The greatest Vietnam War books ever written

There are moments in movies that stand the test of time. They are the first thing we think of when someone uses a turn of phrase or references something that sends your brain down the rabbit hole of movie quotes. These become cultural stalwarts and embed themselves into the very collective consciousness of our society. Some become known for certain industries. Wanna know what law enforcement is like? Check out Training Day or End of Watch. Wanna know what being a firefighter is like? Press play on Backdraft. How about military life? Full Metal Jacket, Jarhead, or Officer and a Gentleman. Want realism? Don’t watch any of them. But what about sales? There are a dozen movies that can teach you how to sell. Boiler Room. The Wolf of Wall Street. But none of them are as iconic as Glengarry Glen Ross. In fact, one scene in that movie every salesman should watch. Blake’s 8-minute tongue-lashing at the office underachievers.

Alec Baldwin took less than ten minutes to cement himself in the lexicon of sales mentors. Walking into the office, he looks at Ed Harris, Jack Lemmon, and Alan Alda and rips them to shreds when one pours himself some coffee.

When was the first time you saw Sir Patrick Stewart in a film or show? Was it when he became the first man in the Captain’s chair on the Starship Enterprise after William Shatner vacated it? Or how about in a wheelchair teaching mutants to blend into society and protect it? On the day we lost one of the most remarkable human beings to ever grace the stage and screen, we look back on the times he shared with us and the lessons he left with us.

His career included Shakespeare on stage and in film, space exploration, genetic superheroes, supernatural interventions, and unexpected laughs. There are few who ever could have reached the heights of his accomplishments. And almost none could do so with the grace and the dignity of who I always referred to as The Stew.

Knights slaying dragons and rescuing the damsel in distress is the origin point for many of our images of what chivalry is. Men have a culture of thinking about these moments and donning the shining armor, picking up the sword and shield, and going to war for the people we love. Today, the ideals of chivalry are a Hell of a lot different. We aren’t living in an age where danger lurks around every corner. Now, an argument could be made that the reason we live in that age is that there are still knights in armor going to battle every day for our ideals, but on a day-to-day basis, our level of chivalry is much different.

That also brings us to the age’s number one question when it comes to chivalry: is it dead? Women often tell me when talking about relationships that chivalry is dead. That men no longer seem interested in the honor of etiquette and manners. And men tend to tell me that they aren’t uninterested in chivalry, it is dead because women killed it. They don’t want it anymore. Feminism has told them all that chivalry is a device of male oppression. Women are strong and independent, and therefore no longer need a man. So, which is it? Did men abandon it? Did women kill it? The answer…yes. Both of these things are true.