GaijinPot

From a scene in the movie, “Gladiator”

In a prison cell:
Gracchus: And after your glorious coup, what then? You take your five thousand and… leave?

Maximus: Yes, I will leave. The soldiers will stay here for your protection, under the guidance of the Senate.

Gracchus: So, after Rome’s all yours, you just give it back to the people. Tell me why.

Maximus: Because that was a dying man’s last wish. I will kill Commodus. The fate of Rome, I leave to you.

Gracchus: Marcus Aurelius trusted you. His daughter trusts you. I will trust you. Give me two days, and I will purchase your freedom. And you, stay alive, or I’ll be dead.

I like everything about this movie, but this scene is one of my most favorites because it’s about “loyalty.” Maximus remained very loyal to Marcus Aurelius even after his death. Whenever I see this scene, I feel like it grabs my heart and squeezes it.

I am from a country which values (or used to) loyalty a lot. Japanese kamikaze pilots were very loyal and died for their country. They flew with a gas tank which had enough fuel to fly only one way, knowing that they wouldn’t come back to their country and they crashed into American ships during WWII. Many Japanese businessmen used to work for one company all their lives, pledging their loyalty to it.

Before I moved to the U.S., I didn’t expect loyalty to exist here. It’s not an insult, but I simply thought it was a Japanese thing. You never heard of American kamikaze pilots, did you? However, due to my husband’s job (he’s a U.S. naval officer), I have met a few people who place a significant value on loyalty and they take pride in it. There aren’t many, though.

One difference between Japan and the U.S. is that in the U.S., you choose how you want to live your life. There is no pressure on you to be loyal from society, your country, or anyone. So, in the U.S., people are loyal because they want to be or they choose to be. I find it very admirable when some people choose to live their life in a gracious way.

Nowadays, we meet so many people who think only about themselves — what I call the “What’s in it for me?” attitude. All they think about is what is favorable for them, and they don’t want to be any part of anything if they find they don’t get anything out of it. The reality is that people know what is right or wrong by nature. It’s a matter of having the strength to do the right things or not. Unfortunately, many people are not strong enough to do that. Besides, it’s human nature to have a hard time believing in something intangible. You cannot see loyalty, so it’s a very difficult concept for many people.

Loyalty is not only about people, but also about man’s loyalty to his profession, too. Let’s remember the accident involving the Costa Concordia cruise ship in Italy. Do you think the captain, Francesco Schettino, showed loyalty? Did he even care about the passengers whose lives were in his hands? Not only did he cause the shipwreck but he also left the ship while many passengers were still on board. Clearly he thought only about himself.

Why is loyalty important for me? It’s not only because of my culture. It’s because I see honor in the act of loyalty.