What’s Wrong With the Best?

You don’t have to like college football to like the movie ‘Rudy.’ It’s an inspiring story of a small-town kid who through grit and determination earns a spot on the Notre Dame football team despite his small size and limited athletic ability.

In one of the final scenes we see the team head from the locker room to the tunnel before taking the field, and each player, per tradition, hits a placard that reads ‘Play Like a Champion Today.’

It’s nothing more than a motivational ploy for the players to be their best. Because that’s all we ever can be, and strive, to be: our best.

So why the ridiculous backlash and controversy from some corners of the online sphere against Gillette’s latest ad?

It confronts toxic/traditional (we’ll get to that) masculinity head on. It unequivocally places certain types of tired, offensive and insulting male behavior outside the realm of common decency and acceptance. Even better, it dismisses, with the appropriate level of disdain, the vapid, worn, outdated thinking and logic of “boys will be boys.”

No more catcalling on the street, or grabbing or touching a woman without her permission. No more demeaning or belittling comments in public, especially in a corporate or office setting. No more fighting and bullying.