Freddie Freeman (b.1989) -- for those wondering on the surname -- is reported to be a sixth-generation member of the Salvation Army church.
In other words, a full White-Protestant rooted fully in the Western tradition.
He is exactly the type of figure to be found in baseball all over its classic eras (early 20th century?), of course, and its earlier formative era (mid-late 19th century). These are the people who created baseball and developed it at all levels.
It makes sense, therefore, that he would make a Roman gesture. It would just be downright bizarre if (somehow) a player from the Dominican Republic or somewhere, had done the same.
For Freddie Freeman to have a "Salvationist" ancestor that many generations back, by the way, likely places his ancestor among the founding generation of the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army really burst on the scene in (by) the early 1880s and was quite controversial in its early years for their provocative tactics and nuisance-causing in the streets. But they became accepted and even celebrated; they are mainstream now, known as a kind of church full of Santa Claus-type men who love singing "Onward Christian Soldiers."
The Salvation Army was an active and interesting late-19th-century and early-20th-century church-movement. A classic expression of White NW-European self-confidence in the era. And of the exuberance of world-mission work at the time (not all of which make sense in this more-cynical 21st century).
The Salvation Army was largely Methodist- and Quaker-derived, in other words drawing from mainstream Protestant traditions but with a fresh energy. It sprang out of strong first-generation leadership in England; its staying power shows it was no flash in anyone's pan. Both of Freddie Freeman's parents were born in Canada, which corroborates the British affiliation likely to be found among first-generation "Salvationists."
Freddie Freeman is also the name of a comic book superhero, "Captain Marvel, Jr.", who is the sidekick/friend of Billy Batson, aka 'Shazam", who was called "Captain Marvel" for decades until DC gave up fighting for the copyright.
Comic book Freddie also has a love of history as baseball player Freddie does: in the comics, Captain Marvel Jr. is an obsessive Elvis fan, styling himself after The King. This was done because Elvis mentioned that Captain Marvel, Jr. was one of his favorite comic book characters, so the writers have paid homage to him ever since.
"Scott’s director of cinematography John Mathieson complained that the industry has gotten lazier"
The conveniences of technology?
The self-satisfied complacency of a hegemonic elite?
Or a cultural Third Worldization-driven pessimism, leading to less innate drive for greatness? (I note, still no serious manned Mars mission or Moon colonies or similar ambitious project; but we do have a political Transgender movement).
I can see all those things at play. The hype around "AI replacing all writing jobs" was a jolt to it all, especially since late 2022.
Digital film making technology (which I have little knowledge and experience with) and music tech (with which I have more) both make the recording/editing/effects part of the process cheaper and more forgiving. All the cool techniques that some genius in the past invented, are now plugins, and it's all more accessible to less talented, lazier people (like me!).
Tech giveth and tech taketh away. I can't recall the last time I saw something that struck me as new in the way, e.g., 'Raising Arizona' or 'Goodfellas' did. Maybe it's just that I was young and hadn't seen much yet.
I do believe that LLMs could take the place of most of the mediocre writers. Ten person writer's rooms could become two. Yet, people crave original stories. What will happen?
Is this really common in Hollywood movies? I'm struggling to think of overt examples in which a white character who is not a racist colonizer, is the villain because of what his ancestors have done.
“the highlight of this year’s World Series was Los Angeles Dodger Freddie Freeman’s last-chance grand slam to beat the New York Yankees in the 10th inning of the first game. Rather than then flinging his bat away contemptuously in the modern style, Freeman instead strode toward first holding his bat skyward in a dignified gesture I instantly recognized, although I haven’t seen the movie in decades, as drawn from the body language of Gladiator.“
It would’ve been just as amazing, if not more, if Freeman had dropped his bat and then done a salute to a legitimate style 2024 gladiator—-by doing the Trump dance. If the NFL players are starting to get in on the dance, so too can MLB and in the biggest stage of their sport. After all, Gladiator is a movie, whereas the newly elected President is actually real.
There was a thing going around the web a few months ago. Women were urged to ask their men how often they thought about the Roman Empire. Supposedly a shocking number claimed they did so every day.
I'd like to think that is correct.
WRT Hollywood audiences loving inherited nobility, I think the 'Star Wars' movies are the most extreme example. You'd think the common people would like stories about common people being the real heroes (Lord of the Rings?) but in practice most prefer the main character to appear to be a common, but secretly have noble bloodlines with lots of midchlorians.
Maybe most people are mid-talent schmoes who like the idea that they could unbeknownst to themselves, have inherited some nebulous quality like nobility that means they are actually not schmoes?
Good review. But you missed a point from the original plot.
Maximus isn't sold into slavery by Commodus. Maximus escapes an assassination squad sent by Commodus (a great scene) and escapes on horseback, finally collapsing many miles away, where he is picked up and enslaved. Since Maximus is depressed over his family being killed and his betrayal by Rome/Commodus and his hero Marcus Auerlius's death -- not to mention the fact that its now his word against Commodus about what Auerlius offered to Maximus -- Maximus remains in slavery without putting up a fight, morose and death-seeking.
It wouldn't have made sense for Commodus to only sell Maximus into slavery while killing his family. The more logical thing would have been to kill them all, or at least Maximus and then send his wife and child to the salt mines.
Also, at the end, Maximus's death doesn't bring about the return of the Republic. While the anti-Commodus crowd want Maximus to lead a revolt, and Maximus's rise in public gives strength to those who dislike Commodus, Maximus's death at the end is left ambiguous as to its worth and outcome.
I'll add: I've yet to see a gladiator film/TV series/documentary depicting gladiatorial matches as fixed fights that I think most of them were.
In the 20th Century. we saw professional wrestling go from supposedly-legitimate bouts to open-secret fixed fights to fool the rubes to openly admitted "sports entertainment." Meanwhile, boxing fell apart as crooked promoters fixed bouts (Muhammed Ali famously screamed at Sonny Liston for falling down at a phantom punch) and prevented contenders from matching up properly. All done in the name of box office and gambling.
The idea that gladiatorial contests did not suffer from the same fate is illogical, especially given the Roman lust for gambling and spectacle. No one makes money if a favorite is killed or if the crowd isn't entertained by choreographed, pre-planned action. The long careers of many gladiators---including some of them coming out of retirement to fight again --bespeaks a system of being rigged entertainment (e.g. modern pro wrestlers are notorious today of multiple "retirements" and "last matches" only to fight again, for example, Ric Flair) and not one where death was on the line in every match.
Fake violence is better than real violence. I can only recall one round in boxing history that was as exciting as a movie boxing match: the first round of Hagler vs. Hearns in 1985.
This too. Pro wrestling is a spectacle that, when done right, leads to a spectacular conclusion that satisfies the storyline and yet also makes you forget its scripted, which is why it grew bigger than pro boxing once it openly embraced fixing while boxing denied it even though matches came off as rigged.
I can definitely see two gladiators planning out a match for an emperor and a large audience to be wildly over the top and exciting, thus guaranteeing the emperor would allow the "loser" to live.
Professional gladiators very rarely fought to the death against each other. If a gladiator died, the promoter of the games had to pay 50 times the normal fee.
I read they never fought to the death outside Rome, but given ancient medical care and hygiene, some probably died later of injuries.
It would have made it more interesting if the wild animals won a round now and then against someone not tied to a stake. One of Saki's stories has the line, “Never,” wrote Reginald to his most darling friend, “be a pioneer. It’s the Early Christian that gets the fattest lion.”
I suspect that was a printer's error, and it should have been "fastest."
One interesting phenomenon they've recently discovered is that gladiators all tried to get a little chunkier than cut.
In ancient depictions of many gladiators, they all looked hefty, and most archaeologists thought it was just that the artists were bad at depicting muscle. But then someone realized most ancient artists were really good at depicting muscular guys, so the failure to depict so many gladiators that way wasn't just poor artistry. And then they realized that the gladiators deliberately fattened themselves up slightly to provide padding against the over-the-top equipment they wore and to prevent injury; a starved, cut gladiator was covered up and was more liable to pain and broken bones from a blow.
Freddie Freeman (b.1989) -- for those wondering on the surname -- is reported to be a sixth-generation member of the Salvation Army church.
In other words, a full White-Protestant rooted fully in the Western tradition.
He is exactly the type of figure to be found in baseball all over its classic eras (early 20th century?), of course, and its earlier formative era (mid-late 19th century). These are the people who created baseball and developed it at all levels.
It makes sense, therefore, that he would make a Roman gesture. It would just be downright bizarre if (somehow) a player from the Dominican Republic or somewhere, had done the same.
For Freddie Freeman to have a "Salvationist" ancestor that many generations back, by the way, likely places his ancestor among the founding generation of the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army really burst on the scene in (by) the early 1880s and was quite controversial in its early years for their provocative tactics and nuisance-causing in the streets. But they became accepted and even celebrated; they are mainstream now, known as a kind of church full of Santa Claus-type men who love singing "Onward Christian Soldiers."
The Salvation Army was an active and interesting late-19th-century and early-20th-century church-movement. A classic expression of White NW-European self-confidence in the era. And of the exuberance of world-mission work at the time (not all of which make sense in this more-cynical 21st century).
The Salvation Army was largely Methodist- and Quaker-derived, in other words drawing from mainstream Protestant traditions but with a fresh energy. It sprang out of strong first-generation leadership in England; its staying power shows it was no flash in anyone's pan. Both of Freddie Freeman's parents were born in Canada, which corroborates the British affiliation likely to be found among first-generation "Salvationists."
Freddie Freeman is also the name of a comic book superhero, "Captain Marvel, Jr.", who is the sidekick/friend of Billy Batson, aka 'Shazam", who was called "Captain Marvel" for decades until DC gave up fighting for the copyright.
Comic book Freddie also has a love of history as baseball player Freddie does: in the comics, Captain Marvel Jr. is an obsessive Elvis fan, styling himself after The King. This was done because Elvis mentioned that Captain Marvel, Jr. was one of his favorite comic book characters, so the writers have paid homage to him ever since.
"Scott’s director of cinematography John Mathieson complained that the industry has gotten lazier"
The conveniences of technology?
The self-satisfied complacency of a hegemonic elite?
Or a cultural Third Worldization-driven pessimism, leading to less innate drive for greatness? (I note, still no serious manned Mars mission or Moon colonies or similar ambitious project; but we do have a political Transgender movement).
I can see all those things at play. The hype around "AI replacing all writing jobs" was a jolt to it all, especially since late 2022.
Digital film making technology (which I have little knowledge and experience with) and music tech (with which I have more) both make the recording/editing/effects part of the process cheaper and more forgiving. All the cool techniques that some genius in the past invented, are now plugins, and it's all more accessible to less talented, lazier people (like me!).
Tech giveth and tech taketh away. I can't recall the last time I saw something that struck me as new in the way, e.g., 'Raising Arizona' or 'Goodfellas' did. Maybe it's just that I was young and hadn't seen much yet.
I do believe that LLMs could take the place of most of the mediocre writers. Ten person writer's rooms could become two. Yet, people crave original stories. What will happen?
Sailer: "Hollywood likes the hereditary principle"
Including, in recent decades, an inherited-and-eternal hereditary blood-guilt principle -- for some groups. (A "blood libel," you might call it.)
Is this really common in Hollywood movies? I'm struggling to think of overt examples in which a white character who is not a racist colonizer, is the villain because of what his ancestors have done.
"Voted Most Likely To Be Played By Joaquin Phoenix". This is why we need Sword and Sailer movies being made!
“the highlight of this year’s World Series was Los Angeles Dodger Freddie Freeman’s last-chance grand slam to beat the New York Yankees in the 10th inning of the first game. Rather than then flinging his bat away contemptuously in the modern style, Freeman instead strode toward first holding his bat skyward in a dignified gesture I instantly recognized, although I haven’t seen the movie in decades, as drawn from the body language of Gladiator.“
It would’ve been just as amazing, if not more, if Freeman had dropped his bat and then done a salute to a legitimate style 2024 gladiator—-by doing the Trump dance. If the NFL players are starting to get in on the dance, so too can MLB and in the biggest stage of their sport. After all, Gladiator is a movie, whereas the newly elected President is actually real.
In Gladiator I, Commodus kills Marcus Aurelius by strangulation/smothering, not poisoning.
There was a thing going around the web a few months ago. Women were urged to ask their men how often they thought about the Roman Empire. Supposedly a shocking number claimed they did so every day.
I'd like to think that is correct.
WRT Hollywood audiences loving inherited nobility, I think the 'Star Wars' movies are the most extreme example. You'd think the common people would like stories about common people being the real heroes (Lord of the Rings?) but in practice most prefer the main character to appear to be a common, but secretly have noble bloodlines with lots of midchlorians.
Maybe most people are mid-talent schmoes who like the idea that they could unbeknownst to themselves, have inherited some nebulous quality like nobility that means they are actually not schmoes?
I always thought Gladiator’s appeal was kind of an artefact of the DVD era.
People forget that guys in the 2000s reliably purchased DVDs for $20 until they owned a few dozen.
Gladiator probably got re-watched quite a lot by these guys in a way that no one does anymore in the streaming era.
Good review. But you missed a point from the original plot.
Maximus isn't sold into slavery by Commodus. Maximus escapes an assassination squad sent by Commodus (a great scene) and escapes on horseback, finally collapsing many miles away, where he is picked up and enslaved. Since Maximus is depressed over his family being killed and his betrayal by Rome/Commodus and his hero Marcus Auerlius's death -- not to mention the fact that its now his word against Commodus about what Auerlius offered to Maximus -- Maximus remains in slavery without putting up a fight, morose and death-seeking.
It wouldn't have made sense for Commodus to only sell Maximus into slavery while killing his family. The more logical thing would have been to kill them all, or at least Maximus and then send his wife and child to the salt mines.
Also, at the end, Maximus's death doesn't bring about the return of the Republic. While the anti-Commodus crowd want Maximus to lead a revolt, and Maximus's rise in public gives strength to those who dislike Commodus, Maximus's death at the end is left ambiguous as to its worth and outcome.
I'll add: I've yet to see a gladiator film/TV series/documentary depicting gladiatorial matches as fixed fights that I think most of them were.
In the 20th Century. we saw professional wrestling go from supposedly-legitimate bouts to open-secret fixed fights to fool the rubes to openly admitted "sports entertainment." Meanwhile, boxing fell apart as crooked promoters fixed bouts (Muhammed Ali famously screamed at Sonny Liston for falling down at a phantom punch) and prevented contenders from matching up properly. All done in the name of box office and gambling.
The idea that gladiatorial contests did not suffer from the same fate is illogical, especially given the Roman lust for gambling and spectacle. No one makes money if a favorite is killed or if the crowd isn't entertained by choreographed, pre-planned action. The long careers of many gladiators---including some of them coming out of retirement to fight again --bespeaks a system of being rigged entertainment (e.g. modern pro wrestlers are notorious today of multiple "retirements" and "last matches" only to fight again, for example, Ric Flair) and not one where death was on the line in every match.
Fake violence is better than real violence. I can only recall one round in boxing history that was as exciting as a movie boxing match: the first round of Hagler vs. Hearns in 1985.
This too. Pro wrestling is a spectacle that, when done right, leads to a spectacular conclusion that satisfies the storyline and yet also makes you forget its scripted, which is why it grew bigger than pro boxing once it openly embraced fixing while boxing denied it even though matches came off as rigged.
I can definitely see two gladiators planning out a match for an emperor and a large audience to be wildly over the top and exciting, thus guaranteeing the emperor would allow the "loser" to live.
Professional gladiators very rarely fought to the death against each other. If a gladiator died, the promoter of the games had to pay 50 times the normal fee.
I read they never fought to the death outside Rome, but given ancient medical care and hygiene, some probably died later of injuries.
It would have made it more interesting if the wild animals won a round now and then against someone not tied to a stake. One of Saki's stories has the line, “Never,” wrote Reginald to his most darling friend, “be a pioneer. It’s the Early Christian that gets the fattest lion.”
I suspect that was a printer's error, and it should have been "fastest."
One interesting phenomenon they've recently discovered is that gladiators all tried to get a little chunkier than cut.
In ancient depictions of many gladiators, they all looked hefty, and most archaeologists thought it was just that the artists were bad at depicting muscle. But then someone realized most ancient artists were really good at depicting muscular guys, so the failure to depict so many gladiators that way wasn't just poor artistry. And then they realized that the gladiators deliberately fattened themselves up slightly to provide padding against the over-the-top equipment they wore and to prevent injury; a starved, cut gladiator was covered up and was more liable to pain and broken bones from a blow.