I haven't seen the Will Smith movie, although I did have a dream last night that Will Smith and I were hitting the campaign trail with my mom and some random white politician but when we left the hotel Will Smith asked how much it would cost to buy a yearbook and I looked down to get out my receipt book to discover I still had my pajamas on and it was really cold. Then I woke up to discover that I had my pajamas on and it was really cold.
I haven't seen Ali yet, is my point.
But you can see what makes this such a perfect story to tell. It's the same thing that makes boxing stories so good anyway. People who box for a living are all a little crazy. They do it because they don't see any other way to support their families.
I box for fun. But when Trainer puts on his gloves and we glide around the ring he's not trying to hurt me and I know I can't really hurt him. I have a high threshold for pain - one Writing Partner randomly tested while he was staying with me because he refused to believe I wasn't just being macho - but that doesn't mean I have a desire to get hit in the face repeatedly for the pleasure of some rich folk who've never seen uncontrolled violence in their lives. It takes a special kind of crazy to get up every day and do that.
And Ali was - nay, is - a special kind of crazy. But he's also smart. He comdemned Vietnam before it was trendy and he put his body where his mouth was, giving up the three most valuable athletic years of his life to protest a government that considered him a second-class citizen. He was a jack ass, but he could back it up with his fists. No matter how beat and tired he looked in the ring, when the fight got too intense he'd pull the energy seemingly out of nowhere and pound the other guy to the mat with the grace of a gazelle. And he'd still have energy to taunt.
Ali was that obnoxious kid who never does his homework but you consider passing him just because he's so charming and he understands the material better than any kid in the room. There's always that understanding between you as the teacher and that one kid. "You love me and you know it and that's why you let me get away with anything." And he's right.
We love Ali because he worked his ass off, because he was playful, because he knew how to build suspense and when he said a thing he was 100 percent truthful. He went to prison for his beliefs, which is more than most of us are prepared to do. Isn't that what all good triumphant sports stories are about anyway? People doing things we can't but really wish we could?
I know I wish I could move my feet like that, even if I don't plan to actually get hit. I'm just not that crazy.
I never thought the Clay/Ali was all that heroic for refusing to go to Vietnam, I just thought (and still do) that he was just acting in his own best interest. I'm still unclear how he justify rejecting one form of violence (that of war) for another form of violence (that of boxing) on religious grounds is a curious thing. Like most atheletes (and others of similiar kinship) such actions are situational, usually predicated by self-interest and aren't a lifetime commitment of true believing. In the end, Clay/Ali wasn't a hero, he was just another selfish individual acting to preserve his self-worth and future income. He was the forerunner of today's modern over-worshipped athelete and we (as a society) will accept and forgive their actions as long as they entertain us.
ReplyDeleteI never used the word "hero." I did use the words "jackass" and "obnoxious".
ReplyDeleteBut I also respect his talent and his will.
Boxing is a sport. I box, but I would refuse to go to war too. There is a big difference between getting in the ring with someone who's trained and agreed to be there to test their athletic ability and someone who is sent overseas to shoot another man to push a presidential agenda that you don't share.
Never said you used the word "hero." And as it pertains to Clay/Ali his objection to the war in Vietnam was partially based on his adopted religion. And part of that particular religion was its stand against violence of any sort (even something voluntary as boxing in competition). Clay/Ali isn't the only person in the world to align themselves in such a fashion, not the first nor the last. Still, his position was self-serving. My objection (as it is with most things) isn't with Clay/Ali's refusal to serve, it's with the hypocrisy.
ReplyDeleteThis has nothing to do with the blog, although I'll read them in a minute.
ReplyDeleteI just thought I'd tell you, I googled my name, and I share it with you!
I thought that was pretty interesting, so I thought I'd say hello.
this is a little bit of my version of emily blakes world: http://www.myspace.com/emilius_marmalade
Em