Terrance Howard came to my school, Temple Univerisity On Monday, February 25 to give a lecture. He was welcomed into the room by screaming women that could not compose themselves upon seeing him. One of the first things he said upon entering was something like "Sit down, because half of ya'll are not gonna like me by the time I finish this lecture". This only made me all the more interested.
Once the crowd quieted down, Terrance wasted no time in telling us that he was a narcissist. According to Merriam-Webster, a narcissist is defined as egoism; egocentrism, or love of or sexual desire for one's own body. However, I do not carry around a dictionary everywhere I go, but maybe I should. That's besides the point though. I wasn't clear on exactly what a narcissist was when Terrance was speaking. I knew it involved an individual worshipping themselves but I thought that meant that they did not believe in any higher power but themselves. However, Terrance did refer to God a couple times during his speech suggesting that he did believe God created him and he did love God but not as much as he loved himself. I thought that was blasphemy. This is the most puzzling part about narcissism to me.
Terrance said some things that initially gave me a bad feeling about him. He said that he has no mentour and puts no one else above himself. He said that the only reason he liked his children was because they looked like him. Naturally everyone laughed when he said this, but I thought it was alittle extreme, maybe that is why it was humorous. He went on to talk about the biggest race we will ever run; he was reffering to the race to fertilize the egg so that we can be born. He came back to that point throughout his speech as if to say :Don't be a waste of sperm. That was a clever way of saying that but to start off a speech with it, I'm not so sure.
Terrance also told us that he doesn't like acting and that he does it because it is a means to provide for his family which I found surprising. He also told us that he was in prison for two years but was released because he studied and found a way to get himself out.
Howard's whole point was that he was the one who will always be there for him. Your parents could leave you, your children could leave so you are all you have. I do understand that message, it is a harsh reality and I think that was why I was taken aback by his bluntness. I have seen Howard on award shows and in interviews and he always came off to me as arrogant. Now that I better understand his philosophy and practices, I feel differently about him.
All in all Terrance Howard is a very interesting person.
TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK....
~LANA~
