He dropped out of school in ninth grade, became a multimillionaire (and philanthropist) from a string of movies...but now he's finally hit a lifetime goal, and in doing it became a role model.

QuoteYou are not alone. I can now look at my kids every day knowing that I didn't just do this for me -- I did it for them, and I did it for all the other teens and adults who have inspired me by their commitment to graduate.

If we don't live by example, then what do we live by? I am proud to re-introduce myself to you today as:

Mark Wahlberg - High School Graduating Class of 2013.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-wahlberg/winning-my-toughest-role-_b_3936326.html

Quote from: quiller on September 22, 2013, 08:35:22 AM
He dropped out of school in ninth grade, became a multimillionaire (and philanthropist) from a string of movies...but now he's finally hit a lifetime goal, and in doing it became a role model.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-wahlberg/winning-my-toughest-role-_b_3936326.html

QuoteMy circumstances were not unlike millions of other teens today, who live in tough working class neighborhoods surrounded by drugs, violence and crime, and who struggle to stay on the right path without positive influences.

Yeah, just a typical ghetto underwear model.

The problem is that any pathetic twerp who's willing to take someone like this seriously doesn't have the slightest idea what any of the words in the phrase:  "literally one chance in a million" even mean.

They're just thinking they'll follow his brave example:  First, get rich and famous; then maybe think about getting a GED in your forties.

Quote from: kopema on September 22, 2013, 09:27:31 AM
Yeah, just a typical ghetto underwear model.

The problem is that any pathetic twerp who's willing to take someone like this seriously doesn't have the slightest idea what any of the words in the phrase:  "literally one chance in a million" even mean.

They're just thinking they'll follow his brave example:  First, get rich and famous; then maybe think about getting a GED in your forties.

Myself I will take an education at any age.  If he helps just a handful of kids, he did what he set out to do.   But that's just my way of thinking.

Quote from: walkstall on September 22, 2013, 10:47:41 AM
Myself I will take an education at any age.  If he helps just a handful of kids, he did what he set out to do.   But that's just my way of thinking.

All else being equal, of course it's great whenever anyone becomes slightly less stupid.  But for every one kid this retard "helps," he will hurt another hundred. 

Marky Mark is, with all due respect, nothing but a very very lucky dancing monkey.  He should not have been held up as role model yesterday, and he should not be held up as a role model today.

You want a role model for kids?  Show them a 42-year-old man who got his GED, and then went from washing dishes to managing the restaurant.  If kids don't think that's "cool," just beat them until they do.  Problem solved.

I have no idea who Mark is.
Man, am I out of touch with Hollyweird, but that's not really a bad thing.

Quote from: Solar on September 22, 2013, 11:37:44 AM
I have no idea who Mark is.
Man, am I out of touch with Hollyweird, but that's not really a bad thing.

He was in "The Departed," which was good more for others in that cast than the role he accepted, but try "Shooter" for a lead role involving very, very, VERY fine guns......

http://www.amazon.com/Shooter/dp/B000V1Z8KK/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1379942525&sr=1-1&keywords=shooter

Quote from: kopema on September 22, 2013, 11:12:54 AM
All else being equal, of course it's great whenever anyone becomes slightly less stupid.  But for every one kid this retard "helps," he will hurt another hundred. 

Marky Mark is, with all due respect, nothing but a very very lucky dancing monkey.  He should not have been held up as role model yesterday, and he should not be held up as a role model today.

You want a role model for kids?  Show them a 42-year-old man who got his GED, and then went from washing dishes to managing the restaurant.  If kids don't think that's "cool," just beat them until they do.  Problem solved.

I don't put conditions on self-improvement...as long as they improve. Wahlberg improved. With Detroit's 47% adult functional illiteracy rate, I'd say ANY role model for graduating high school is still positive.

Quote from: quiller on September 23, 2013, 06:28:16 AM
He was in "The Departed," which was good more for others in that cast than the role he accepted, but try "Shooter" for a lead role involving very, very, VERY fine guns......

http://www.amazon.com/Shooter/dp/B000V1Z8KK/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1379942525&sr=1-1&keywords=shooter

To be honest, I could careless about these people in what they do and think, they pretend for a living, for crying out loud.
They are the epitome of a 7 year old with imagination, and emotionally stunted at that.

They entertain, that's all, like a court jester, I care not what they think, just make me laugh and go away.

I say this because I know these people, I did acting, modeling, theater, the whole gambit, and nearly 90% of these people have serious emotional issues, the worse the case, the better the actor.

Sure, there are exceptions to the rule, but the majority have an intellect of a 7 year old.

Quote from: Solar on September 23, 2013, 06:53:00 AM
To be honest, I could careless about these people in what they do and think, they pretend for a living, for crying out loud.
They are the epitome of a 7 year old with imagination, and emotionally stunted at that.

They entertain, that's all, like a court jester, I care not what they think, just make me laugh and go away.

I say this because I know these people, I did acting, modeling, theater, the whole gambit, and nearly 90% of these people have serious emotional issues, the worse the case, the better the actor.

Sure, there are exceptions to the rule, but the majority have an intellect of a 7 year old.

I know a lot of college postgraduate people whose brains are third-grader material when it comes to common sense. That's the rule, not the exception. And if we roll this into a discussion of POLITICAL role models, then see how fast the room empties. It's simply not done, any more, to respect the elected trash exempting themselves from every hideous affront they foist on us.

So what's left? The same TV and movie role models, whose message for the most part has dumbed-down faster than a unionized inner-city classroom. We went from John Wayne embodying the real America to two faggots kissing each other at an Emmy broadcast.

The REST of Hollyweird wants to jam homosexual perversion straight up our national sphincter. In contrast, Wahlberg simply starts out with one small step that EVERY reputable study agrees is the ONLY way to really improve your lot in America. It's a $200,000 bump in average lifetime income. Notice he points that out, for anyone obsessing about his own wealth.

Yes, he earns obscene amounts of money. He's also one of the money-men behind the truly superb BOARDWALK EMPIRE series on HBO. They pay handsomely for this, but in all fairness it is  top-shelf product and Wahlberg (with Martin Scorcese) is no fool in doing things EXCELLENTLY, not halfassedly.

Yes, the industry is screwed up. But that does not mean Wahlberg is screwed up. He did something to better himself. He wants others to follow his example, and it's a good one.

You can't say that about most Hollyweird insiders.

Sorry if that sounded too harsh, but I have a problem with putting the socially and mentally decrepit, morally bankrupt on a podium from which to speak their views on life.

I know nothing of this actor, what he is doing may or may not be good, regardless, I hate the way these freaks influence the youth in America and Hollweird holding them up as a standard of a newly lowered bar of achievement.

I also take issue with the term "Sports Hero", which holds about as much integrity as that of the term "Porn Star"

OK, rant off, carry on.

Quote from: Solar on September 23, 2013, 06:53:00 AM
They entertain, that's all, like a court jester, I care not what they think, just make me laugh and go away....  Sure, there are exceptions to the rule, but the majority have an intellect of a 7 year old.

Long ago, there was a saying to the effect of: "every village needs a liberal."  Of course that wasn't literally true; back then it took very many idiots, working in shifts, to keep the productive members of society entertained.

The advent of mass media appeared to create a huge economy of scale.  Now a single professional buffoon can do the same job that used to require thousands, or even millions, of amateur liberals.

Unfortunately, this had some pretty huge unintended consequences.  It rendered the vast majority of liberals hopelessly incapable of being of any potential value to society.  Nevertheless, they all still retain the exact same pathological need to be the center of attention they always had.

So now a very tiny handful of overachieving narcissistic morons - not only in classical "show business," but also in the news media and politics - are leading throngs of fellow liberals with waayy too much time on their hands.  To be perfectly frank, there was never a chance anything good could possibly come of that.

Quote from: kopema on September 23, 2013, 08:26:58 AM
Long ago, there was a saying to the effect of: "every village needs a liberal."  Of course that wasn't literally true; back then it took very many idiots, working in shifts, to keep the productive members of society entertained.

The advent of mass media appeared to create a huge economy of scale.  Now a single professional buffoon can do the same job that used to require thousands, or even millions, of amateur liberals.

Unfortunately, this had some pretty huge unintended consequences.  It rendered the vast majority of liberals hopelessly incapable of being of any potential value to society.  Nevertheless, they all still retain the exact same pathological need to be the center of attention they always had.

So now a very tiny handful of overachieving narcissistic morons - not only in classical "show business," but also in the news media and politics - are leading throngs of fellow liberals with waayy too much time on their hands.  To be perfectly frank, there was never a chance anything good could possibly come of that.

Very true, and these two, but separate entities, news and entertainment (hard to distinguish between the two) accent one another, applying false value to each others craft, and the interesting thing about these two entities, they both create a fantasy world on screen for the consumption of the LIV.

Quote from: Solar on September 23, 2013, 08:39:04 AM
Very true, and these two, but separate entities, news and entertainment (hard to distinguish between the two)

There is nothing "separate" about them.  The media is the media.  Period.

If you get caught up in empty semantics, liberalism will be nothing but an intentionally-indecipherable blur.   But if you reduce the factors down to their fundamental elements, you'll quickly find there is no "there" there.

If you ask the question:  "Why are there so many liberals in the media?" your head will spin forever with utterly untenable conspiracy theories, requiring the existence of a worldwide cabal -- coordinated by people who are obviously incapable of coordinating anything more complex than their own wardrobes.

But if you ask the same question using basic terms:  "Why are so many narcissists in show business?"  You feel like an idiot spending more than two seconds wondering about it.

Yes, Hollywood is full of narcissistic spoiled liberals. But when a guy has the guts to go back to school and finish in his forties, why is that a bad thing? The example he's setting isn't "Hey kids, drop out like me, get rich, then graduate". I see it as him realizing the importance of an education despite the fact that he already had money and fame so the GED will do absolutely nothing to help him in his career. He did it to demonstrate how important it is to finish school and maybe inspire not just current students but older people who may feel too embarrassed to finish. Sure beats him just blowing it off and never finishing.