Before seeing the movie State of Play, the only thing that I appreciated about Russell Crowe was the massive entourage he kept while at UNF with his rugby team, the Sidney Rabbitohs.
Ok, so Crowe has had a pretty good acting career as a gladiator, ship captain, cowboy, detective, boxer, and genius, but most college students can’t relate to fighting off epic bad guys and saving the day. However, Crowe’s depiction of his hard-hitting reporter character, Cal McAffre, in State of Play is as real description of the career of a journalist as they come.
No, the reporters at the Spinnaker didn’t room with congressmen in college, , kidnap people they plan to interview, or steal pieces of evidence from dead bodies at the local morgue. However, Crowe’s character embodies something that drives the journalism industry: a passion to deliver the news through the freedom of the press.
Although a majority of what Crowe’s character does to get to the bottom of the story wouldn’t be considered legal or ethical he does what he needs to do. While investigating his story there were several obstacles that Crowe faced while trying to get to the bottom of the story such as: police interfering with the investigation, assassins murdering witnesses and attempting to kill him, and the shiftiness and lies of Washington society. However, the worst problem Crowe faced was within the newspaper itself. The owners of the newspaper were consistently pushing Crowe to stop investigating and publish what little story he could without getting all the facts. Yet, Crowe kept on working relentlessly, unwilling to give up on the story.
Although most journalists and college students will never face the kind of obstacles Crowe does, there is one thing that they can learn from him: perseverance. Crowe doesn’t let anything get in the way of his goals. He keeps going against all odds just as much as he would if he was a gladiator or a cowboy. With the way world is currently this is one thing people can learn from. It is no longer easy to get what you want; you have to continue to persevere. To succeed in life you must go above and beyond what the everyday world allows and fight harder to achieve your dreams. Although there won’t always be politicians and assassins to overcome we must fight to achieve our goals.
