Justin Timberlake, the Marines and something I did not know
Bookworm on Nov 14 2011 at 5:51 pm | Filed under: Uncategorized
I’m about to show my age here, but what can you do. Up until this morning, I had no idea who Justin Timberlake was. I mean, sure I’d heard his name, but I just vaguely thought “Singer? Actor? Whatever.” I’ve pretty much checked out of pop culture lately, finding it too antithetical to my politics, my values and my parenting.
As of right now, I still haven’t heard Timberlake sing or seen him act, but I have read about the fact that he accepted an invitation to the Marine Corps Ball and that he made good on that acceptance. More than that, I’ve read on his website the tribute he put up describing his experiences:
I’m writing this out to all of you after attending an event that turned out to be one of the most moving evenings I’ve ever had…
I had the honor and privilege last night of attending The Basic School Instructor Battalion 236th Marine Corps Birthday Ball at the Greater Richmond Convention Center with Corporal Kelsey DeSantis…
[snip]
I’ve always been very vocal about my support of our Armed Forces. I’ve always felt like they offered us the opportunity to live our lives freely without the fear that so many other nations have to endure still to this day. And, they do it without asking for anything in return. I had this very feeling walking into this dinner. So, to say I was stoked to be there would be more than accurate.
[snip]
They started the ceremony. And, the next thing I knew I was watching a video about Pearl Harbor/WW2 and the September 11 terrorist attacks
[snip]
While this tribute was playing, you could hear a pin drop. It was a surreal moment to be in that room with so many of our great Marines who have such a different type of connection to those stories. One that we who don’t serve will NEVER understand. It was familial. It was like they were listening to their own blood brothers. I glanced around the room at young men and women, spouses and soldiers… At kids way beyond their years, really… All so deeply entwined. Not just by battle, even though we who have never endured anything remotely close to those experiences and have NO position to comment on… But, by having such life changing experiences through them and to not ever waver in their love and respect for our homeland. That’s what I saw. A faith in us that has been tested time and time again. And, through it all, NEVER a drop of doubt.
I was truly moved.
Timberlake may not be a Marine but, in the Bizarro World that is American entertainment, he is a truly brave man, and I applaud him. I also wish I could have been at that Ball, not to see Timberlake, but to see the Marines gathered to celebrate their Corps and their history. I’ve been to some pretty gorgeous Navy events, and I suspect I’d enjoy a Marine event every bit as much. (With all due respect, of course, to my Navy friends.)
By the way, about Corporal Kelsey DeSantis, the one who invited Timberlake to the Ball? Here’s something about her I bet you didn’t know, but that I greatly admire. That gal is a fighter in more ways than one.
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9 Responses to “Justin Timberlake, the Marines and something I did not know”
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First, don’t just settle for reading the excerpt Book posted; go read the whole thing. I got a bit goosebumpy.
Second, I had vague awareness of Timberlake as the member of some boy band a while ago, and I knew he was acting in movies, but I don’t go to movies and I never paid any mind to boy bands so that was the extent of my awareness of him. There’s some fudging in the letter where he never says he is against the wars but he avoids saying he supports them, but it’s done nicely, and I never expect anyone in Hollywood to be brave, so we really don’t know his position, but it’s a lovely, lovely letter and good for Timberlake for being so obviously sincere about his experience and good for him for posting it.
You people are so loose in your memories. You would do horrible at psychological profile of enemies of the state, you know, in the secret police.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4147857/ns/msnbc_tv-countdown_with_keith_olbermann/t/janet-jacksons-wardrobe-malfunction/
Justin Timberlake, wardrobe malfunction. That is what he was, infamously, known for, at the time.
One of the reasons why I love ML Alternative and just finished rereading it and reseeing it and rehearing it for the third (full) time, is because ML Alternative deals with honor, emotions, humanity, security, warfare, and sacrifice in a very tasteful and truthful fashion.
9/11 and Pearl harbor were both idealistic long term goals for people to try to avoid happening in the future, as well as personal losses and motivations for people to never see happen again. In times of war or danger, it is useful and good to revitalize people’s motivations. For without motivations, they will not have the morale or will to continue the fight. They won’t do what they are supposed to do. They’ll slack off. They’ll find ways to avoid their duty. All with the consequences of getting other people killed. Getting themselves killed is fine. Nobody cares if a traitor to the US, due to some discontent about some gay policies or war policies, get himself killed by betraying American secrets to the enemy. I wouldn’t, and nobody I know in certain circles would either. We would say, “good riddance”. But killing yourself and getting a whole bunch of other people killed at the same time, big difference.
Another thing mentioned in ML Alternative is the concept of how individuals determine the worth of their goals. If their goal is truly worthy, if they truly want it enough, they won’t mind doing 20 things they disliked doing so that they can do the One Single thing they wanted to do. If a person pouted, threw tantrums, or got depressed over doing those 20 things they dislike, it’s obviously because they never really cared about their supposed goals in the first place. Their resolve isn’t hard enough. Thus they don’t deserve to have their personal goals accomplished yet. Truly disciplined people with strong will power can get a lot of things done, because they’re patient and do a lot of stuff they dislike, to make sure the mission succeeds. In comparison, child thugs like Obama can hardly be bothered to get up in the morning. When something goes wrong, it’s time to take a VACATION. Work those slaves to death, and take a vacation. Yea, that’s the way for people with goals to act.
The motto of the Valkyries, the primary military unit featured in Alternative, is:
1. Fulfill your duty with all of your strength.
2. Despair not until your last breath.
3. Make your life count.
The thing about units and people who often take a lot of casualties is that they crack a lot of jokes. They don’t appear sad, especially the more experienced ones, when combat losses are reported. This leads external observers to think they are cold or they just don’t care. The thing is, units that have a history of long combat losses have figured something out about this. When one person gets sad or starts speaking about someone dead or wounded in a sad way, everyone else in the unit starts getting the same way. This can totally destroy morale before important battles, and get even more people killed due to distraction. So efforts are made to control and reduce external displays of emotion. Only pride and positive emotions are allowed, when speaking of the dead or of the fallen.
Despair not until your last breath, because you might find death coming closer if you’re distracted by things like emotional depression.
Duty is often times seen in the creed of accomplishing the mission, a very large theme in the US Marines. The USS Johnston in Leyte Gulf is a good example, for the Navy, of what a deathride or full exertion of effort to accomplish the mission looked like. The Johnston was tasked with escorting a couple of escort carriers, covering the Marine invasion of some island. The Johnston accomplished that task, despite the row upon rows of enemy battleships before them. Which leads us to 3, make your life count. If you are going to die, at least make sure your one single life, that you can only lose one, has a lasting effect. Rick Rescorla was putting that into effect. Not stopping and giving into despair, nor all that much concerned about the future of himself. Just doing what had to be done, until the final end. Confident that his efforts would have lasting positive benefits beyond the duration of his own life.
Motivations, glory, pride, tradition, and honor are important aspects of motivating people to be able to accomplish such dire tasks. It doesn’t matter what a person feels, so long as it isn’t despair, so long as they can fight. Rage, hatred, anger, love, compassion, none of that really matters. All that matters is whether they can funnel it into producing results in battle. But it certainly tends to help if people have strong motivations pushing them past difficult and painful moments. It helps to have a tradition of never giving up, to push you that one percent more over the top. It helps for honor and pride to be your personal reasons for fighting, even if you have no idealistic reasons or gradiose ones for joining the war.
Ymar, I don’t think this makes Timberlake a saint or a good man or a good citizen. It makes him, on this one occasion, extremely gracious.
And how long ago was the Superbowl? People do grow up.
Ymar, I don’t think this makes Timberlake a saint or a good man or a good citizen. It makes him, on this one occasion, extremely gracious.And how long ago was the Superbowl? People do grow up.
I didn’t say anything about my view of Timberlake. What society chooses to think and believe, has nothing to do with the truth. It just is.
Justin Timberlake is responsible for the SexyBack video, too, in addition to the wardrobe malfunction. It was a #1 billboard hit. I suppose as that kind of song goes, it’s not the worst one out there. But I’ll bet you probably wouldn’t want your kids watching that video or listening to that song repeatedly. ”I’ll let you whip me if I misbehave”???
So yes, give him kudos for the Marines tribute, but just be aware his cultural impact is more complicated than just that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gOHvDP_vCs
My original point uses some insider information that Book and I share. She has heard some things about memory and forgetting things. I just reminded her, and others, that if you want to be a psychological or interrogation specialist for the secret police, you need the fundamental skills of being able to remember seemingly unconnected bits of information about a person’s historical behavior on demand. In order to determine what is or isn’t true about that person’s profile, words, and actions.
Just in case anyone ever thought about that one as a career choice. You don’t need to be paying attention to it at the time. You just need to remember on demand. The ability to integrate events concerning people as “important” in itself, even if the person is someone you don’t care for or could care less what happens to. Interrogators must mimic compassion and caring, but it’s not exactly the same.
[...] T’lake pulled up to the Marine Corps Ball and put on a show of pure class. Per all accounts, he appeared genuine in his response to the bloodthirsty, piratey Marines [...]