Clint Eastwood is a man of many and varied passions. Big guns, big '70s haircuts, orangutans, growling and squinting.
He does it all.
But let me blow your mind real fast. Eastwood, who has returned to prominence for directing and starring in Gran Torino this year, is 78 years old.
Yes, you heard me correctly. 78. He's been a badass for going on 50 years now. What have you done lately?
And yet, my roommate and I, as well as several others of our friends who are connoisseurs of badassery, were stoked to go watch Eastwood's new flick and see him beat up on some people. We were excited to see a man older than my own grandfather get straight pissed and whale on people. And obviously squint and growl at them. Does that make any sense to you?
Regardless, we were not disappointed.
It's kind of shocking to think about the fact that Eastwood has found such a niche and been able to stick to it. Everybody hopes that they can find that one thing that they're good at and make a living out of it. Actors, mathematicians, human statues. All of them have found their one thing, and they exploit it to their fullest.
I just can't seem to wrap my head around the concept that we all have just one good thing we can do, though. I mean, I can write fairly well, but I can also juggle. And I play a mean drum on Rock Band, which I'm told could be turned into a career in the Far East. So, I mean, options are there. But do I have one thing I'm truly good at? Or am I better at one of these things, and I'm just allowed a few aberrations that can be awesome?
I mean, everybody loves Dirty Harry, but how many people are prepared to admit that the moment in Every Which Way But Loose when the orangutan flips the dude off is one of the crowning achievements of cinema? Show of hands?
Oh, come on now. A monkey flipped a dude the bird. That's awesome. Don't hate. According to RELIABLE SOURCES, that scene is the third most awesome thing ever (third only to naked girls and democracy).
But I digress. I came to college to find out what I was good at and then subsequently acquired training in said field. Is 18 too old to find out what you're supposed to do with the rest of your life? Can you really know what you want to do for 60 more years when you walk off the podium with a bachelor's degree in hand? I posit that you cannot. I'm sure if you asked Clint Eastwood (provided you can get past his life-size, shooting cutouts of himself from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and Dirty Harry), he would readily tell you he had no idea what to do, and that it came naturally to him, what career to take.
I suppose that's pretty reassuring.
Nick Philpott is a sophomore studying playwriting and creative writing. He is done having existential crises, and will be back to his old self next week. Send him an e-mail at np714907@ohiou.edu.
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Nick Philpott
