Today Kathy & I saw the latest movie in the Focker Series, Little Fockers. The series is full of strongly drawn characters, but the one I find especially interesting is Kevin Rawley (Owen Wilson). He is drawn as the ideal young man who one would most want their daughter to marry. He is a fabulously wealthy investment banker who travels the world on a yacht, lives in a mansion, is accomplished in any field one could imagine from woodworking to acrobatics. Though he drives the hottest cars, he reportedly spends 40% of his time in soup kitchens feeding the poor, thus proving his unsurpassed empathy and compassion. He is soft spoken and unassuming—yet manages to compare himself favorably to Jesus Christ whom he calls with familiarity JC. Though avowedly a Christian, he has intimate knowledge of many eastern religions, spiritual dietitians, and mystic philosophers currently in vogue. He is a deep thinker, yet exceptionally personable and unfailingly noble. He is considerate of and adored by little children. He is completely reliable in his perfect consideration of others, flaunting his perfection in total innocence of any adverse effect it may cause. He always stands ready to help—which can include assistance to get things done by using his close ties with those who share his high level of power and influence.
When I was in my youth I’m afraid I greatly desired to be a Kevin Rawley. This ideal seemed to have it all—talent, material wealth, worldly skill and knowledge, mental breadth, spiritual depth, yielding women, numerous friends, and on the surface at least, the ability in an elevated way to make all lesser guys eat their hearts out in envy. It's perhaps a sad commentary, since I no doubt felt deep down with considerable anxiety that I was his polar opposite—a poor, awkward, and incompetent dumb ass. I have come to belatedly understand that it is often good that we do not realize our dreams; for indeed, some of our most cherished dreams are best viewed (as portrayed in the Focker Series) as downright laughable.
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