Mood:
vegas luckyTopic: "Colosseum"
Russell Crowe portrayed Maximus, general turned gladiator, and Robert Green III, is RG3. Frodo sees similarities surpassing scores of generations and levels of recompense beyond definition. It is however, much as once said by Frodo's friend Delano, a matter of my slaves, versus yours.
Maximus entertained those who paid admission in Rome. RG3 does so in Washington.
Maximus performed in the grandest structure developed solely for pleasure. RG3 does so in a corporate-named stadium seating 85,000 people, most of whom are the guests of the wealthiest of the wealthy.
Maximus lived each contest as a survival prelude to the next encounter with men and monsters seeking a night of pleasure and another day. RG3 is showered with wealth, adulation and fame without ever drawing or losing blood.
Maximus died in the Colosseum, while RG3 did little more than twist the supports for the knee that defines his art-form. Although both contested fearsome opponents, neither contributes anything to the worlds in which they live, except, perhaps, for a generation of dreamers drawn by gold and greed. Not much of a legacy, says he who climbs Mount Doom, in order to destroy the ring.
The ring is still there, and it sits on the fifty-yard line.
