I have to touch on a subject that I am not 100% familiar with. But it is one that I feel I am obligated to leave an opinion on. I feel that after I am done with blogging (that will be a sad day) I will collect them all into one printed source to enjoy at a later date. I have plans to one day create a book of some sorts that includes all my blog posts, all my Tweets from Twitter, and all my status updates from facebook. It will be long, I know, but I think it would be a cool project and one that I can use my imagination on. I will not sell it of course, but I will use it to pass on to those that see Twitter as a thing of the past. But that is a long time from now. Or so I hope.
But what I wanted to touch on today is a public attitude. I have been known to get a little angry from time to time. At work, even, I am considered a chronic mouse slammer. I get upset when code does not do what I feel that it should so I slam my mouse. No, the mouse did not do anything to me, but that is not the point. It saves me from punching the wall and hurting myself. And if a plastic piece of technology must suffer instead of me, so be it.
But I get angry (and even more so when I am hot) because I care. I am passionate about a lot of things. I am passionate about my work. I am passionate about my music, my blog, my online reputation, and my physical appearance. I am simply a passionate person. And when I get mad, or upset, it is not because I do not know how to handle my emotions, but simple because I care enough to let it show. I am a professional and I would never compromise that. But when things do not go the way I feel they should, I would rather release that anger than hide it deep inside to come out one day in a tirade of emotions.
A tirade of emotions is exactly what Christian Bale did not too long ago on the set of the new Terminator movie. He was in the middle of filming (he is John Connor in the movie) and someone walked through his set. And in a near eight minute tirade he flips completely out on the individual that walked through his scene. He screams, swears, and basically belittles the man that is walking through the scene as if it is his fault. He claims to “be done professionally” with the man and calls him an amateur numerous times. The thing was of course caught on tape and has been spread around the Internet like wild fire. Family Guy actually got a hold of it and produced quite a funny clip placing Peter in the shoes of the guy that walks through the scene.
I actually read an article today with McG, the producer of the film (from the O.C. as well) and he said that in all of his productions he tries to allow the actors free rain and the ability to say and express themselves the way they see fit. But, in doing so, they are always going to be on camera and are always going to have that chance of getting caught. And Bale did. But of course that was here and gone and no one really remembers it. It did not seem to hurt his career, anyway. He has landed Batman, the Terminator, and another role along side Johnny Depp in an Al Capone based action thriller. He has a pretty busy summer and I never felt that a few F bombs would stop his career.
But I have to relate with him just a little. I get that way playing video games, so I can imagine with some of the scenes that I have seen just in the trailer how his stress level had to be while filming this movie. But he let the stress get to him and allowed it to be released through words, not violence. He never hit anyone and he sure as hell didn’t shoot anyone. But that is not the case for a soldier serving in Baghdad at Camp Liberty. (Is that an ironic name for the camp where four people were murdered by this solider?)
This is where I do not know 100% of the story. I do not know what happened nor do I follow armed forces that closely. I do not agree with war as I believe in God. I do not agree with the armed forces due to the fact that i do not believe in war. I do not have anything against people that are in the armed forces, but that is not something that I would ever do. Yes, I love the fact that I am from the United States, but there are days that I think it might be better if I was from somewhere else. Look at our economy. Look at our government. Look at our job market. (That is not the point of this post and I will stop there before I go crazy.)
The point that I am trying to make is that this solider let his stress go too far. He was under a lot of stress, as are a lot of soldiers I imagine, but he was said to have been pushed over the edge my the people watching over his case. He had been in evaluation, and although he was never placed on suicide watch, he was suffering from the signs of someone that should be. But you add that to the fact that he has ample access to weapons, and is living in the middle of the desert for months at a time to the stress he is already having, can you blame him for reacting? But he reacted in a manner that forced the death of four other soldiers that you have to assume did nothing to provoke it.
But that is where I get confused. He is stressed about what could be a multitude of things and is placed under the control of doctors who are said to be trained to handle this sort of thing. Do you think that the first form of action you take is removing his weapons and access to weapons? People go “crazy” all the time and do things that are out of his or her control, so to speak, but this is an outrage.
When have you been pushed too far? How do you handle your stress? Do you go running? Do you listen to your music a little bit louder? Do you hit the first thing you can get your hands on?
I want to know what you do when you are upset. I want to know your reaction to the story of these soldiers that have been killed for nothing more than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And who is to be held responsible for this? The parents? The military? Obama?
(You have to be 18 years old to join the armed forces. You can go through a few months of training and be given weapons that you have total control over. But you have to be 21 years old to legally purchase a beer. You can die for your country but you can not have a drink after a long hard day at school or work. There is something seriously wrong with that.)
