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****Update. Sorry folks if you can't see the video (I guess it still works in many countries, but not the US). This was my first attempt at a video essay and it appears I may have used longer clips than Universal Studios deemed valid as a “fair use“ of their material, which is the legal doctrine that allows people to make video essays like this under certain conditions. I'll have to make sure I do things a little differently for my next essay. I made a new version and split it into three different videos which you can see here, and which can be viewed in the US: Gladiator is one of my all-time favorite movies and I had a great time making a video essay about it. Stories are our master teachers, and I find a great deal of depth in this movie regarding manhood and living a great life. I can't help but admire Maximus, and I explore what there is to admire about him, and what kind of unique ways such an admirable character confronts the inevitable brutal and malevolent aspects of life. In doing some research for this essay I was interested to find that the story wasn't just the work of one person. It took a team of individuals over more than a year to hone this story from something that transcended a simple revenge story to be about things higher and nobler. The ending clip was taken from Jordan B. Peterson's lecture entitled “Cain and Abel: The Hostile Brothers,“ on which I relied for the development of some of my thoughts.
