Leave it to Ryan Reynolds to give a commencement speech that doesn’t sound like a commencement speech but totally comes off as a phoned-in commencement speech. Get all that? As usual his humor is fairly self-deprecating and deadpan as can be and that’s why a lot of people happen to love the guy and it’s what makes it so easy to enjoy every time he speaks since he appears to lay everything out and not hold back much of anything. Claudia Harmata of People had more to say on this. To say that he’s successful is a bit of an understatement since he’s been one of the biggest actors in Hollywood for a while and to be fair his career kind of came from nowhere it feels since back in the day when he still wasn’t as big of a deal he was the kind of guy that was easy to laugh at or with, but he hadn’t yet really dropped into full Hollywood puberty since by the time Van Wilder came around he was no longer fooling about and had taken to really getting down and dirty when it came to the humor. From that point he just kind of kept moving up and up until now we have a history to look back on that does have its share of ups and downs, as Green Lantern and X-Men: Origins-Wolverine didn’t exactly set him up in the best position, but there are so many triumphs that it’s easy to just quietly push those little foibles to the side.
As to his advice to those who are graduating from his former high school, or secondary school, it’s good advice that he’s giving since empathy does go a long way. Some of us don’t practice it enough and it shows, but empathizing with people, no matter how much work it is and how it appears to drain a person more than lift them up, is bound to make a person just that much better and can go a long way towards winning over just about anyone if a person is being genuine. Every generation that comes before the next would love to see the upcoming youth do better than they did, despite what people might say or how they might blame a new generation for the woes of the world. It’s how humanity prospers and moves ahead after all, as each upcoming generation has to find a way to improve upon what those before them started or continued, otherwise the system fails and it all comes crumbling down. It doesn’t always sound fair, that much is true, but the lessons that are there to be learned are still important since without that knowledge and without that ability to empathize with your fellow human being then life becomes a free for all that has few winners but several conquerors, and that just doesn’t work all that well. Jill Suttie of Greater Good Magazine would likely agree with this sentiment.
What’s really not fair, especially this year, is that an entire student body, not just in one school, state, or country, but worldwide is missing out on the rite of passage that so many of us have already taken and found as a means of transitioning towards the next stage in life. Graduation isn’t just a single day in the history of our lives after all, well it is, but it’s also something that tells us that we made it, that the hard work and effort paid off and we finally earned the chance to move on and do with our lives what we want and can state that we succeeded and that now it’s time to decide what course our lives are going to take from that point on. Obviously not being able to attend graduation doesn’t cancel out that fact, but the ceremony itself is still something that many people look forward to in high school and in college, as it’s a bit of recognition that reminds us that there is something in life that we’ve already accomplished. Ryan Reynolds’ words to the kids are for the most part comical and from the heart, but it’s likely that this will be something that they’ll remember for some time if they watch it in its entirety. Imagine a famous celebrity speaking at your commencement and doing just what you’d expect him to do, cracking wise since he can and using the moment to give some much-needed advice.
In a big way this is another moment during which a celebrity stepped up to offer at least something that can help others smile and possibly feel a little better at a time such as this since not being able to walk down the aisle during graduation isn’t a life-threatening loss, but it is certainly something that the seniors of this year will remember for the rest of their lives, and it’s a shame that they didn’t get the same experience as so many before them. Margot Watine of Medium has more to say on this particular subject.
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