He's a professional speaker, iirc. Doesn't he need to be "shameless self promoter?" Even though much of the movie was fictional, the basic parts of his story is quite amazing, imo. He pretty much defied all odds and accomplished his goals through sheer will, determination, hard work and persistence in the face of multiple setbacks. If that's not a good message in today's world of lazy youth and instant gratification, I don't know what is.
I'm also going to call shenanigans. First, the inspiring character Rudy can't really be compared to today's youth, since he was 27 by the time he got his act together. Second, his odds were actually pretty good. In 1974, worries of inflation were driving college expenses up (as much as 100 dollars!) and the vietnam war & watergate scandal were driving student enrollment down. Way down.
http://www.census.gov/hhes/school/data/cps/historical/FigureA-2_2013.pdf
Compare that to today's youth. Acceptance rates at colleges as prestigious as Notre Dame have gotten crazy competitive since 2005.
http://www.ivywise.com/admission_statistics.html. As for inflation, the lazy, unmotivated youth have absorbed this nation's inflation for pretty much the entire recovery period since 2008. You're welcome.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all about that sweat equity. No matter if it's a good economy or bad economy, it's a competitive economy. you have to work hard to succeed. But as a member of the lost generation 2.0, I realize (or would like to realize) that working hard doesn't provide the returns that it used to.
http://www.epi.org/publication/class-of-2013-graduates-job-prospects/. I worked my way through undergrad. i scored in the top 1 percentile on two graduate school exams, earning a six figure merit scholarship. Unfortunately, that only covers half the cost now a days, which really sucks since the average salaries adjusted for inflation have dropped to a 20 year low. I mean, i'm pulling an all-nighter right now. on a friday morning. for an unpaid internship. Am I really getting ahead of my lazy, instantly gratified peers? Or am I just a muppet ensuring said peers' dad gets a kosher end of year bonus.
The lore of "Rudy" doesn't exist for my generation. If Rudy followed his same path during "the new normal", he would be a 28 year old graduate with over $100,000 in nondischargeable debt and a degree in sociology. After recording his 1/2 sack, Rudy would be lucky to find a job within 1 year of graduation and a salary over $40,000 (less what, $12,000 a year for 20 years in student loan payments).
I know this isn't the place for this discussion, and your argument is perfectly valid and undoubtedly is applicable for many people in my generation. nonetheless, I will take a 5 am study break to say that it's not reflective for most people in my generation. I'm just antagonistic towards "old people" telling the youth to look up to Rudy. My generation is filled with Rudy's. there are probably a billion lil rudy's alive right now. But when do we ever talk about the real rudy's - the godhighs? "Rudy" is only inspirational because it was dramatized in a major motion picture for a brand name football team. The movie only got greenlighted because of the fictional additions - turning Rudy's own brother and coach into nemesis naysayers, when in reality they were loyal advocates. Where's the moral righteousness in that? Selling out family and people who gave you a chance so you can gain fame and make a living giving motivational speeches? I mean, talk about instant gratification. Also, is this type of personal determination even a beneficial trait? The quality we attribute to Rudy earning 1/2 sack in a meaningless game is the same quality we can attribute to his success defrauding investors in his Boiler Room knockoff scheme . I just don't see the value in that type of person.
$11 million in illicit profits? The world would be a better place if Rudy just rolled a joint and stayed at community college. But then again, that's true for every member of today's wasteful, ego-centric, hate-mongering, greedy, dishonest old person generation.