by Council Nedd II
While flying from Bucharest back to the United States I finally watched a film I had long been planning to see, “Kingsman: The Secret Service”. I was initially attracted to the idea of a slightly farcical James Bond type film. However, not long into the movie I realized that, behind the plans to destroy the world, people who fight with super human skills and Samuel L. Jackson playing a genius with an annoying lisp, there were some attributes and pearls of wisdom worthy of sharing.
In this satire, are a lot of salient points about what it means to be a gentleman. Fortunately, none of these things are outside of the reach of anyone who wants to be a gentleman, or simply, better version of himself. Here are nine lessons from the film that I’m passing on to you:
1. Being a gentleman is about being at ease in one’s own skin.
2. The suit is the armor of the modern gentleman.
3. Dress for the job you want; not for the job you have.
4. The lack of a silver spoon may have set you on a certain path, but you need not stay on it. Being a gentleman is something that one learns. I know lots of rich men from wealthy and good families. I don’t know nearly has many gentlemen.
5. A man always expresses his own style, or lack thereof, but doing it with class and carrying it out with dignity is gentlemanly. These characteristics can been seen even in the disparate characters played by Colin Firth, Taron Egerton and Samuel Jackson.
6. Too often women end up with men who are well below their station in life — Don’t Be That Guy!
7. “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility is being superior to your former self.” Ernest Hemingway said this. It was true when he said. It was true in the movie and is still applicable today.
8. Treat all women with respect and defend the honor of women — especially your mother. I find it was providential that I watched this film on Mother’s Day; and lastly
9. It’s incredibly in difficult these days for kids to learn manners, because they so seldom see them. Try to be a model of decent manners.
Council Nedd II 