, 2010

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Hunting and Gathering

                                                     My favorite place locally is Clint's comic shop on Main street. I'm a bit of a DC fanboy.
My favorite place growing up as a kid was the towing tank at the University of New Orleans.