I was just watching “The Babe” with John Goodman. If the one scene is actually true, Babe Ruth is the greatest “T-man” of all time.
He was in his rural home with his newly wed wife and was just acting very restless. His wife wanted to go over baby names, but Ruth got “a craving.” His wife said, “Babe, how about Dorothy or maybe…” and trailed off as she saw the Babe wasn’t paying attention.
The Babe said, “I have a craving for a 20 oz steak” so then he just walked out the door and drove to the city for a steak and some dancing.
The thing that hit me the most about the whole thing was that even if those actual things never happened, the lesson is; Babe Ruth was a T-man of extreme degree and marriage held him back. He was too much of a free spirit to be shackled the way his wife wanted him to be. She even said to him, “Babe, you’re not one of those people now, you’re married.”
Now, I wonder how many more home runs the Babe would have hit had he been in shape and free to live his t-man lifestyle sans the outrageous food intake…or at least, lifting would have given those nutrients another place to go besides his gut…
I see where you coming from…but “The Babe” would be as far away from one as you could get.
As I’ve read over the year’s what TC has said about being a “true” T-man (keep in mind that it is a term and construct defined and refined over the years by TC)…irresponsibility would eliminate “The Babe” BIG time.
If you want to look at the movies, a MUCH closer character (among many) would be the depiction of Heavyweight Champ James Braddock in “The Cinderella Man”.
Sure…there is always a lot of “artistic license” in Hollywood…but based on what I’ve seen TC post in the past, Braddock would be MUCH closer than “The Babe”.
One time my girlfriend was like “Honey, do you think I should take my grandmother off life support?” and I was like “fuck this shit, i’m going out to drink some beers and slap strippers on the ass”
You’re missing the point. His wife was being boring and selfish and he called her on it. She wanted to talk about baby names, but was a long way away from delivery and the Babe didn’t want to throw away a perfectly good evening by just sitting at home.
No, everyone is missing your point, dhuge. You’re living “free,” vicariously through the Babe.
A real T-Man doesn’t live any way but as he chooses. If it’s staying at home thinking of names for his manly progeny, so be it. Why couldn’t he cook his steak at home? He was afraid of settling down.
[quote]dhuge67 wrote:
You’re missing the point. His wife was being boring and selfish and he called her on it. She wanted to talk about baby names, but was a long way away from delivery and the Babe didn’t want to throw away a perfectly good evening by just sitting at home.
;)[/quote]
I think any movie done about The Babe, unless more of a true documentary, is going to gloss over every negative portion of his life in order to make him more of a hero.
From what I’ve read over the years, those dark areas took up a significant part of his life. Times were different then, however, just like that discussion about Marilyn Monroe in relation to Anna Nicole Smith. There were fewer cameras around. That is why actors who overdosed on drugs in early movies were all said to have overdosed on “sleeping pills”. there was much ‘massaging’ of the truth as opposed to media today that tries to expose every dirty little secret.
He was a great baseball player for his time. I wouldn’t hold him up as more than that.
It seems like I’ve read TC figuratively “pull his hair out” because so many have equated "being a “T-Man” with “beer swigging/nut scratching/blowing-shit-up” irresponsibility.
I just don’t think that’s the case…
Mufasa
(P.S. Well…maybe nut scratching…but you get my point!)
Even if we limit it to other John Goodman roles, we can find better examples of T-men. How about Delbert the exterminator in Arachnaphobia? Now, there’s a true testosterone-dripping stud!
[quote]dragonmamma wrote:
Even if we limit it to other John Goodman roles, we can find better examples of T-men. How about Delbert the exterminator in Arachnaphobia? Now, there’s a true testosterone-dripping stud![/quote]