What Aristotle would say about masculinity if he were your mentor
Conversations about masculinity are doomed to fail when they are between two equally undesirable choices
Tucked inside Schindler’s List, there is a very short scene that offers a valuable lesson about, of all things, masculinity.
In the scene, Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) and Amon Goeth, a bloodthirsty Nazi prison camp commandant (Ralph Fiennes), discuss what power is. Both men are handsome and accomplished risk-takers. One is a captain of industry, the other a military officer. Both appear masculine but only one is.
Goeth, stumbling drunk, admires Schindler’s capacity for self-control while drinking and equates that with power. Hearing this, Schindler takes the idea a step further. He tells a story about a thief begging for his life before the emperor. The emperor avoids doing nothing — that might send a message that he is ignorant or indifferent to the crime so he indulges the thief’s begging. But he doesn’t have the thief executed either, even though it could have happened swiftly and mercilessly. The emperor chooses to spare his life and pardons him, opting for a middle ground. This, according to Schindler, is power. Let that scene marinate for a while.
