Interrogating Sequels

Hollywood, I have a bone to pick with you.  My big question of the day is:  Why do movie sequels have to be so much bigger & better?  I ask because I feel like many movies go painfully wrong & consequently loose following from poor attempts to make the story that much more.  Now, I'm not saying all movie sequels automatically fail, just a large number of them.  Too many sequels end up "larger than life" in a bad way, loosing their viewers suspension of disbelief, and ending up corny instead of compelling.  I sight the following offenders as examples: Transformers (all of them), Die Hard 2 (the other Die Hards were cool), Star Wars (wavered with the first two sequels, takes an all out nose dive with Episode 1 through 3), Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom (I know it takes place before the other Indiana Jones films but it was produced after.  Can we just forget it ever existed?), The Next Karate Kid (give it up), Conan (all of the sequels somehow got cheesier?), Speed 2 (really? you didn't get enough heart pumping racing & explosions in the first one?), Friday the 13th (will it ever end???), Weekend at Bernie's II (dead people just aren't that amusing, unless they're actual zombies), and Batman & Robin (what wasn't made out of rubber in that film?)

Honestly, getting bigger each time only works in Dance movies; kudos to the Step Up series!  Hollywood, take a note from TV shows - progression in a character's story is much cooler than ever-inflating epicness :-P  And while I have your attention Hollywood, STOP REBOOTING THE SAME OLD STORIES!!!  There are plenty of us writers with neat ideas just waiting for an opportunity!  Please get off your couch & look.  

Sincerely, 

Hero Hearted

A Hero's Best Weapon

22nd July 2012 - "A Hero's Best Weapon"

I've been struggling with writing this post for a couple days.  The Batman Shooting rocked the country on Friday morning and we're still recovering, especially residents of Colorado like myself.  Hero-Hearted blog is for supporting Heroes, so I felt the need to post something in response to such an appalling, villainous attack.  My heart goes out to the victims & the families.  May God give you peace!  

Without a doubt, the Batman Shooting was performed by a Super Villain.  A Villain may act when an opportunity arises: rob a convenience store, kill out of jealous passion, etc.  This attack, however, was premeditated.  Premeditation or meticulous planning is the M.O. of a Super Villain.  People weren't killed because they got in the way of the villain's plan.  No, the shooter went in to kill.  Plain & simple.  

It's a scary situation because the shooter's attack caught people blindsided, right when they're trying to escape the world through a heroic movie.  I've seen a lot of people reacting to the shooting with fear & anger and I can't blame them.  Some are calling for more gun control while others are running for a Concealed Carry Permit.  I can't blame either action directly but neither can I condone them.

To the Gun Control mindset, this shooter got his weapons through whatever means he could.  If he had no legal access to guns he could have gotten them illegally.  The shooter could have done as much or more harm with a wicked combination of household chemicals; think about Timothy McVeigh.  The truth is, the only way to stop people from hurting each other is to lobotomize society, which is a horrible thought in itself.

To the Conceal Carry mindset, are you willing to take a life?  More importantly, can you live with yourself if you pull a weapon in a similar situation & you miss, taking the life of an innocent bystander?  Getting a Concealed Carry Permit allows you the ability to carry a weapon but it doesn't teach you how to keep your head in a high stress, combat situation.  It doesn't teach you how to deal with a no visibility, scream-filled chaos, with all the pressures that come in a real-life situation.  If you're not willing to make the lifestyle choice to train daily with your weapon, in & out of high stress situations, then for you there may be more harm in carrying then not.

To both mindsets I have a suggestion: train your awareness.  In the my years of martial training I've learned that the most important weapon you can have in your arsenal is a fine-tuned awareness.  If premeditated, meticulous planning is the M.O. of a Super Villain, then daily, meticulous training is the M.O. of a Super Hero.

The victims were caught off guard & in total disbelief.  If one person was a little more aware in the theatre it might have made the difference.  I've heard it said that a real-life street fight, where there are no rules, last on average only a few seconds.  Seconds are often the difference between life & death.  Awareness can give you those seconds.  If one aware person could have alerted people, slowed the shooter, or maybe even stopped him, could that have saved one more life? Could that have made the difference for a few people?  A dozen people?

We could debate back & forth for the next month on how the Aurora shooting could have gone differently but that is all hind-sight.  Hind-sight is always 20/20.  What can we do now as good people to help avoid these horrid situations in the future?  Get Aware.  Notice the small things around you.  Do not ignore the tickling thought in the back of your mind when something doesn't look right.  Awareness is a skill, train it daily in everything you do.  In boxing, the knockout punch isn't always the hardest punch, it's the punch you don't see coming.  Awareness can make the difference.  

Let us never forget this detestable tragedy for the right reasons.

PS: Mass Media - please treat this atrocity the right way.  Help people remember it for the right reasons, to honor & morn the lost.  DO NOT give attention to this psycho.  The last thing the world needs is a copy cat.  Mass Media, you have the power to make a difference. Choose right.

What makes it Super?

16th July 2012 - "What makes it Super?"

I've been thinking for a while what makes a Super Hero (or Super Villain) Super?  Why aren't they just Heroes & Villains?  You might think, like I have, that it's super powers that make the Hero super.  But I've discussed previously that there are many comic book Super Heroes that have no super powers (Batman, Punisher, etc.)

Before we go too far lets define what Super is.  As an adjective Super means of the highest degree, of an extreme or excessive degree, or of a first degree - as in very good & first rate. Effectively Super Heroes & Super Villains are the best in their fields.  

Well maybe, like Batman & Punisher, the Super Hero is super good at a skill set?   That may be the case with many heroes but it's not what I'm going for here.  (However, I think aptitude is an important ingredient.)  Specifically, Super Heroes & Super Villains have a track record that puts them ahead of others in their field. If I had to simplify it down to a sentence:

"Super Heroes & Super Villains are who they are because they actively choose, plan for, & cultivate the necessary attributes required to become the best Hero or Villain they can be." 

By now you must be wondering why I keep adding in Super Villains to the discussion; "isn't this the Hero-Hearted Blog?"   Yes, you are in the right place.  The truth of the matter is being a Hero or being a Villain is very similar; being a Hero just takes a little more work.  Everyday each of us chooses whether to be a Hero or a Villain; sometimes multiple times a day we make this choice.  

• Someone comes to you with an embarrassing moment - Do you say the encouraging thing or say the funny thing that gets a laugh but mocks the troubled person?
• An old guy needs help carrying something - Do you stop & help or walk past pretending he doesn't exist, like the 3 people before you did?
• Do you choose the chips or the protein bar? 

You might say "But these are small things, they don't make or break being a Hero."  Little daily decisions define us. Who are you when no one you care about is looking?  

Generally, becoming a Super Villain doesn't happen overnight - it's a slow fade.  For many, the choice to be a normal Villain is easy, just choose yourself first.  And in many ways it's easy to choose the Hero's path when a moment of crisis arises, or if it feels good.  But this post isn't talking about Heroes & Villains, it's about Super Heroes & Super Villains.  This is about the little daily choices.  This is about making an active decision, choosing a side, planning for a future moment where you will need to be great.  What do you choose?  Who would you like to become?  

Actions become habitual & habits form your character which will ultimately determine your destiny.  Deeper at the root, what you think will determine how you choose to act & thoughts are just decisions; daily decisions.

Making the Hero/Villain choice is the easy part; living it is something else.  That's why the choice must be made everyday.  I hope you chose the Hero's path.  The world needs more Heroes.  Now, if you don't already know it, let me tell you first hand that you will fall down in your pursuit of being a hero.  Today I chose the chips.  But I have heard it said "A hero is the guy who gets up one more time."  Falling down does not force us on the Villain's path, staying down does.  

So I may never have super powers (but wouldn't that be awesome!) & may never be known for my heroics.  However, there is a Hero hidden inside of me that I can work towards being. I can choose daily to become a Super Hero.  Who are you choosing to become?

Villain Eat Villain World

11th July 2012 - "It's a Villain Eat Villain World"

There's a lot of wicked people in the world with a lot of there own personal agendas.  At least that's the way it seems. (What follows is going to make me seem a little crazy to the common eye & for that I apologize.  Let me assure you, I am normal as normal comes :-) Normal-er posts to follow :-D )

You hear conspiracy theorists talking about Shadow_Governments, Secret_Societies (also see this) & Government Cover-ups all the time. Do you ever stop & wonder about the truth that they might be telling?  I don't put a lot of stock into all the conspiracy stuff.  However, something has to be said for the theme, since it works it's way into many popular movies & shows.  Even some of the events reported in the daily news make you think there has to be a Super Villain (or a few) pulling strings somewhere.  For instance, look at this: 

I don't advocate stealing in any form but this is ridiculous.  No, this is absurd!  A Homeless Guy steals $100 & returns it with an apology, turning himself in, & gets 15 years.  In contrast the a fore mentioned CEO gets busted in one of our country's biggest corporate frauds & he gets a couple year slap on the wrist.  The saddest part is, this isn't an isolated case either.  

Wicked plots happen all too often & major news channels only report about some of them.  Then there are organizations like wikileaks.org which have helped to expose a number of dung heaps hidden behind many "big name" companies & people around the world.  If you've read any of the stuff on their you might wonder . . .

                . . . with this many schemes & schemers, how often do two villains cross paths?

I imagine a few wicked plots have to clash at some point.  So if the world can be seen through the eyes of a story, how often do two villains just wreck each other? Isn't that an interesting thought?  What would happen if a "real life" version of Batman's the Joker ran into Star Wars' Darth Vader?  Or Hannibal Lector from Silence of Lambs had to go toe to toe with the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz? 

That would be great if evil started chipping away at itself.  I believe justice will prevail eventually, but wouldn't it be sweet to see it happen?