The Quick and the Dead

Starring Sharon Stone as Ellen ("The Lady"), Gene Hackman as John Herod, Russell Crowe as Cort and Leonardo DiCaprio as Fee Herod ("The Kid").

The Quick and the Dead demonstrates the futility of machismo.

What do macho men (and macho women such as Sharon Stone) drink? The drink whiskey. All the time. No water; they don't even eat. They just drink whiskey.

And macho men stick up for themselves. They fight and shoot real good. You know who's the best man according to who done shot everybody else the best.

According to The Quick and the Dead, it doesn't matter if a man gets himself shot and killed as long as he gets a chance to strut his stuff for a little while. Heck, sometimes a man's gotta shoot his own son to keep people thinking that he's tough.

Also, if macho men have to choose between themselves and anyone else, they will choose themselves. Take Cort (Russell Crowe) for example. He is a missionary (by title) who keeps shooting other people so he can keep living. He's not much of a missionary, but at least he can stood tall with all the other macho men in town.

Jesus Christ stands in contrast to all that is machismo yet he is the toughest and strongest man who has ever lived. He demonstrated true grit by taking enduring an unjust death so the rest of us might live. He demonstrated true strength by lifting up God instead of Himself. He lived an astoundingly powerful life not by defending himself, but by obeying God, which is to trust that God would stick up for him when the time is right.

Jesus came to overturn everything the worldly people admire...

During his sermon on the Mount, Jesus does not say "blessed are the macho who are the fastest draw in the west," he says "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." He does not say, "blessed are those who out-muscle their competition," he says "blessed are the gentle (meek and humble), for they shall inherit the earth."

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