January 20, 2004
In other news…
I always thought he was a cheesy actor, someone who belonged in B movies. Kid no one, I LOVED “The Mummy Returns” and “Scorpion King” they are great campy films that are just fun. Even his latest film “Welcome to the jungle” while not a great piece of cinema was actually a lot of fun. (Interesting side note here: this movie opened at the theaters the weekend my training group got here to Samoa. They STILL have at least one (sometimes two) showing of it a day. That was over three months ago. They sure do love the Rock here!) While none of his movies can be considered great film (or really even good film. Campy, fun, worth seeing, yes, but good…. No!) I am beginning to gain a lot more respect for the guy.
He is half Samoa and some of his mothers family still live here on Upolo (the island I live on). He still maintains strong connections with his family here. (His uncle is an engineer here at EPC.) At first I thought the Samoan peoples adoration of him bordered on obsession of a bad actor. But the more I look, the more it seems like well earned respect for him as a fellow country man who is proud of his roots and happy to help Samoa become the great country it wants to become.