It’s not often that you can find a movie franchise successful enough to do six movies without having a reboot halfway through. Hell it’s hard enough for Hollywood to even make a successful trilogy. And yet not too long after the release of Fast & Furious 6, the creators of the franchise seem to have found a way to simply do that. The question is: how? Having finished watching the sixth movie I got a quick reminder on what it is that keeps people coming back for more, and without giving spoilers, I can assure you it’s from some common themes throughout all of the movies that don’t just involve cars.
Seamlessly Incorporate Hobbies Into Your Life
Too often people tell others to get a hobby. And too often hobbies start to interfere with life. The reason is because hobbies get serious for the person involved with them while others who don’t partake in said activity don’t understand. This is why it’s important to develop a life around a hobby.
As quickly as the first Fast and Furious movie it’s shown that the characters are developed together as a family rather than just race friends. What drew them all together however was their hobby of cars. Having struggled enough myself with arguing over hobbies with friends, family, and girlfriends in the past, I’ve learned really quickly to fuse hobbies into your life. It’ll save you a bigger headache when you have lasting relationships with people who actually understand what you enjoy whether it’s a bro who lifts weights with you or a woman who wants’ to help tune a car.
Find Your Mexico
The first 16 seconds of the clip above explains the idea of finding your Mexico perfectly. While this is a vastly different concept depending on each person’s concept, the idea of finding your Mexico is meaningful. For myself it was Minnesota, for one of my best friends it was Georgia. For some of you, it may be as simple as moving twenty minutes from where you life now or as complicated as moving all the way to Thailand.
The idea behind finding your Mexico is simple. Everyone at some point will want to try to build a new life and the only way to do that is to find a new place. For some it’s to find a place where no one knows their past and for others it’s as simple as finding a place where they just feel they belong. The point is, find wherever it is that you can find peace, security, and happiness.
Winning Is Winning
The above is one of my favorite clips from the franchise because it’s 100% truthful. When it comes to life, sports, women, racing, whatever, winning is winning. Contrary to the Nancy talk that society tries to spread to today’s youth that winning doesn’t matter, it plain and simply does. If you go to the bar and another dude leaves with your girl, no one is going to give you props for having almost left with her. You’re only going to get props for having gotten the notch yourself. And everything in life is the same way. Winning is all that matters, second place counts for nothing. The quicker you realize this the less frustration you’ll deal with later.
Your Friends Are Your Family
Most people tend to associate their best friends as family, but few people I know seem to truthfully look at those friends as actual family. Unless you’ve moved away from your family like I have, you likely haven’t had the fortunate insight to realize that your friends might not be blood but they can be your family.
Luckily, back home I had another group of friends close enough to be family so the concept wasn’t too shocking after moving. Having moved away, however, has helped me realize how important your friends can be. Friends can be your family and often are. And in rare cases, the can be more important than your family. Not every bro has to be your brother, but finding one that is will make your life a whole lot more interesting and meaningful.
Family Is Everything
This is probably the best lesson learned from the franchise, and is shown as quickly as the first film. Your family is everything. Whether it be your actual family related by blood, or your best friends that you’ve met throughout life, never lose site of the importance of your family. Every man no matter how tough he pretends to be will hit a period where life is rough. Your family will get you out of those rough spots that we all pretend to be too macho to relate to.
Obviously one could draw many more lessons from this franchise, the ones provided are almost limitless. In my opinion though, these are the ones that ring truest to life and towards the vast majority of the franchises audience.
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The film is pure consumerist cheap bullshit. Period.
Yeah, and it doesn’t pretend to be Citizen Kane. So what’s your point?
Sometimes I like a comedy, sometimes a horror, sometimes a period-piece, sometimes a sci-fi. This franchise delivers pure, crap, mindless, fake-assed entertainment, and you know what, sometimes I’m down for that.
The greatest thing I learned from this series is you can drag a big-assed safe behind two turbo-charged cars. Well, actually, you can’t. But it was my favourite scene of the entire series so far.
So why even comment on it? Complaining dude is complaining.
The producers know that and so do the intelligent consumers of the movie. The intentions of fast and furious is entertainment with a little emotion and action, did it achieve that? Yes. Mikael solid point about hobbies, It’s one thing to get or do the hobby, but ingraining it into your life MAKES you a somebody.
I simply could not see how this film inspired an article. The points he provided as life lessons are found in every second cheap family sit-com, or action film, because that’s what people buy.
If lowest common denominator action films can give you meaningful life lessons, I just have to wonder how much real understanding of anything you had to start with.
When living a life in a time devoid of meaning or spiritual fufilment, it is only naturally to look for meaning within the things around you.
Sure. It is a movie for the common denominator. Doesn’t mean it can’t be good or have something to learn from. The common denominator will see it and think, “Cool! Explosions! Sex! Cars!”
Others, think differently.
If you fail to see the wisdom in everything around you then you will see no wisdom.
exactly
I find it odd that we are now learning life lessons from a fictitious movie
Well people seem to find meaning in the Bible too – and that’s waaay more out there. Talking snakes and talking burning bushes (which is a metaphor for Moses smoking weed, in case no one else got it) and reincarnation and shit.
Hell, some people even find meaning in Game of Thrones.
“Well people seem to find meaning in the Bible too”
I know what you mean, some people even thought it was a good idea to build Western Civilization based on that book.
Crazy, huh?
I find meaning in your chippy posts. You almost stumped me; I think you meant “resurrection,” not “reincarnation.”
Whatever, all the same when it comes down to it: all bullshit. Never happened. Just a fairy tale. Anyone with half a brain could pull the bible apart and laugh at the rest who can’t.
Nothing wrong with finding life lessons in fiction. Anna Karenina, Moby Dick, etc. all have some great themes. I don’t take movies as seriously, but movies like “Scentof a Woman” and “Saving Private Ryan” have some great lessons for men. Butyou’re right that life lessons from F&F is pretty stupid.
Just gonna post this here:
http://stlouis.craigslist.org/w4m/3894049167.html
Her camera angle.. lol
OMG a Behemoth! Run!
I gotta laugh. Some commentors here seem to be a bit ignorant of things going on right under their noses. ” it’s a movie….blah, blah, blah…”. Funny dudes. You guys are in absolutely no danger what-so-ever of being confused with The Most Interesting Man In The World.
Well the original post then… Is that interesting to you?
The life lesson I gathered was get a six-pack and a enough money for an expensive car and you will be surrounded by hot girls.
It doesnt even need to be an expensive car, just look the part.
“It doesnt even need to be an expensive car, just look the part.”
Indeed. Proof positive that it is material things that motivate females, not “love”.
So, we have all heard about retarded people having above average strength and the term “retard strength” is thrown around. We have all heard of how monkeys are super strong for their relative size and the term “monkey strength” was coined. In following, a movie about a retarded monkey would show how incredibly, superhero like strong a retarded monkey is. Hmmm…wait I know a movie about a super strong yet primitive main character, Vin Diesel as Dom from fast n furious. Retarded monkeys are so fun to watch. 1 of my favorite cars to drive, that I currently own, is a 7mgte Toyota. It is the car that the fast n furious crew rebuilt in the original movie. Fast car game is here to stay, and even a retarded monkey can use fast car game to get all kinds of new notches. The manosphere exists as an underlying plot in most successful movies, with game being the most visible element. Before I took the blue pill, I never noticed how essential good game is to keeping an audience coming back. Mikael, do u have any aspect of game/manosphere u would like to see as a major focus for a Hollywood movie?
PS. Not sure f I am a big fan of the fast n furious movies, but I do enjoy these articles on ROK. thanks Mikael
I learnt how many sequels can be squeezed out of the one, idiotic premise.
“I learnt how many sequels can be squeezed out of the one, idiotic premise”
This too 🙂 I recall seeing the very first fast and furious and did not think much of it. I did notice when it was released, that a lot of young kids getting their Hondas and other asian cars “high performanced” out with a lot of laughable crappy eye candy.
I would have never imagined it would go on to so many sequels.. the script sucks ass, the acting is so-so, unrealistic (in f&f 6, Johnson jumps off a bridge from a moving car and lands on another moving car, give me a fucking break) and it annoys me to see action movies where females are getting the spot light and beating up the bad guys, etc. Action movies used to be all guys, with females having less presence and for the most part playing role of girlfriends who occasionally slept with the male protagonist(s).
The only reason I can see such success is a common theme one sees throughout the f&f movies is the notion of ‘family’ – it is mentioned in the films and Diesel mentions it in his interviews about the now deceased Walker being his ‘brother’ and what not. Fanilies are broken in Femerika and I think the who ‘family’ notion may strike a chord with such a fragmented society. This is speculation on my part.
“Your Friends are Your Family”. Not really. In fact, No. I am now 42, and still single. Like many of the male readers of this blog, I just could not find any woman worth marrying when I was in my 20s and 30s. Instead I focused on pursuing my life’s dreams (overseas travel, language acquisition, work, fitness, knowledge/grad school, banging international bitches). Most of my friends (and all my male cousins) got married, had kids (and got fat!) Their wives DO NOT LIKE ME. I am a threat. They imagine that when their husbands are with me, I am taking them to strip clubs or trying to recreate the plots to The Hangover films (even tho it is often THEIR husbands that are dragging ME to strip clubs). The result is that I have found many of my married male friends and cousins drift away from over the years. I have been actually saddened by this, believe it or not, but whaddyagonnado? If you are still in your early 30s, you are not experiencing this yet, but you will soon know what I am writing about.
Epilogue: I’ve had to develop a new network of friends (men AND WOMEN) as a support, and who I lend to support to. Life is like a river, it shifts.
Ditto.
But that doesnt prove anything. If theyre willing to cut you out of their lives just to please their wives, they never saw you as family. You also have to wonder if the mistake was on your part. These days men have become much like women, construing acquaintances as friends despite having a superficial relationship at best.
Do yourself a favor and make friends with single red pill men. Married men are dead. Dead. Why would any man hang out with dead men? But I do think that like-minded male friendships will be better family then biological siblings.
*This* is more what it’s like with chicks and a racecar.
Half of the fun comes from knowing the Nordschleife by heart though.
I have a feeling his wife couldn’t keep her hands off him the next night though. (Irrelevant to what some may think of her looks, ie. cue WNB poseurs.)
Lessons learned from the Fast and Furious:
1. Shave your head, pump up your muscles like Vin Diesel
2. Practice a heavy, baritone voice like Vin Diesel
3. Steal cars and modify them with nitro cylinders like Vin Diesel
4. Have a kickass hot ass latina girlfriend like Michelle Rodriguez
5. Befriend/Bro up the chick’s brother if you wanna have a smooth lay, like Paul Walker
6. Car thieves have access to hot chicks
Interesting points made. I have to say though how unexpected to me that Fast and furious would have grown to such a successful franchise. I remember the very first Fast And Furious and not thinking much of it. I did notice that younger kids were over hauling their Hondas and Toyotas to make their cars more high performance.
But 6 + sequels? I would never have thought it, and it could have something to do with what you mentioned in your article. Afterall for 6 sequels, there has to be something the audience is getting out of it.
I will say though that Vin Diesel is alpha dujor, which is good because I think he is one of the very few masculine examples in Hollyweird. If young teenage kids are looking up to him and attending his movies that might help reduce the number of üher skinny hipster fag boys running around.