The Iceman
Good day readers, how are we all going?
Before we get into the meat of today’s topic, I would like to update you that I have a couple of good topics which I am putting the finishing touches to, so I urge you to be patient. The ‘Stuff I care About’ series should feature here.
But today I am going to talk about the Iceman.
If you’ve seen the 1986 Hollywood film ‘Top Gun’, you’ll know the character I am talking about. Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, portrayed by Val Kilmer, is the closest thing to an antihero that the story is. Whilst not a mortal enemy of the main character, Tom Cruise’s Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, he is the antithesis of everything that Maverick is. He is controlled, calm, methodical and not prone to mistakes. This is in stark contrast to Maverick, who is reckless, brash, violent and unpredictable.
Now if you have seen the movie, you know that Iceman embodies the calm professional, and Maverick the passionate, red blooded hero, and is naturally going to win out in some way over his rival. Maverick might not have won the ‘Top Gun Trophy’ from the US Navy’s Fighter Weapons School, but he does ultimately win out by defeating the enemy, and saving Iceman, in the heat of battle, and in so doing regaining his confidence and recovering from the demise of his best bud, Goose. But does this reflect real life? Does the bright eyed, brushy tailed hero win the day in these situations? I think not.
While I can imagine for most men, they would prefer to draw parallels with themselves and Maverick rather than do the same with Iceman. Whether you agree with the perceived misogyny of Maverick, or that you abhor his arrogance in the early stages of the film, Maverick, surely, stands out as more interesting and likeable, somehow more real.
And how can you not agree. Maverick is the lead character of the film, and he gets the girl, it’s what the producers want you to think, to enjoy the story for what it is.
But in reality, if we as men, are to succeed at life, we need to be more like Iceman, in my opinion.
Now, at this moment, I would just like to interject a point.
I began this post on Monday, 08/11/10, and I thought I had a pretty clear direction where I wanted to take it. Something along the lines of the gentleman needed to learn to be cool, keep his own council, be true to his world. Some sort of small target bullshit, where you must conduct yourself as professionally as you can and you will lead a good life.
But today, barely one hour ago, in real time (it is currently 1834, 10/11/10) I just had an experience every guy’s, and I’m sure every girl’s worse nightmare.
I was having coffee with my mother, which is a fixture of ours on Wednesdays since about 2008 when a girl whom I had spent some romantic moments with in the past seven to ten days with, and whom I won’t name, arrived, with another guy.
Now, for a start, I cannot say that she has actually done anything wrong here. We are not dating, and our little experience had cooled somewhat in the past four days. However, I was confused as to what was going on, but not necessary believing it was over dead and buried.
However, as I saw the guy, who appeared to be dapper young guy, my heart sank. I actually felt what was almost a physical movement. When she looked in the café and saw me, she, perplexingly, smiled and waved to me, as a friend would do, but did not come over and say hello or some other such thing, which I suppose, when you are in the company of somebody you are dating, is understandable (and that is, if they were even dating.)
But the experience has left me shell-shocked.
I do make the concession that a relationship with this young lady would be rather impossible, as she is moving away in the new year. But if indeed she was seeing this guy, in a romantic context, and providing nothing to me to say ‘it’s over’ other than to actually see so in the first place, is quite heart rending.
So, be that as it may, where to from here.
And that is what made me think back to the Iceman.
In our lives, occasionally, we see things that shock us, sometimes right to the core. But while some things may shock us enough that we struggle to get by, there are other things which, while completely shocking, such as this was, also are not a pass to drop everything and clam up. I have a university degree to attend to. I also have a job application, which requires a considerable amount of effort, and is in due turn causing me other considerable stress.
These are things that require us to keep on, even when we’ve just had our guts torn out.
Life doesn’t stop for much these days, and usually, it’s only your life that stops. So when these things happen, what do you do? Do you get into a rage, flip out and what to kill things? Or to take a deep breath, calm down, box it up and do your best to move on, as imperfect and feeble as that sounds.
I am not saying I didn’t act irrationally once I was in my car. Because I did. I got in my car and screamed ‘FUCK’ as loud as I could. Then I took a breath, calmed down and have now, for the last hour or so, been trying to move on, although my forehead is twitching a little, which is making it difficult to ignore.
While I thought it was over before, I feel more than assured of this now. But I can’t stop. I can’t have a mini breakdown and shout and scream. That’s just counterproductive. Nay, it is simply better to get stuck into this assignment. Listen to some tunes and try and smile about it.
It’s what the Iceman would do.
NB: I also concede that it’s what any man should do in this situation, but I have never experienced the combination of hurt, anger and sadness this had brought.
NNB: If she is just friends with the guy, this might seem like a huge overreaction, but I don’t know if I’m prepared to concede that. My blood is still too hot to calm down fully.
Sorry if this you found this rambling and below par. But I had to tell somebody.
