Anthony Mackie Praises Education, Hard Work, and ‘American’ Masculinity in Conversation with ‘The Pivot’
In a March 11 episode of The Pivot podcast out of New Orleans, actor Anthony Mackie sat down to discuss his path to success. The 46 year old actor recently inspired some controversy while promoting his film Captain America: Brave New World when he verbally flailed around and indicated that the virtues of Captain America (such as honor and integrity) may not be representative of America. In The Pivot interview, however, Mackie put a much better leg forward, having good things to say about education, hard work, and masculinity.
The disconnect in Mackie’s statements likely has something to do with the cognitive dissonance that must arise within anyone with a drop of warm red blood in their veins who tries to make an honest living among the cold and green-blooded monsters of Hollywood. You get pulled in very different directions. It is obvious that Mackie is being used by Hollywood radicals to promote a narrative and an agenda with which he may not be entirely aligned.
In his interview with The Pivot, Mackie attributed his success largely to hard work and recounted the encouragement he received both from family and teachers to push himself as hard as he could.
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Talking about his childhood, Mackie explained how the principal of his elementary school wanted to put him on ADHD medication to calm him down, but a wonderful teacher named Miss Richards objected and got him into theatre to help him burn off energy. Mackie recounts how every day he would zoom through his schoolwork (which he excelled at) so he could head off to theatre. “She became a disciplinarian for me all the way up until 9th grade,” Mackie remembers.
He also attributed much of his success after that to always doing more than what was asked of him and going the extra mile. According to Mackie, this got him noticed by other successful people from his local community who began helping him out.
At one part of the interview, Mackie struggled to articulate precisely how much of his success could be attributed to luck and forces outside his control—and what lesson could be gleaned from his life story. “We’re lying to our kids. I think that’s a big problem in our community. We tell our kids that if they do right, and they make good grades, and they [take advantage of the opportunities afforded to them], they will be successful. If you work hard enough, your work will be paid off… and that’s not true! Success is given! It’s not earned.”
While at first glance Mackie’s statement appears quite bitter—possibly betraying some degree of Imposter Syndrome—further comments from the actor during The Pivot interview clarify that what he was trying to express was merely some degree of honest befuddlement over how personal success is largely dependent on the good will of your community. In other words, it doesn’t matter how hard you work or how much you put yourself ‘out there’ if no one will hire you.
Mackie presents his own solution to this peculiar problem in The Pivot interview, explaining how he imitated the attitudes and behaviours of other successful men of his acquaintance, such as James Earl Jones and Denzel Washington—and consequently reaped the benefits.
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When discussing his children, Mackie said, “[My children] have been living through the death of the American male. They have literally killed masculinity in our homes and our communities for one reason or another. But I raised my boys to be young men. My boys will always be respectful. They will always say Yes sir, Yes ma’am, No sir, No ma’am. They will always say Thank you. They will always open a door for a lady. They will always make sure their mother is taken care of. They will always be men. When I leave for a job, I tell my 15 year old, ‘You’re the man of the house. You make sure these doors are locked every night, this alarm is on. You text me or you call me every night before you go to bed and when you wake up.’ If I’m not there to protect [my family], [my son’s] got to be there to protect them. [...] That’s American masculinity. It’s very important for boys.”
The supreme irony that emerges from Mackie’s Pivot interview is that his story contradicts the cringing victim mentally that Hollywood radicals would like to foist upon the African American community, and which Mackie himself has promoted in some of his work, such as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
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Mackie attributes his early drive to leave New Orleans and achieve something with his life to the death of his mother and witnessing the violent death of a childhood friend around the same time. “I was across the street. He was at the gas station. [Some] dude got out and just mowed him down. I just realized I had to leave New Orleans. [...] My Mom passed away when I was fifteen. After that I was in a spiral. I was railing against God, Why would you take my Mom when there’s all these other bad people out here? I knew if I stayed that summer I wouldn’t be here today. [...] My Dad was a great dad, but there’s only so much you can do without a mom. When I found an understanding and a love for my craft, it filled that void.”
Towards the end of the interview, Mackie also indicated that some of his success was due to the value he placed upon education, which he described as something unusual for a black man.
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