There’s one genre of movies that always turns me on — underdog sports dramas. I love them.
I watched The Rookie (about Jim Morris) tonight (about four years after I watched it the first time).
I was struck about how it plays on common movie themes — the need for the protagonist to be validated by his spouse and father.
This is a pathetic need if you give in to it. You don’t need others to validate you. You can validate yourself by making the right decisions (or making peace with paying the price for bad decisions).
Over the past 15 years, I’ve often had nobody to validate my most important decisions.
I can’t think of anybody close to me who told me the following were the valid decisions:
* To convert to Judaism. This came solely from within myself.
* To use singles ads in Jewish publications in 1992, 1993 to meet girls to help me recover from CFS
* To abandon shomer negiya (not touching the opposite sex) and start sleeping with women in 1993
* To move in with one woman in Orlando in August, 1993
* To move to Los Angeles in March 1994
* To write all of my books (my friends generally told me I was crazy)
* To write on the porn industry (fall of 1995)
* To write on Dennis Prager (December 1997)
* To break stories on a string of HIV infections in porn in 1997, 1998
* To daven every day in Orthodox shuls (August 2000)
* To return to writing on the porn industry in Sept. 2002 (after a 13-month break)
* To break the story of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s marriage disintegrating in January 2007
* To quit writing on porn in October of 2007
* To choose this blog over my shul and my rabbi in October 2008
* To enter therapy in Oct. 2008
* To start learning Alexander Technique in July of 2008
* To enter Alexander Technique teacher training in January 2009
It’s nice when people close to me validate my self-image, but it is not necessary to rely on others to prop myself up. I’ve learned to stand on my own two feet, to soothe my own anxieties when my babes don’t call me back, and to be cool when other people don’t see me the way I see myself.
Morris made 16 major league appearances in 2000, during which his arm problems recurred. His final appearance came on May 9, 2000, at Yankee Stadium. He entered a tie game in the bottom of the 10th inning with the bases loaded, and issued a game-ending bases-loaded walk to his first batter, Paul O’Neill, after which the Rays released him. He attempted to catch on with the Dodgers the following spring but wasn’t able to overcome his injuries. At the end of his major league career he was 0-0 with an ERA of 4.80 and 13 strikeouts.
Morris has released an autobiography, The Oldest Rookie. He often appears as a motivational speaker, and currently receives $9000-$15000 for each appearance.[1]
A feature film made by Disney called The Rookie was released in 2002 about Morris’s climb to the big leagues. He was portrayed in the film by veteran actor Dennis Quaid.
