Where is Maximus?

The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an empire...

Dogs chasing cars. Anarchy. The Agent of Chaos. The unstoppable force that meets the immovable object...

Time warps. Alternate realities. Cross-dimensional maniacs. A super awesome, but rather defiant young whippersnap of a captain. Live long and prosper...

Strength and honor. The hero we need, but not the one we deserve. Saving the world? (I don't really have a good one for this last one, sorry...)

(WARNING: this will be long, since I only blog sporadically!) Those were the basic themes of the three movies I watched over the last 24hrs (it was a birthday extended "date" wiv my beloved Daddy!!!). In case you still don't know which ones I'm referring to, they are: Gladiator, The Dark Knight, Star Trek (2009) (Gladiator and Star Trek I saw for the first time, TDK for the 2nd time) The interesting thing about watching these movies was the study I was able to do on them, especially given the order. (Gladiator, 7:30-11pm, 6/4; Dark Knight, 11:15pm-1:50am, 6/4-6/5; Star Trek, 3:05pm, 6/5) For those of you who don't know me and my fam (most of you... ;-) ) we always 'dissect' movies when we watch them, so that, for one, the time is not wasted, but, and more importantly, also because we don't want to just accept the practical atheism and humanistic garbage thrown at us in almost every movie nowadays. Are there good movies? CERTAINLY!!! =) Are there still good things to be learned from said movies? Certainly. But I firmly believe that to avoid being sucked into the warp-speed black hole (sorry... this is from the kid who just watched "Star Trek" =) )of entertainment obsession in our culture, we should consider, THINK about and glean everything possible from what we chose to put in front of our eyes- not just turn off our minds for a couple hours and return to the real world unconsciously affected by what we saw and 'experienced'. I could go into a much more clearly-stated and detailed 'lecture' on this, but that's not what I wanted to talk about.

What I want to know is- where have the "Maximus Men" gone? (anyone who hasn't seen "Gladiator" will miss the reference, sorry) The men who are pure of heart, humble, dutiful and loyal, noble, strong, honorable- who understand that the ends do NOT justify the means. Maximus was a man of great power and influence. He could have EASILY used this to his advantage in many different ways. But he wasn't looking for power. He loved his country and did his duty, serving her loyally. However, his heart lied foremost with his family. His great strength and perserverance (traits admired even in our culture) came from his purity of heart and humility (TRUE strength can ONLY come with humility). His honor and nobility was ASTOUNDING (even to me, raised in a counter-culture Christian home). Agh... I could go on and on, but I'm about to fall asleep here. Suffice it to say, our country- our WORLD- needs more men like Maximus- men who are willing to stand for what is right, yes... but it's MORE than that. It is best seen in contrast to Captain Kirk of "Star Trek"... Kirk too is the main character, he stands for what is right. He's the "good guy". But (and I apologize to any Kirk fangirls... know that I think he was great) James T. Kirk would NOT stand up to the standard of a 'good man'! He also broke the established rules of men (which isn't ALWAYS NECESSARILY bad). He, and the entire movie, had the "ends justify the means" philosophy. To Maximus, and even Batman, this was unacceptable. And, in my opinion, the TRUE heroes are the ones who do not compromise on the means in order to reach their end.

So I repeat: where are the men like Maximus? I'd like to find one. THAT'S the kind of man I want to marry- I'm dead serious. (Granted, Maximus wasn't a Christian... slight problem) Strength and honor...