Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Cartoons and the Man

So, I am sitting in my theology class and I was confronted with a perspective in mind. That men are becoming lazy in their pursuit of manliness in the means of focusing on video games for 6-7 hours in the day. Now, I am not saying that this is incorrect. I would actually tend to agree with this perspective in a certain regard. Men today are getting a bit more lazy to take on the world and find the adventure in their lives. But may I ask the question? Can men truly be adventurous if they have never seen what it is?

For me, being the nerd that I am, I love comics. As of late I have been focusing on the anime series Bleach. I personally get a bit excited when things in the series get to heated battles amongst great opponents with the main character. Personally, I am a huge fan of the character Ichigo, who is the main character in the series. The reason why I find Ichigo so amazing is because, in some ways, he gives an awesome illustration of what being a man is about.

Throughout the series, Ichigo goes into battle against evil forces not for himself, but for his friends that are in need. He is willing to drop everything to protect or rescue his friends that are in trouble. This is the virtue of loyalty, that a man is willing to stick with his friends through any circumstances. Ichigo also has an identity that is developed in the series known as a "Soul Reaper". This identity is about fighting evil spirits to protect our world. Being a man is in trenched with the knowing one's self identity and to have a battle to fight for. In the series, Ichigo has a mentor figure that is the spirit of his sword and through this spirit, he is taught how to fight and how to gain strength for fighting. To me, this shows that manliness is about mentorship with other men who know more than I do as well as to receive my identity and trust from God as my teacher. One final thing that I find is substantial about Ichigo is his need to stand for what is honourable. He does this while he fights. He fights for the oppressed, he fights for the weak, and he fights for justice. These are some of the traits that I have found very profound in Bleach through Ichigo's manliness.

Clearly, to me, this particular animation speaks volumes in what manliness is and helps other young men to know what manliness is, in an extreme example. These examples of manliness are not found in this animation series alone, but in many others on t.v. In my perspective, everyman has, in some way, seen an example of manliness in the media through this medium. What I feel is part of the problem is that men are not taking these principles that are noble which they see and apply them in their lives. We as men, sometimes just shrug these cartoons simply as fantasy and that there is nothing to be taken from it since they are too extreme and unrealistic. Yes, I would agree that most of the things are unrealistic in the animations. However, I would say that men need to be looking for the battles in their lives that they feel passionate to fight for. That men need to seek the honour that is missing in our messed up world and fight for it. Men need to find a person to be mentored by, to build a strong sense of who they are. Men need to be risky and adventurous in their life style and to invite a partner on the dangerous journey of life.

So, can men truly be adventurous if they have never seen what it is? I would say no since men need to see manliness in action. Yet, I would say they have seen it all along, they simply need to take initiative and take the lead from these examples to apply it into their lives.

Men, be daring, be risky, be adventurous, be honourable, be loyal, be warriors, be lovers, and be men that seek your identity in God. Then you will truly be on the adventure that you were made for.