this past weekend, the fianz and i went to see star trek with my bff, bethany. it was kind of against my will (not totally, i guess--i did drive us there), but i didn't hate it. this, coming from me, is major praise for a geeky, science-related subculture on film.

i mean, it did have its perks...



...anyway.

the point is, i'm helping one of my coworkers make up this book for a conference on bullying and harrassment, and i was tooling around the internet this morning, searching for images to put on the cover when i came across a review of the movie on a webpage about "being a hero," particularly to stop bullying. it said the following:

The hero is Captain Kirk. Here we see a man possessing wisdom and
the willingness to act regardless of the consequences. The first
example of his heroism is on the mining drill where, without
hesitation, he jumps off to do whatever he can to save Sulu. This lack
of hesitation is shown repeatedly throughout his story. Kirk’s instinct
for what’s right gives him the confidence to act. The man that comes
off as cocky is truly confident because he knows what’s right. That’s
wisdom. Barry Schwartz spoke about wisdom at TED this year. Click
to watch it here. It is wisdom that tells Kirk that going to a meeting to
decide what to do next isn’t going to help. Wisdom tells you that if the
right thing to do is contrary to the rules or societal norms, you do it
anyway.

kind of cool, right? and i would say, absolutely true. in fact, i've always found it difficult to watch movies where the hero (as it were) comes off as cocky to other characters, when you, the viewer, understand that he simply knows something the others do not. i suppose that could be referred to as confidence in knowing what's right. right?

i didn't exactly love the movie--but i knew i wasn't going to love it, so it was by far not a let down. i did know it was going to be better than i was thinking it would be, and it delivered there. there were a few very funny parts (mostly thanks to mr. pine and his cohort, the guy who played "bones").

and yes, he's a little bit brad pitt (who has always sort of annoyed me), but come on. this kid is adorable:




:::edit::: HOLY CRAP chris pine is the love interest in the lindsay lohan movie, just my luck. you know, the one where lohan is the luckiest girl on the planet, then loses it and trades with the unluckiest dude on the planet? please scroll up slightly to see that unlucky dude. sweet lord. i think i watched that with dillon once...